To date, which is difficult, as fast as this situation is moving. This hearing today is intended to assess the geopolitical and humanitarian impact of turkeys crossborder attack on u. S. Interests in the middle east, determined how best to salvage u. S. Interests moving forward and evaluate the state of u. S. turkey relations. Before we talk about the current state of affairs in syria, its important to recall the path that brought us here. To begin, the Syrian Civil War is a complex, multisided conflict that has drawn in russia, iran, the u. S. , nato allies, and other entities. Over the course of this eightyearlong conflict, syrias brutal dictator, ai bar shal ai said, with the support of russia and iran, has relentlessly bombed cities and towns across syria, resulting in over 500,000 deaths and leaving over 10 Million People displaced. We are all aware that many confirmed uses of chemical weapons by the russiabacked assad regime, adding to the humanitarian suffering in violations of