Syria today is gripped by a human tragedy of staggering proportions--with Russian airstrikes and the American decision to send Special Operations forces only the latest stories to dominate the headlines. The ongoing war has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and left nearly half the country internally or externally displaced, with a population exodus destabilizing the Middle East and swamping Europe. Many here view this as some faraway and insoluble problem that is not of the U.S.'s doing. But this is not the case. The United States has been involved in Syria from the start, with the recent decision to put a small number of boots on the ground only the latest in a set of choices that...
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