U.S. To Send Special Ops Forces To Syria

Published October 30, 2015 at 12:06 PM EDT

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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov chat before talks with 17 nations, the European Union and United Nations at the Hotel Imperial on October 30, 2015 in Vienna, Austria. Kerry and other leaders are in Vienna to discuss solutions to the conflict in Syria. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)

The White House today said it would send a 50-person team of special operations forces to Syria to aid in the fight against ISIS.

This comes as negotiators meet in Vienna as President Bashar al-Assad’s main international backers, Iran and Russia, meet with officials from the U.S., Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states who say Assad has to go.

Secretary of State John Kerry says he’s hopeful the competing sides can find a path forward to end a civil war that has cost more than 250,000 lives since it started more than four years ago.

Jonathan Marcus of BBC News joins Here & Now’s Robin Young with details.

Note: This BBC interview can be heard in the Here & Now podcast or with the WBUR app.

Guest

Jonathan Marcus, defense and diplomatic correspondent for BBC News. He tweets @Diplo1.