Administration: No Timetable for US Strikes in Syria

Addressing last week’s announcement by President Obama that the ISIS airstrikes are going to expand into Syria, the White House says there is still no timetable on when the attacks will actually begin.

“It will be at a time and a place of our own choosing,” insisted national security adviser Susan Rice, while White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the strikes would be timed to “maximize the strategic advantage.”

The announcement of the US planning attacks inside Syria has led ISIS to shift troops out of Raqqa, the de facto capital, and has also given them a boost in recruitment inside Syria.

Though officially, the White House insists there will be no coordination with the Syrian government on the strikes, reports are emerging that a deal has been hashed out in secret, brokered with Russian help.

If the US isn’t planning to launch strikes against ISIS in Syria soon, the decision to announce their intentions early is bizarre, as it is adding to ISIS’ recruitment narrative.