Source – Syrian rebel groups’ rapid advance on the nation’s capital city of Damascus and theĀ possible collapseĀ of President Bashar al-Assad’s government after more than a decade of civil war has brought renewed attention to the continued presence of U.S. forces in the country, despite theĀ absence of a clear legal authorization.
The U.S. is believed to have around 900 troops deployed to Syria, mostly in the northeast, as well as an unknown number of private contractors. Nick Turse, a contributing writer for The Intercept, observed Thursday that American forces in Syria “have, on average, come under fire multiple times each week since last October,” according to internal Pentagon statistics.
“Keeping military personnel in harm’s way for the sake of foreign policy credibility has become increasingly risky with theĀ GazaĀ war and the flare-up of the Syrian civil war,” Turse wrote.
Kelley Vlahos, senior adviser to the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, wrote Saturday morning that “whether the Pentagon wants to admit it or not,” U.S. troops “are likely involved in the broader conflict unfolding there right now.”
Reutersreported Tuesday that as rebels advanced toward the city of Hama, “fighters from a U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led coalition battled government forces in the northeast, both sides said, opening a new front along a vital supply route” and “compounding Assad’s problems.”
As the coalition of groups led by the Islamist organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and factions of the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army has quickly seized control of large swaths of territory, the White House National Security Council (NSC) said in a statement last weekend that the U.S.āwhich has previously armed and trained Syrian rebelsā”has nothing to do with this offensive.”
“The United States, together with its partners and allies, urge de-escalation, protection of civilians and minority groups, and a serious and credible political process that can end this civil war once and for all with a political settlement consistent with UNSCR 2254,” said NSC spokesperson Sean Savett. “We will also continue to fully defend and protect U.S. personnel and U.S. military positions, which remain essential to ensuring that ISIS can never again resurge in Syria.”
On Friday, the White House said in a letter to Congress that “a small presence of United States Armed Forces remains in strategically significant locations in Syria to conduct operations, in partnership with local, vetted ground forces, to address continuing terrorist threats emanating from Syria.”
On Friday, the White House said in a letter to Congress that “a small presence of United States Armed Forces remains in strategically significant locations in Syria to conduct operations, in partnership with local, vetted ground forces, to address continuing terrorist threats emanating from Syria.”
President-elect Donald Trump, who during his first term opted to keep U.S. troops in Syria for the openly stated purpose of exploiting the country’s oil fields, wrote in a social media post on Saturday that “the United States should have nothing to do with” the current conflict.
“This is not our fight,” he wrote in all caps. “Let it play out. Do not get involved!”
Trump’s post, as The Associated Pressreported, came as rebels’ “stunning march across Syria gained speed… with news that they had reached the suburbs of the capital and with the government forced to deny rumors that President Bashar al-Assad had fled the country.”
