President Obama delivered a national address outlining his strategy to defeat Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria calling themselves the Islamic State. Under the plan, the US will expand airstrikes in Syria and Iraq and train and arm Syrian rebels to do the fighting on the ground. In order for the plan to work, Congress needs to approve million of dollars in funding for the training program and the US must get buy-in from its European allies and key players in the Middle East.
How feasible is the President’s ISIS strategy? Is it risk for the US to train and arm Syrian rebels? A network of alliances between the US and the Middle East has to be established in order for the plan to work, what’s the motivation driving different Middle East stakeholders to join the cause?
Guests:
Brian Katulis, a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, where his work focuses on U.S. national security policy in the Middle East and South Asia
Leila Hilal, a Senior Fellow for the International Security Program and the former director of the Middle East Task Force at the New America Foundation. She focuses on Syria, and issues related to U.S. foreign policy