A new study slams America for neglecting Syria’s civil war
Sep 26th 2019AT THE END of last year President Donald Trump explained that he was done with Syria. He boasted of defeating the jihadists of Islamic State (IS), “my only reason for being there”. Though he later reversed his decision to withdraw all 2,000 American troops from Syria, the conflict remains low on his list of priorities. On September 24th, the Syria Study Group, a 12-member panel appointed by Congress, published a report explaining why Syria was not done with Mr Trump.Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s dictator, has all but defeated a rebel insurgency, with Russian and Iranian help. But his control beyond Damascus is “tenuous”, and “crime and warlordism are rampant”, says the panel. His ongoing push into Idlib province, a jihadist stronghold, will cause a flood of refugees, compounding what is already one of the worst refugee crises since the second world war.Choose us for news analysis that respects your time and intelligenceSubscribe to The EconomistWe filter out the noise of the daily news cycle and analyse the trends that matterWe give you rigorous, deeply researched and fact-checked journalism. That’s why Americans named us their most trusted news source in 2017Available wherever you are—in print, digital and, uniquely, in audio, fully narrated by professional broadcastersThis website adheres to all nine of NewsGuard‘s standards of credibility and transparency.ORContinue reading this articleRegister with an email address