The top U.S. general in charge of the fight against the Islamic State told Congress Tuesday that Russian influence in Syria has “added complexity” and “progress at risk” in the effort to finish off the remaining ISIS fighters.
“Diplomatically and militarily, Moscow plays both arsonist and firefighter, fueling tensions among all parties in Syria — the Syrian regime, Iran, Turkey, the Syrian Democratic Forces, the United States and other coalition partners — then serving as an arbiter to resolve disputes,” Gen. Joseph Votel, the head of the U.S. Central Command, said in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee.
Russia’s actions, Votel said, showed it is focused solely on preserving its influence and control and are either not capable or not interested in playing a role to bring peace to Syria
“It is clear that Russia’s interests in Syria are Russia’s interests and not those of the wider international community,” Votel told the committee.
The general recently returned from an inspection tour of his area of responsibility, which includes Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan.
In his testimony, Votel touted what he called “incredible success against ISIS in Iraq and Syria,” and declared “the destruction of the ISIS physical caliphate is imminent.”
But he said U.S. troops would need to remain in Syria even after the last bit of territory has been reclaimed from ISIS.
“Even though they have been eliminated from controlling terrain does not mean that ISIS is not present in those areas,” Votel said under questioning from Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas. “We have to be sure that ISIS isn’t given the opportunity to resurge.”
O’Rourke argued the U.S. would lack a legal basis for staying in Syria after ISIS was no longer engaged in fighting U.S.-backed forces.
“The logical conclusion of your answer to my question about our presence after ISIS is defeated is that the U.S. military can be in any and every country that there was ever an ISIS presence just so that there won’t be an ISIS presence going forward,” O’Rourke said. “I think that is a recipe for disaster. We will not have successful oversight or accountability or prosecution of that war because we cannot define its goals or the strategy.”
Immediately after the exchange between Votel and O’Rourke, committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, asked Votel, “General, what happened when we left Iraq completely in 2009 after we had supposedly defeated al Qaeda in Iraq?”
“We saw the rise of ISIS, and we saw the inability of the Iraqi security forces to effectively address it as it was growing,” Votel responded.
Votel says the U.S. needs to stay in Syria to ensure stability and to give U.S. diplomats time to work on a political resolution in the U.N.-sponsored peace talks in Geneva.
