The Los Angeles Times quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Senior Fellow Frederic C. Hof on the Obama administration’s plan to send US special operations forces to aid Syrian rebels:
So if this is a step onto that mythical slippery slope that leads to total war, it’s a small and very hesitant one. “It’s a Band-Aid,” said Frederic Hof, a former State Department official who has worked with Syrian rebels. “It’s not a game-changer.”
The main reason Obama abandoned his promise of no boots on the ground, some officials say privately, is that his war against Islamic State was at an impasse.