According to an article today in The National Interest, the USA is about to introduce American troops into southern Syria in an offensive against ISIS forces in that region. In fact, the supposed "expert" who wrote that article says that America will establish a safe zone inside Syria along the border with Jordan and Israel. The evidence for this conclusion is thin at best and imaginary at worst. Maybe next week, the same expert will tell us that Martians are coming to fight ISIS.
It is not inconceivable that US forces could get involved in Southern Syria, except for one small problem. There are no real US forces near Southern Syria. There may be a hundred or so special operators who could be put in that region, but there just are not the thousands of troops that would be needed to establish a safe zone of the sort being predicted by this "expert". Even a nation as powerful as the USA cannot create a safe zone with air power alone. Further, there is no way that the Israelis are about to enter into fighting in Southern Syria; that would engender a major response across the region which would not help the anti-ISIS efforts. The same is true with regard to the Jordanians. King Abdullah needs his forces at home in Jordan to assure his own safety and that of his government. He is truly unlikely to send his army into battle in Syria and to leave his home front unguarded. There are Druse in the region who might be formed into an anti-ISIS battle group, but there are not that many who could fight. There are anti-ISIS Sunni forces as well, but again, they are not numerous. So absent a major shift in American troop deployments in which ten thousand or so troops get sent to Syria, this prediction of an American movement into that region is just nonsense.
It is remarkable that these media "experts" are published at all.
It is not inconceivable that US forces could get involved in Southern Syria, except for one small problem. There are no real US forces near Southern Syria. There may be a hundred or so special operators who could be put in that region, but there just are not the thousands of troops that would be needed to establish a safe zone of the sort being predicted by this "expert". Even a nation as powerful as the USA cannot create a safe zone with air power alone. Further, there is no way that the Israelis are about to enter into fighting in Southern Syria; that would engender a major response across the region which would not help the anti-ISIS efforts. The same is true with regard to the Jordanians. King Abdullah needs his forces at home in Jordan to assure his own safety and that of his government. He is truly unlikely to send his army into battle in Syria and to leave his home front unguarded. There are Druse in the region who might be formed into an anti-ISIS battle group, but there are not that many who could fight. There are anti-ISIS Sunni forces as well, but again, they are not numerous. So absent a major shift in American troop deployments in which ten thousand or so troops get sent to Syria, this prediction of an American movement into that region is just nonsense.
It is remarkable that these media "experts" are published at all.
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