President Trump has yet to develop a strategy for countering Iranian influence in Syria, according to a senior Republican lawmaker.
“I do not see one now and there needs to be one,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes told the Washington Examiner.
The California Republican has issued similar warnings before and has indicated that failing to develop a plan could end up putting an asterisk on the U.S.-led coalition’s successful campaign to deprive the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria of its major strongholds. The liberation of Raqqa in Syria by American-backed forces hasn’t eased Nunes’ concerns about Iranian military influence and terrorist proxies spreading through Iraq and Syria to the borders of Israel.
“I believe that we’ll continue to take out ISIS leadership and create havoc for ISIS and al Qaeda in the region; however, you take the longer term risk of empowering the [Iran-backed] Shias and the Russians and the Assad regime to create more havoc for the West,” he said in a June interview.
Nunes isn’t alone in raising that alarm. Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., applauded the “major moral victory” achieved with the ouster of ISIS from their capital in Raqqa, but also called for a new strategy.
“For far too long, the United States has approached the Middle East through the narrow vantage point of counterterrorism,” McCain said last week. “What we need instead is a comprehensive strategy that takes all regional factors into account — a clear articulation of our interests and the ways and means we intend to secure them. The absence of such a strategy is acutely felt even as we celebrate this important success.”
Trump’s defenders might note that McCain has a fractious relationship with the president, as they traded have traded insults since the early days of the 2016 Republican presidential primary contests.
While McCain has had his share of battles against Trump, Nunes has avoided these sorts of fights with the new president. Nunes is leading an investigation into the source of a dossier of allegations against the president’s alleged ties with Russia, including salacious yet-unverified allegations. He is also opening a probe of a 2010 deal in which former President Barack Obama’s team allowed Russian investors to make a major investment in American uranium supplies, despite concerns of corruption.
But those responsibilities haven’t deterred Nunes from criticizing Trump’s Syria policy. As Trump’s team and Obama loyalists have sparred about which administration should get credit for the victory in Raqqa, Nunes said Trump’s policies were limited to tactical changes.
“Oh, they’ve taken the gloves off [in attacking ISIS],” he said. “So that’s why I think you saw a much quicker elimination of ISIS in the region. But those forces are still there, the Sunni problems are still there.”
Nunes said he is “somewhat” in contact with the administration about developing that broader strategy. “Not as many conversations as I’d like, but, it’s not my call, right?” he told the Washington Examiner.
