International security

As Trump considers military action on Syria, Pentagon worries it could put Russian soldiers in the crosshairs

Clearly neither Moscow nor Washington wants a direct conflict in Syria. The U.S. has about 2,000 troops deployed chiefly in the country's north, where they support Kurdish troops fighting Islamic State. The Pentagon uses a so-called deconfliction hotline from its air base in Qatar to make sure U.S. and Russian aircraft avoid each other in Syrian airspace.
The Russian military contingent in Syria is slightly smaller — estimated at fewer than 2,000 troops and fewer than 100 warplanes. So the U.S. and its allies could carry out targeted reprisals on Syrian military targets with limited risk of causing Russian casualties, especially if the U.S. warns Moscow ahead of the strikes, U.S. officials say.
But Trump has raised the possibility that Moscow could face some sort of retaliation as well, warning Tuesday that Russia or any other nation found to share responsibility with Syria for the suspected gas attack would "pay a price."