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Source: http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/html/pdf/SatloffTestimony20110623.pdf
Iran and Syria: Next Steps
(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Robert Satloff - The Middle East's real strategic drama is being played out in Syria. At stake is not just whether millions of Syrians will finally find freedom and liberty after four decades of dictatorial rule by the Assad family. At stake is more than the survival of a regime that has been a consistent source of tension, threat, and challenge to U.S. interests on numerous fronts for nearly all of the Assad family's decades of control. Rather, at stake is the opportunity to strike a painful, perhaps decisive blow to the axis of anti-peace, anti-Western, anti-American regimes that is headquartered in Tehran and runs through Damascus. Syria is the weak link in this axis. Breaking that alliance would be a strategic achievement of immense proportions. America will benefit from the demise of the Assad regime. A sound U.S. strategy will recognize that it is essential to counter Iranian ambitions with some strategic setbacks. The three places where the U.S. can most effectively strike a blow against Iran are Syria, Iraq, and Iran itself. Testimony of Dr. Robert Satloff, Executive Director, of the Washington Institute, to the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee on June 23, 2011.