Deepening the Syrian War

The US is to increase its troop presence in Syria by as many as 200 to help Kurdish and Arab fighters launch an assault on Islamic State’s key stronghold of Raqqa.

The US defence secretary, Ash Carter, said the extra troops would include special operations forces. Three hundred US troops are already working in the region to recruit, organise, train and advise local Syrian forces to combat Isis.

  Guardian

Five hundred "advisers". Numbers of "advisers" in Viet Nam that I've seen or heard range from 16,000 to 35,000, before we deigned to admit we were in a war. A quagmire, as it turns out. How many "advisers" will we send to Syria before we're in a similar position?

BTW, who on earth believed that 16,000 soldiers were possibly just advising?

Carter noted that many Sunni-led Gulf countries had expressed concern about the spread of Iranian influence in the region.

“The fact is, if countries in the region are worried about Iran’s destabilising activities – a concern the United States shares – they need to get in the game. That means getting serious about starting to partner more with each other, and investing in the right capabilities for the threat.”

He's a real card, that Carter. Why would any Gulf country send its own army when all it has to do is sit there and say "Oil" and "Iran" in the same phone call?

The military push is complicated by the role played by local Kurdish fighters, who are the most effective US partner against Isis in Syria but are viewed by Turkey – a key U.S. ally – as a terrorist threat.

Quagmire.

Meanwhile:

The UN’s humanitarian chief has warned that eastern Aleppo was being turned into “one giant graveyard” as the rebel-held area was being overrun by Syrian regime and Russian forces.

Stephen O’Brien told an emergency session of the UN security council that since Saturday 25,000 people had been forced from their homes in eastern Aleppo, more than half of them children, as the government offensive stormed into opposition districts.

[...]

“Without a change in policy, without a change of heart, that’s exactly what this is – the slow, painful, bitter execution of a million Syrians, cut off from aid convoys, cut off from the world,” he said.

  Guardian

Syrian state media say an Israeli missile strike has targeted a military airport on the outskirts of Damascus.

[...]

It is thought to have bombed weapons shipments intended for Lebanon's Hezbollah movement several times since Syria's civil war began in 2011.

Hezbollah, which fought a month-long war with Israel in 2006, has sent thousands of fighters to Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

  BBC

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.