Aftandilian in The Arab Weekly on U.S. Endgame in Syria
Gregory Aftandilian, Lecturer at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, published a recent Op-Ed examining the endgame of the United States military in a post-ISIS Syria.
Aftandilian’s Op-Ed, entitled “A Befuddled U.S. Military’s Endgame For Post-ISIS Syria,” was published on October 29, 2017 in The Arab Weekly.
From the text of the Op-Ed:
The Trump administration touts its success in working with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a mostly Kurdish group, in liberating Raqqa and seizing a major oil field near Deir ez-Zor. What comes next, however, is uncertain.
On the military front, there seems to be a race between the US-backed SDF and the Russia-backed Syrian government forces, supported by Shia militiamen, to control areas of eastern Syria bordering Iraq. The United States and Russia are de-conflicting to ensure their forces do not engage each other.
Taking the Syrian town of Bukamal, which borders the Iraqi town of Qaim, is the strategic objective for both sides, as a highway connecting the towns could be a conduit for Iran to send supplies into Syria. Washington does not want it to fall into the hands of the Syrian government. The area also contains remnants of the Islamic State (ISIS) — its last major territorial hold in Syria and Iraq.
The Pentagon has insisted that its objective is defeating ISIS. US Army Colonel Ryan Dillon, a spokesman for the anti-ISIS coalition, said: “We’re not in a race. We’re not in the land-grab business. We’re here to defeat ISIS.” However, many analysts are sceptical that political objectives are not being considered in the push to take the border area.
Aftandilian spent over 21 years in government service, most recently on Capitol Hill where he was foreign policy adviser to Congressman Chris Van Hollen (2007-2008), professional staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and foreign policy adviser to Senator Paul Sarbanes (2000-2004), and foreign policy fellow to the late Senator Edward Kennedy (1999).