Discordant Verdicts on U.S. Forces in Syria: Too Much, or Too Little

President Obama’s decision to send a small team of United States commandos into Syria as part of the broader war against the Islamic State has raised new questions about his military strategy, its legal foundation and the way it has been sold to the American public.

After years in which Mr. Obama rejected “boots on the ground,” the deployment of up to 50 Special Operations troops to northern Syria is a relatively modest commitment. But coupled with the 3,500 troops now stationed next door in Iraq, it reflects continuing improvisation in a war that has bedeviled Mr. Obama and tested the limits of American interests in the region.