The New York Times quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Senior Fellow Frederic C. Hof on the efficacy of a sixty-mile zone along the Syrian border, free from ISIS forces:
“To the extent it excludes ISIS from the border area and from a certain zone within Syria, it is positive,” said Frederic C. Hof, who was an adviser to former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Syria and favors more robust intervention. “At least in principle, it creates an area where people who are trained and equipped in Turkey can be inserted in Syria without opposition, where they can join up with existing units who are fighting ISIS.”
He added: “The question for me is whether there is the potential for this to become more than a small protective zone in a relatively remote part of Syria.”