Airstrikes highlight shifting reasons for U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 27, 2021
Contact: press@defensepriorities.org

WASHINGTON, DC—This evening, the Pentagon announced President Biden had authorized airstrikes on facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups in the Iraq-Syria border region. Defense Priorities Policy Director Benjamin H. Friedman issued the following statement in response:

“Whether or not the strikes are legally valid and necessary to defend U.S. forces, they raise the question of what U.S. forces are still doing in Iraq and Syria. We will always defend U.S. troops deployed to warzones, but the extended presence in Iraq and Syria risks escalation to wider war with local militias—and even with Iran, which aids those militias, according to U.S. officials. No legitimate U.S. interest in the region merits that risk.

“The best way to keep U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria safe is to withdraw them. ISIS’s territorial caliphate is history, with the group losing its last patch of territory more than two years ago. It is past time for U.S. leaders to declare victory and get out. Local forces can deal with ISIS’s remnants. Staying just makes U.S. troops a target.

“Militia groups, let alone hostile states, are getting better at precisely targeting missiles and using drones, and defensive measures are getting more difficult—this shift is one reason among many to radically reduce the U.S. troop presence in the Middle East.”

Author

Benjamin
Friedman

Policy Director

Defense Priorities