Chaos In Syria And Regional Implications

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In The Media

Chaos In Syria And Regional Implications

As violence continues to spiral out of control in Syria, the United States has begun to play a larger behind the scenes role in aiding the Syrian opposition.

By Karim Sadjadpour

Published on Jul 23, 2012

Source: NPR's Diane Rehm Show

As the battle for Aleppo becomes increasingly violent, government troops in Damascus have gone door to door in an effort to clear out the rebels in the capital. Violence continues to spiral out of control with the international community hesitating to take action, due to the complexity of the Syrian case. In recent days, rebels have stepped up guerrilla style attacks in urban areas and the Syrian army has responded with gunships and tanks. Speaking on the Diane Rehm Show, Carnegie's Karim Sadjadpour explained that over 3,000 people have been killed in July alone and the United States has begun working behind the scenes, along with Gulf States like Qatar and Saudi Arabia, to support the rebels. Sadjadpour said “I think what the U.S. can do is to help the opposition help themselves, meaning helping them with ammunitions, with weapons, with information, with intelligence.” However, “there's very little appetite to have U.S. boots on the ground,” concluded Sadjadpour.

About the Author

Karim Sadjadpour

Senior Fellow, Middle East Program

Karim Sadjadpour is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he focuses on Iran and U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East.

Recent Work

Q&A
What’s Keeping the Iranian Regime in Power—for Now
- Aaron David Miller, Karim Sadjadpour, Robin Wright
Q&A
How Washington and Tehran Are Assessing Their Next Steps
- Aaron David Miller, David Petraeus, Karim Sadjadpour

Political Reform Foreign Policy Middle East Syria

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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