[bkopto]

So remind me: what are the strategic interests of the US in Syria, and why are we wasting taxpayer money and US lives there?

[The Toll]

We have no interests in Syria at all. None.

[Zhang Fei]

[So remind me: what are the strategic interests of the US in Syria, and why are we wasting taxpayer money and US lives there?]

---

Helping our friends and hurting our enemies. The Kurds have been fairly nice to us. To the extent that Iranians are spending money on propping Assad up ($13b, by Russian estimates), denying Assad access to Syria’s oil resources would keep the Iranian subsidy up and reduce the amount the Iranians can devote to their nuclear program. The Turks have been extremely hostile to us. Trading Turkey for a Kurdistan carved out of Syria might make sense from the standpoint of alliance politics.

From a big picture perspective, it is always in the American interest to see foreign countries fragmented, which is why American support for the EU *never* made sense. We provide a security umbrella for the oil-producing Gulf kingdoms for the same reason we balked when Germany attempted to conquer Europe in WWI and WWII. You never want any power to form a single large empire that could eventually turn its attention to you. Without Uncle Sam in the Gulf region, I expect the entire region would rapidly become provinces in either an Egyptian, Iranian or Iraqi empire. Forestalling that possibility was why Bush pushed Iraq out of Kuwait, not any kind of love for the Kuwaiti royals.

[pacific_waters]

Thank you.