WASHINGTON--Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Thursday conceded
that the Syrian regime "derives some benefit" from U.S. and allied
airstrikes on Islamic State militants, saying it was one of the
region's complexities.
Still, Hagel said, the U.S. was pursuing a long-term strategy to
stabilize the region.
Key U.S. allies, including Turkey and France, repeatedly have
expressed concern the U.S. lacks a clear strategy for Syria, and
that airstrikes against Islamic State risk enhancing the Assad
regime's hold on power, rather than weakening it.
Privately, Mr. Hagel has raised his own concerns about the U.S.
approach to Syria, defense officials said. Mr. Hagel in a memo to
White House national security adviser Susan Rice said last week
that the U.S. should clarify its approach to Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad, officials said.
The defense chief, the officials said, is concerned about
keeping together the coalition assembled by the U.S. to fight
Islamic State militants.
Mr. Hagel declined at a Pentagon news briefing on Thursday to
comment directly on the memo, but said he owed the National
Security Council his best thinking on difficult issues like the
U.S. strategy in Syria.
"This is a complicated issue," he said. "We are constantly
assessing and reassessing and adapting to the realities of what is
the best approach, how we can be most effective. That's a
responsibility of any leader."
Moderate Syrian rebels complained earlier this week that they
are losing control of towns and suburbs in and around the major
cities of Damascus, Aleppo and Hama to Assad regime forces, which
have launched a torrent of airstrikes of its own.
Mr. Hagel has complained before about administration
decision-making. Earlier this year, he privately voiced concern
that the U.S. was strengthening Russia's hand in Ukraine by
publicly saying it would support Kiev's requests for aid, but then
balking at providing lethal assistance and delaying other military
support, like body armor and night vision equipment.
U.S. airstrikes have played an important role in the effort by
Syrian Kurds to defend the border town of Kobani against an Islamic
State offensive. Despite international attention on that fight,
U.S. strategy in the region is primarily focused on Iraq.
There, the U.S. will eventually expand its effort to advise
Iraqi forces into Anbar province, but only after the Iraqi
government agrees to provide weapons to Sunni groups, said Gen.
Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
alongside Mr. Hagel.
"We need to expand the train-advise-and-assist mission into the
al-Anbar Province, but the precondition for that is that the
government of Iraq is willing to arm the tribes," Gen. Dempsey
said.
Officials said expanding aid to Sunni groups was always part of
the U.S. plan in Iraq. But Gen. Dempsey's comments were his most
explicit yet about U.S. plans to step up support to Sunnis in
Iraq's western province.
Gen. Dempsey said the U.S. is exploring how to bring an
offensive capability to Sunni tribes willing to take up arms
against Islamic State militants controlling much of Anbar
province.
Defense officials said the effort could involve U.S. special
operations forces, which now are working with Iraqi Shiites in
Baghdad and Iraqi Kurds in Erbil. The effort also could involve
advisers from other countries.
Gen. Dempsey believes there is more the U.S. can do in Anbar and
with the Sunni tribes, according to a senior defense official. But
the official said such an expanded effort is likely to fall short
unless military gains by Iraqi security forces and political
decisions by the Iraqi government keep pace.
Write to Julian E. Barnes at julian.barnes@wsj.com
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