WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Department of Defense announced it has started the process to remove all U.S. troops from Syria.
On Capitol Hill, some are applauding the move. Kentucky Senator Rand Paul (R) said, “For the first time in my lifetime we have a president with the courage to declare victory and bring the troops home.”
Others are concerned Isis is not yet fully defeated,
Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said, “The decision to withdraw an American presence in Syria is a colossal, in my mind, mistake. A grave error that’s going to have significant repercussions in the years and months to come.”
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said, “I have not found one person national, security-wise, who believes it’s a good idea to remove the 2,200 troops.”
And it’s also unclear what the Russian and Iranian backed forces will do, a worry for some Republicans. “Now that the U.S. is going to withdraw from Syria, we have basically turned the country over to Russia and to an even greater extent, Iran,” said Sen. Rubio.
It’s that fear of an unchecked Iran, which has Israel worried, as the two have periodically sparred.
The U.S. will keep troops in Iraq with the capability of launching strikes into Syria.
But despite President Trump’s tweet that ISIS is defeated, a Defense Department inspector general report says the number of ISIS members in Syria and Iraq could be as high as 30,000.
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