Erdogan’s latest wake-up call on Islamic State
The Obama administration weighs deeper coordination with Moscow against Jabhat al-Nusra; Erdogan’s slow turnaround on Syria policy; Hamas seeks to resume ties with Iran.
US, Russia should give Jabhat al-Nusra no quarter
The Obama administration is considering a plan to coordinate airstrikes with Russia against Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, in return for Russia’s commitment to pressure the Syrian government to end its airstrikes against civilians and US-backed moderate armed groups operating in Syria.
This column wrote in May that the United States should take up the Russian offer to coordinate airstrikes and put Moscow to the test on its and the Syrian government’s targeting decisions.
The announcement of US-Russian negotiations comes a little more than a week after the leaking of a “dissent” cable by State Department diplomats calling for an escalation of US military involvement in the war by undertaking airstrikes against the Syrian military.
