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| Goran Tomasevic / Reuters |
- U.S.-backed fighters breached the wall of Raqqa’s Old City in Syria, marking new progress in a weeks-long battle to wrest Islamic State militants from their most important strongholds. (Liz Sly).
Post columnist David Ignatius argues that working with Russia might be the best path to peace in Syria: “The Euphrates marks the informal ‘deconfliction’ line between the Russian-backed Syrian regime west of the river, and the U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led SDF to the east. U.S.-Russian agreement on this buffer zone is a promising sign. It allows, in effect, for the U.S. and its allies to clear the Islamic State’s capital, Raqqa, while Russia and the Syrian regime take the city of Deir al-Zour … The line keeps the combatants focused on the Islamic State, rather than sparring with each other. What Trump and Putin should discuss at the Group of 20 summit is whether this recent agreement on the separation line is a model for wider U.S.-Russian cooperation in Syria. Russian-American cooperation on Syria faces a huge obstacle right now. [And against all the] negatives, there’s only one positive argument: Working with Russia may be the only way to reduce the level of violence in Syria and to create a foundation for a calmer, more decentralized nation that can eventually recover from its tragic war.”
Trump has largely continued Obama’s strategy in the fight against ISIS, working to take down top leaders as a means of weakening the entire group. The Daily Beast’s Kimberly Dozier reports: “U.S. special operations forces have removed roughly 50 top ISIS leaders off the battlefield since President Donald Trump took office, down from 80 killed in the last six months of the Obama administration … The lower numbers of high-value targets killed points to the deadly success of the strategy built by the Obama White House … The effectiveness of the current Obama-era strategy of attacking ISIS via local forces together with allies calls into question whether there’s a need for more dramatic revision. That’s presented a dilemma for those working on the Trump anti-ISIS strategy and slowed its public unveiling … The White House has asked defense officials to come up with new ideas to help brand the Trump campaign as different from its predecessor.”
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| The Daily Beast |
Trump has largely continued Obama’s strategy in the fight against ISIS, working to take down top leaders as a means of weakening the entire group. The Daily Beast’s Kimberly Dozier reports: “U.S. special operations forces have removed roughly 50 top ISIS leaders off the battlefield since President Donald Trump took office, down from 80 killed in the last six months of the Obama administration … The lower numbers of high-value targets killed points to the deadly success of the strategy built by the Obama White House … The effectiveness of the current Obama-era strategy of attacking ISIS via local forces together with allies calls into question whether there’s a need for more dramatic revision. That’s presented a dilemma for those working on the Trump anti-ISIS strategy and slowed its public unveiling … The White House has asked defense officials to come up with new ideas to help brand the Trump campaign as different from its predecessor.”