Dennis Ross, a former special assistant to President Barack Obama, is the counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute.
Articles & Testimony
The Trump administration may want out of Syria, but when the United States is on the sidelines, the danger of a regional war intensifies.
The prospects of a wider war pitting Israel against Iran, Hezbollah and the Shiite militias in Syria and Lebanon are increasing—thanks to Russia. It is the Russians who “outed” Israel’s April 9 attack against the Iranian T-4 base in central Syria. Israel’s practice has been to strike targets in Syria that are involved with, among other things, the Iranian transfer of qualitatively new weapons to Hezbollah—but never to acknowledge it. So long as the Israelis said nothing publicly, neither the Iranians nor Hezbollah had to retaliate to avoid losing face. But with the Iranians losing at least seven Qods Force officers in the Israeli attack, and the Russians declaring Israeli responsibility, the Iranians have been exposed...
