Obama Administration Opening 2-front Campaign on Syria

The Obama administration opened a two-front campaign on Syria on Thursday with a push to end one war there and step up another.
Obama Administration Opening 2-front Campaign on Syria
(L-R) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at a meeting of the International Syrian Support Group (ISSG), ahead of the International Munich Security Conference, in Munich, Germany, on Feb. 11, 2016. Alexandra Beier/Getty Images
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MUNICH—The Obama administration opened a two-front campaign on Syria on Thursday with a push to end one war there and step up another.

The United States, Russia and more than a dozen other nations with interests in the Syria conflict, including Iran, gathered to try to agree on a cease-fire in the for the civil war that might resuscitate stalled peace talks.

Amid deep differences between the U.S. and Russia over the timing and conditions of the truce—and a bitter argument over who is to blame for bombing civilian areas around Aleppo, a rebel stronghold—the International Syria Support Group opened talks with no sign of an imminent breakthrough.

At the same time in Brussels, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter rallied new support for the fight against the Islamic State group in largely the same territory.

Secretary of Defense Ash Carter speaks during a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Feb. 11, 2016. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter speaks during a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Feb. 11, 2016. AP Photo/Virginia Mayo