Reuters reports that the US is “weighing options to build momentum” in the fight against ISIS.
Two U.S. officials, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing deliberations, said any deployments would be narrowly tailored, seeking to advance specific, limited military objectives in both Iraq and Syria.
That option includes temporarily deploying some U.S. special operations forces inside of Syria to advise moderate Syrian opposition fighters for the first time and, potentially, to help call in U.S. air strikes, one official said.
Of course, the strategy shift isn’t being universally acclaimed.
https://twitter.com/Harvard/status/659185402587271169
David Gardner at the FT writes that the West “should call Moscow’s bluff” on the future of Syria:
Of course, it is discomfiting to all external parties to Syria’s viciously complicated conflict to categorise some of their allies. The west, for example, regards Assad regime allies such as the Iran-backed Hizbollah paramilitaries of Lebanon or some Iraqi Shia militia as terrorists. Moscow for its part describes as terrorists Ahrar al-Sham, backed by Turkey but allied with Jabhat al-Nusra, the local al-Qaeda branch supported from the Gulf; it often claims the Free Syrian Army does not exist.
Yet no nine-point plan is going to make headway with any of this — especially since about the only point discussed so far is Moscow’s insistence that Mr Assad, regarded by much of his Sunni majority population as a war criminal, must stay on through an interim transition. If the Kremlin really does perceive the well-financed millenarian jihadism of Isis as a regional and global threat, then a more immediate, say, three-point plan might show it is serious about addressing it.
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WORLD
Meanwhile…
The Budget deal has raised the ire of Conservatives.
Republicans are preparing for Wednesday night’s CNBC debate on the economy.
Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, said she wouldn’t bail out troubled banks
https://twitter.com/oakvillesqurl/status/659281797914558464
https://twitter.com/thisisjustaride/status/659256311993929729
Fallout continues from a classroom incident at Spring Valley High School in South Carolina.
Human Rights Watch has a gloomy prognosis for Malaysia.
No… really?
***
BUSINESS
Meanwhile, there’s another GM recall
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MEDIA
Big shake-up at the Atlantic/National Journal.
Evergreen journalism from the ever-pink ‘un.. (salmon, actually)
And a pretty impressive front on today’s Times.
(The Times/Tomorrow’s Papers Today)
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CULTURE
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SPORTS
FIFA confirmed that seven candidates will contest the election next February to succeed Sepp Blatter as the body’s president.
The longest Game One in baseball’s World Series history started with an inside-the-park home run and ended when the Kansas City Royals outlasted the New York Mets in 14 innings.
Game Two is Wednesday night in Kansas City, before the series moves to Citi Field at the weekend.
The Overnight Note 