It isn't the U.S. cruise missiles that terrify Saleem, a pro-government militia fighter who survived some of the toughest battles of  Syria 's civil war. It's the rebel onslaught that could begin once American bombs start to fall. Holed up on bases where loudspeakers blare patriotic...

The United States and allies are preparing for a possibly imminent series of limited military strikes against Syria, the first direct U.S. intervention in the two-year civil war, in retaliation for President Bashar al-Assad’s suspected use of chemical weapons against civilians. If you...

Syria's neighbours are bracing for an influx of refugees fleeing their country in fear of US-led military action, compounding what the UN has branded a "disgraceful humanitarian calamity." The movement could deepen an already enormous regional refugee crisis. The numbers of Syrians...

So the U.S. launches a military strike. Then what? As the Obama administration and the  U.S. military  plot military action against Syria, they should be spending just as much time — and arguably more — considering what happens next. Once Washington crosses the threshold of...