New US Syria policy should engage Iran
As the talks on a comprehensive nuclear agreement with Iran commence this week in Vienna, there is also an opening to engage Iran on Syria and terrorism.
US President Barack Obama, frustrated with the stalled Geneva talks, has called for new policy options to deal with Syria.
As with the talks on a comprehensive agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, which begin this week in Vienna, the United States should put Iran to the test on terrorism, which is directly related to the Syria war.
The alarming proliferation of al-Qaeda and affiliated groups that are fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and that are sworn enemies of the United States, has made Syria a vital US national security interest.
US Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said on Feb. 7, “Syria has become a matter of homeland security.” Four days later, US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper boosted his earlier estimate of foreign fighters in Syria to 7,500 in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Among those fighters are al-Qaeda veterans who, according to Clapper, “have aspirations for external attack in Europe, if not the homeland itself.”
