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Source: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/syria/2016-05-24/southern-front-syria
The Southern Front in Syria
(Foreign Affairs) Ehud Ya'ari - For the past two years, Washington has focused its attention on northern Syria, where it has attempted to strengthen the Syrian Democratic Forces and rout the Islamic State. It has paid much less attention to southern Syria. That is a mistake; the U.S. has an opportunity there to consolidate and expand upon recent rebel gains. A relatively modest assistance program from Washington could help the local factions expel ISIS from its small enclave in the region and gradually dissolve the local al-Qaeda affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra. What's more, strengthening the rebels' position in the south may convince the half million Druze in the southwestern city of Sweida to turn away from the Assad regime. In recent years, the Druze and the rebels have agreed not to attack one another, and the rebels are careful to avoid the Druze Mountain. The writer is an international fellow with The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a Middle East commentator for Israel's Channel Two television.