Syria Regime Change Not Trump's Priority, but Is that Realistic?

In the aftermath of the U.S. airstrike on Syria, top Trump administration officials are now strategizing to end the Syrian war and prevent more atrocities like last week's sarin gas attack. 

Regime change – getting rid of Syrian President Assad – is now part of the plan.
 
The president's national security advisor suggests the United States won't effect regime change in Syria on its own.

"Russia should ask themselves, 'What are we doing here? Why are we supporting this murderous regime that is committing mass murder of its own population and using the most heinous weapons available?'" said Lt. General H.R. McMaster.
 
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says for now, destroying ISIS, not changing leadership in Syria, is the top priority.

"Our priority is first the defeat of ISIS, remove them from access to the caliphate because that's where the threat to the homeland and so many homelands of our coalition partners is emanating from," he explained.
 
Tillerson believes cease-fire agreements between the Assad regime and opposition forces could then be negotiated, followed by a political process to end the war.
 
But Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., says the Trump administration should reconsider its Syria strategy.
 
"This idea that we're going to get rid of ISIS and then we'll hopefully use Assad and others to come up with a solution is not going to work. As long as Assad is there you're going to have a radical jihadist Sunni element. Even if you destroy ISIS, it'll be al-Nusra and that new coalition," Rubio insists. 
 
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., wants to see five or six-thousand more American troops on the ground in Syria to defeat ISIS. Then he wants safe havens to be created quickly so people can regroup inside Syria.
 
"Then you train the opposition to go after Assad. That's how he is taken out by his own people with our efforts and you tell the Russians if you continue to bomb the people we've trained, we'll shoot you down," he said.
 
Graham also believes Russia should be sanctioned for what he calls aiding and abetting Syrian President Assad in using chemical weapons.
 
So, what is Trump's next step on Syria? U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley says the president will keep all his thoughts and plans close to his chest.
 
"This president is not going to go and release any sort of information," explained Haley. "But I think what you are going to see is pressure on the political solution. That's really what's going to happen."