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US touts military build-up against Iran in Syria

The Donald Trump administration’s stated goal of using US troops in Syria to contain Iran, while failing to offer a formal Syria policy, is irritating lawmakers.
Kurdish fighters from the People's Protection Units (YPG) chat with members of U.S. forces in the town of Darbasiya next to the Turkish border, Syria April 29, 2017. Picture taken April 29, 2017. REUTERS/Rodi Said - RC16BE0EE700

With the Islamic State (IS) on the run across Syria, the Donald Trump administration has committed to using US Armed Forces in the country to counter Iranian influence.

Its refusal to publicly provide details — or a legal justification — for its military strategy, however, is raising bipartisan concerns in Congress that the United States could be drawn further into conflict with a wide array of actors in Syria’s complex civil war with no timeline for withdrawal.

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