According to Dr HA Hellyer, a Middle East expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, DC, the US administration’s response will be influenced by the unfolding events over the next few hours.
In a hypothetical scenario where the pilots are captured, Dr Hellyer believes the public in the United States would strongly disapprove of such a spectacle, potentially prompting Donald Trump to further escalate the situation.
Dr Hellyer notes that US policy is currently in a state of flux, driven by a small group of key decision-makers at the top, making it challenging to predict the administration’s direction.