Withdraw U.S. troops from Syria and avoid needless risk

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 20, 2021
Contact: press@defensepriorities.org

WASHINGTON, DC—Today, there are reports that U.S. forces stationed at Al-Tanf in Syria have been targeted by a drone attack. Defense Priorities Fellow Daniel DePetris issued the following statement in response:

“If core U.S. security interests were at stake in Syria, maintaining a ground presence could perhaps be justified—but, two years after ISIS was denied its last scrap of territory, no vital U.S. interests remain there. The longer U.S. forces remain in Syria on an open-ended and ill-defined mission, the more likely an American will be pointlessly killed or seriously injured by a rocket or drone attack.

“Today, ISIS fighters are scattered, alienated from the population, facing multiple adversaries, and relegated to primitive hit-and-run attacks. Local militias are only capable of harming Americans because Washington has kept U.S. forces deployed in the region. The U.S. completed its mission long ago. The only responsible course is a full withdrawal, saving U.S. troops from needless risk.”