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The United States started plans to intervene in Syria, beginning in September 2014, with air strikes against in an attempt to stifle the rise of the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) rebels.
During the Arab Spring, peaceful protests against the Assad administration were suppressed and became violent. Islamist elements quickly came to dominate the rebellion. The most powerful rebel faction transformed into what would become the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Following the abduction of a number of foreigners in Syria, on 4 July 2014, U.S. air strikes were conducted against the ISIS military base known as the "Osama bin Laden Camp". At the same time, two dozen special operations members parachuted from helicopters near an ISIS building for high-valued prisoners. However, no prisoners were found in the building and the special forces members were soon engaged by ISIS forces from Ar-Raqqah and a three-hour firefight ensued. Eventually, U.S. forces came to the conclusion that the hostages were no longer at the site and abandoned the rescue attempt. At least 5 ISIS fighters were killed and a U.S soldier was wounded. Jordanian forces were also reportedly involved in the operation with one Jordanian soldier also wounded, but this was not confirmed. Later it was reported the hostages had been moved 24 hours before the attempted rescue. It remained unclear whether the operation failed due to bad intelligence or whether ISIS forces were alerted in advance of the mission.
In the aftermath of the operation, three hostages were executed over a one-month period: Americans James Foley and Steven Sotloff and Briton David Haines.
Surveillance flights over Syria
On 26 August, the U.S. began sending surveillance flights, including drones, into Syria to gather intelligence on ISIS targets in Syria. The flights started gathering intelligence that would aid any future U.S. airstrikes, however airstrikes were not yet authorized. No approval was sought from the Syrian Arab Republic for the flights entering Syrian airspace.
At the direction of President Obama, the American Central Intelligence Agency played an active role since the early stages of the Syrian Civil War. The U.S. originally supplied the moderate rebels of the Free Syrian Army with non-lethal aid but soon escalated to providing training, cash and intelligence to selected rebel commanders.
On 17 September, the House of Representatives voted to authorize the executive branch to train and arm Syrian rebels against ISIS forces. One of the groups that United States intends to train and arm is the Islamist Army of Mujahedeen.
Air campaign
Airstrikes
On 22 September, Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby confirmed that the United States and other partner nations had undertaken strikes in Syria using fighter, bomber, and Tomahawk missile's authorized by President Obama. The initial strikes were carried out and coordinated by United States Central Command and they targeted about 20 Islamic State targets, including headquarters buildings. Arab partners also began airstrikes in Syria, including the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Saudi Arabia. Qatar, and Bahrain are also involved.
Syrian government involvement
Syria's Bashar Assad government did not request or approve the airstrikes, although it is fighting ISIS militants. Assad's military possesses sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles, mostly near the capital of Damascus and the border with Israel and not in ISIL controlled areas.
Foreign reactions
Syria and Russia opposed the U.S. intervention in Syria against the Islamic State without a consent by the Syrian government. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich opposed the U.S. intervention "without the consent of the legitimate government" and said that "this step, in the absence of a UN Security Council decision, would be an act of aggression, a gross violation of international law". Syrian minister of national reconciliation Ali Haidar also said that "any action of any kind without the consent of the Syrian government would be an attack on Syria".
This list includes World War I and later conflicts (after 1914) of at least 100 fatalities each Prolonged conflicts are listed in the decade when initiated; ongoing conflicts are marked italic, and conflicts with +100,000 killed with bold.
United States
UAE
Qatar
Jordan
Saudi Arabia
Bahrain
ISIS
