(Ken Silva, Headline USA) American troops in Syria are in danger because treasonous officials disobeyed orders from President Donald Trump to withdraw from there on multiple occasions.
Trump’s orders to withdraw from Syria came in 2018 and again in 2019, and each time officials either resigned in protest or outright deceived the President.
In December 2018, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis resigned over the matter, as did Syria envoy Brett McGurk. And according to DefenseOne.com, military officials lied to Trump about how many troops were there.
“We were always playing shell games to not make clear to our leadership how many troops we had there,” McGurk’s replacement, diplomat Jim Jeffrey, told the publication in November 2020.
Jeffrey added that the actual number of troops in northeast Syria is “a lot more than” the roughly two hundred troops Trump initially agreed to leave there in 2019.
Fast forward about three years later, and the treasonous actions by Trump’s subordinates have American troops at risk. Since the Oct. 7 war between Israel and Hamas erupted, the Pentagon says that U.S. troops have come under attack 66 times in Syria and Iraq—where Trump also wanted to withdraw from.
Instead of now finally withdrawing the troops—or, alternatively, responding with enough force to deter the attacks—the Biden administration seems content to leave them there as sitting ducks. Biden has also launched air strikes in Syria and Iraq, further inflaming the locals.
“We vehemently condemn the attack on Jurf al-Nasr, executed without the knowledge of Iraqi government agencies,” said Iraqi government spokesman Basem al-Awadi last week, after the Defense Department announced it launched airstrikes early Wednesday against facilities south of Baghdad used by Kataib Hezbollah, a Shia militia that’s aligned with Iran, according to antiwar.com’s Dave DeCamp.
The Biden administration is reportedly aware that it’s placing American troops in danger through its actions.
Congressional Democrats are expressing doubts about Biden’s approach—though they’re seeking an escalation in violence rather than withdrawal.
“I’m not suggesting we start a full-fledged war with Tehran,” Sen. Kevin Cramer, D-N.D., told the Washington Post last week. “But I do think our posture has to be a little more aggressive than just strictly defensive, because one of these days, we’re going to miss one of those drones.”
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
