NEW DELHI: In spite of the political memory of heavy destruction caused by US caused in West Asia, President Obama had, for the past three years, maintained the stable stand of not deploying military in Syria. But in a dramatic move, US is now gearing up to send 250 military officials in Syria. Though, it is a small move, as compared to the 180,000 American troops who had been involved in Iraq and Afghanistan since Obama came into power in 2009. Currently, there are 50 military personnel from US already deployed in Syria and hence, this move would dramatically lead to an expansion effort, which might further add turmoil to the continuing existence of mayhem in Syria.
Recently when in Germany, President Obama stated that this move would capitalize on the success of US mission in Syria, especially when it comes to encountering the ISIS forces. Though, he stated clearly that the personnel would not be engaged in direct confrontation but would rather train and assist the locals in combating the ISIS. This authorization though it does not have the official permission from Congress, would still be implemented. At the same time, the US troops in Iraq are working under the permission of the Iraqi government but in the case of Syria, they have no official invitation from the Syrian government.
The current aim of the US troops is to claim authority over Raqqa which is under the ISIS. America is seeking to find Arab soldiers that can be trained. Though, there are a lot of Kurdish forces in Syria which are playing a pivotal role in the civil war strife torn country. Media pundits and political analysts have analyzed that the reason for US troops being deployed in Syria is aimed at the growing nexus between Russia and Syria. President Obama also stated that the first and foremost mission of US is to counter the terrorism which is emanating from Syria. At the same time, Russia’s heavy involvement in Syria is also a concern for US, which is somehow bringing back the cold war geo-political situation back in the current uni-polar world.
President Obama also stated that in this fight against the ISIS, the US needs assistance from European nations especially in terms of security and intelligence sharing. But there are several unanswered questions which are being raised by President Obama’s sudden decision to deploy military in Syria. It is still debatable if the step is taken to combat the growing presence of Russia or it is actually against ISIS. Meanwhile, Europe is still struggling with the influx of massive refugee crisis within its territories and hence, the political situation in Syria is also a matter of great concern of Europe.
What is interesting here is how will Russia now react to increase in the American presence in Syria and what geo-political moves would be executed by Syria, Iran and Russia to combat the growing US presence. Nevertheless, it is a very precarious situation for Syria, a country whose sovereignty has been questioned ruthlessly in the past five years of the civil war.