Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- March 13, 2017

Howard LaFranchi, CSM: Marines sent to Syria. Can US withstand pull of expanded military conflict?

Whether by strategic design or not, the Trump administration appears to be pivoting away from the hands-off approach to Syria that Barack Obama pursued for years. Experts say the US deployment likely will grow.

The 400 Marines dispatched to northern Syria last week to back up US-trained rebel forces battling the so-called Islamic State were plunked down into a war of acute risk and geopolitical complexity that is entering its seventh year.

Little fanfare accompanied announcement of the relatively diminutive deployment of an advanced artillery unit and support forces – a mission that brings to about 700 the total number of US troops on the ground in Syria, where a brutal civil war has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians and combatants and displaced millions.

Yet the Marines could end up being the bridgehead of a much larger US stabilization force that would hold a swath of eastern Syria once IS, or ISIS, is routed from its self-declared capital in Raqqa.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- March 13, 2017

Trump wants to gut the State Department. Not everyone thinks that’s a bad idea. -- Peter Van Buren, Reuters

A look at the issues facing US-Saudi ties under Trump -- Aya Batrawy, AP

Where’s the Trump Doctrine? -- Jed Babbin, American Spectator

Trump's Run of Dumb Luck -- Eli Lake, Bloomberg

No More U.S.-Russian Arms Treaties Until Moscow Stops Violating Existing Treaties and Agreements -- By Keith B. Payne & Franklin C. Miller, RCD

What if the U.S. Invaded Syria and Nobody Noticed? -- Nicholas Grossman, ARC

After ISIS: U.S. Political-Military Strategy in the Global War on Terror -- Hal Brands & Peter Feaver, RCD/CSBA

The ISIS Endgame -- Matthew Continetti, NRO

Yemen war turns two -- Bruce Riedel, Al-Monitor

How a protest movement swelled to oust South Korea’s president -- Michael Holtz, CSM

Will Turks in Europe bear brunt of Erdogan's outbursts? -- Amberin Zaman, Al-Monitor

A look at simmering tensions between Turkey and Netherlands -- Frank Jordans, AP

The Real Trade Challenge Is Germany, Not China -- Walter Russel Mead, Americna Interest

Time for Change in Venezuela -- Rep. Francis Rooney, RCP

Five ways Mexico could get tough on us -- Elvia Díaz, USA Today

Washington's Spy Paranoia -- Molly Ball, The Atlantic