Little Western Support for Attacking Syria’s Assad

British FM: Attacks Still Possible 'in Principle'

While US and British officials have been talking up the idea of launching military strikes against Syria’s government, with the understanding that such an attack would also involve fighting the Russian military, there isn’t much interest in the idea among other members of the anti-ISIS coalition.

Secretary of State John Kerry conceded that Russia’s involvement likely played a factor in that, saying it “raises the stakes of confrontation.” British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson insisted such attacks were possible at any rate, but that there was “a lack of political appetite in most European capitals” for that sort of war.

Kerry was quick to insist that all options are on the table, and that the US will use “every mechanism available to us” to prevent the Nusra Front-held half of Aleppo from falling to the Assad government. He also warned that the fall of Aleppo wouldn’t mean the war was over anyhow.

It’s unclear how important European support for a war with Russia would be for the Obama Administration, as while President Obama has long sought to sell his wars as the result of international consensus, there seems to be growing support among his cabinet to shift their war away from ISIS and toward Assad, even if it includes war with Russia.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.