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No Clear Road to Raqqa

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Posted: March 17th, 2017

By Brian Michael Jenkins

Brian Michael Jenkins is a senior adviser to the president of the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation and author of numerous books, reports, and articles on terrorism-related topics, including "How the Current Conflicts Are Shaping the Future of Syria and Iraq" and Will Terrorists Go Nuclear?.

Supported by coalition weapons, airstrikes, military advisers, and now several hundred U.S. Marines, the predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have advanced to within 50 kilometers of ISIS’capital in Raqqa. However, challenges, both tactical and political, remain ahead. The Cipher Brief’s Fritz Lodge spoke with Brian Michael Jenkins, Senior Adviser to the President of the RAND Corporation, to look at the Trump administrations options, and the challenges it faces in finally capturing ISIS’ Syrian stronghold.

The Cipher Brief: Where do you see the campaign against ISIS in Raqqa right now? What do we need to be thinking about?

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Categorized as:Middle East ReportingTagged with:

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