Dear Mr. Rowe:

Thank you for contacting me about the ongoing civil war in Syria, now entering its seventh year. As you may know, long-standing political and socioeconomic grievances with the autocratic regime of Bashar al-Assad gave way to protests inside that country in March 2011. Those protests are the origins of a civil war that has now claimed the lives of between 250,000 and 500,000 people. Chaos inside Syria also hastened the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which the United States has been working to defeat since September 2014. I believe that providing for the national defense is the most important function of the federal government. To that end, I support measures that will make the United States and its interests more secure against terrorist threats. U.S. military goals inside Syria have focused on supporting forces that will fight against ISIS, including efforts like training and equipping various elements of the Syrian opposition. President Trump has made clear his intention to defeat ISIS, which has resulted in increased U.S. military activity against ISIS in the region. However, the U.S. has been careful to avoid conflict with the numerous other factions operating in the region. More than 13.5 million people in Syria are in need of humanitarian assistance. Since fiscal year 2012, the United States has provided nearly $6.5 billion to address the critical needs of Syrians, including emergency food, nutrition supplements, water, sanitation and hygiene items, and medical supplies. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, more than five million Syrians have registered as refugees abroad, including 1.2 million seeking asylum in Europe. The conflict in Syria presents a direct threat to regional stability and to the stability of European countries that are trying to accommodate the massive flow of refugees into their borders. As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I will monitor this situation closely and carefully review the available policy options to address this conflict, which has gone on for far too long. Thank you again for contacting me. Please do not hesitate to do so again in the future. I also encourage you to visit my website, which may be found at flake.senate.gov.

Sincerely,

JEFF FLAKE
United States Senator

AND MY REPLY

Let us be honest here, to a large degree we are the reason for the instability in the region. We have been destabilizing the area since the 1950s. We will tolerate the most evil regimes as long as they play ball with the United States. Look at the Saudis they have a very similar Ideology as ISIS. Yet we are their buddies because they play ball. And the rebels we have been funding are often time directly aligned with ISIS. Hell there are pictures of John McCain with know members. Assad is no Choir boy but the western narrative is bullshit... Just like Iran in the 50s when the Untited States and the Brits paid people to riot and protest to give the semblance of a popular uprising. And we put the Shah in power... You know who the big winner is in this, Hezbollah. They now have modern weapons, a huge battle-tested force and their influence will only continue to grow. The average American is totally clueless to what and why of things;. Sadly I think the average Senator is to. Clueless, no principals, or no balls. Pick one...