Tess Bridgeman

Former Special Assistant to the President, Former Associate Counsel to the President, Former Deputy Legal Adviser to the National Security Council (NSC), Formerly Served at the Department of State in the Office of the Legal Adviser, in the Office of Political-Military Affairs and as Special Assistant to the Legal Adviser

US “Confronting” Iran Inside Syria: Spoiling for an Unlawful Fight?

Beyond the obvious geopolitical implications, seeking out a military confrontation with Iran in Syria for the purpose of preventing it “from cementing its military presence in Syria” may skirt both domestic and international law.

Tess Bridgeman
By Tess Bridgeman
An American soldier standing on an armored vehicle in the northern village of Darbasiyah, Syria. U.S. moved troops and armored vehicles through several Syrian cities and towns on in a show of force. April. 29, 2017. (AP Photo via APTV)

The Trump administration is considering “whether to make confronting Iran an explicit new goal for the more than 2,000 American forces currently in Syria,” according to a recent report by the Wall Street Journal.  If a policy of military confrontation with Iran in Syria is actually on the table, this is troubling on several levels. As I’ve

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