Will Iran replace ISIL in central and eastern Syria?
If the Kurds cut a deal with Assad (as I've noted they could easily do) after helping defeat ISIL in Raqqa, who will resist the Iranians from spearheading the Assad restoration in the east?
It sometimes seems as if the entire world is effectively helping the butcher Assad retain power.
Don't you dare call this smart diplomacy.
UPDATE: Yeah (Tip to Instapundit):
“The areas where Daesh [an Arabic term for IS] presence is decreasing, Iran is working to fill the void,” Mossad chief Yossi Cohen said during a security briefing to [Israelis] cabinet ministers on Sunday.
That's a problem.
It doesn't mean we should have left ISIL in Syria alone (although I did want to create a friendly local force capable of filling the void before defeating ISIL, recall, preferring a more rapid advance against ISIL in Iraq).
But it does mean that the defeat of ISIL in Syria is just our entry ticket for the next problem in Syria.
