The United States Proxy War in Syria

(Hardback)

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An in-depth examination of the United States indirect intervention into the Syrian war on two fronts: the covert CIA-led campaign against the Bashar al-Assad regime and the overt, Pentagon-led military operation against the so-called Islamic State in Iraq & Syria (ISIS). Matthew Ayton offers new insights into a dimension of US policy in Syria that has so far been given little analytical attention; the employment of what American strategists called the by, with & through approach to ground warfare. This saw the US provide weaponry and training to non-state militias in an attempt to achieve strategic objectives without deploying large numbers of troops, in order to reduce blood-and-treasure costs, following the costly post-9/11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. By drawing upon a wealth of original interviews with American national security officials and the Syrians who worked with them on the ground, this book shows that despite being presented as a cost-saving panacea to intervention, this strategy came with significant - costly - and even deadly - consequences.

Author Bio

Matthew Ayton was a Non-resident Fellow with United States Special Operations Commands Joint Special Operations University, USA. A former Middle East correspondent, his work has been published by The Atlantic Council, Al-Jazeera and Middle East Eye.