Who actually rules US foreign policy?

[dreamville_bg]

Here's a handful of crackpot conspiracy theories for breakfast. Let's see if something sticks, and helps your digestion. See, for the last few weeks US secretary of state Kerry has toured nearly half the world, doing his best not to lag behind his Russian counterpart Lavrov, pushing hard for a ceasefire in Earth's current hottest spot, Syria.

Comments

[htpcl]

I'm more curious about who rules the Syrian military, Assad or Putin. The former's actions in Aleppo have been rather barbaric, and largely because he's enjoying the latter's suport.

[arijames]

"If they do, why would a US operation want to aid ISIS while claiming to fight ISIS?"
They don't, the fact of the matter is that they're incompetent and the policy makers are largely unaware of what's going on at ground level. The Green Berets have been training and supporting the YPG in their fight against ISIS, while the CIA-led rebel groups have been focused on toppling Assad, and as a result US-backed forces often end up in direct conflict with each other. Also to be considered is the influence the Turks have, which for the most part manifests itself as an obsessive focus on keeping the Kurds on "their" side of the Euphrates, which is a position US officials have publicly supported even though the Kurds were successfully driving ISIS out of border towns like Jarabulus.