President Trump has backed a plan to keep a presence in Syria until Iran leaves, but that does not necessarily mean U.S. military “boots on the ground,” according to James Jeffrey, the president’s special envoy to the war-torn country.
Arab allies and local proxy forces backed by U.S. air power could replace the roughly 2,000 American troops deployed there now as the administration begins a new push for the “removal of all Iranian-commanded forces from the entirety of Syria,” Jeffrey told reporters in New York this week.
The plan to keep a U.S. presence in Syria until Iran leaves was laid out this week by John Bolton, the White House national security adviser, in comments that appeared to run counter to the Pentagon’s goals.
“We’re not going to leave as long as Iranian troops are outside Iranian borders and that includes Iranian proxies and militias,” Bolton said.
That raised questions about the role of the deployed military forces, which have been fighting in the country since 2014 to defeat the Islamic State — and nothing else. The Pentagon’s legal authority to wage war there depends on a Sept. 11-era authorization covering al Qaeda and associated groups that was passed by Congress.
“That to me sounds like we’re sending our military to Syria to counter Iran, especially because their withdrawal is apparently dependent on actions of Iran, not actions of ISIS or the defeat of ISIS,” said Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., the ranking member on a House Armed Services subcommittee.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis also fielded questions from reporters on whether the stated military mission in Syria had shifted to countering Tehran, and he insisted it has not.
“Right now, our troops inside Syria are there for one purpose, and that’s under U.N. authorization about defeating ISIS,” Mattis said.
The Trump administration policy for Syria and Iran is instead considering Arab allies on the ground to do the work of countering Iranian forces.
Bolton has reportedly been asking nations such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates to field an Arab force in the country as part of a transition after the military defeats the terror group.
Meanwhile, Trump has also made clear he wants countries in the region to step up in Syria and will withdraw U.S. troops “very soon” pending the defeat of the Islamic State.
“We have done a tremendous job in Syria and in that region eradicating ISIS, which is why we’re there, and we’re very close to being finished with that job, and then we’re going to make a determination as to what we’re going to do,” Trump said during a recent visit with the president of Poland at the White House.
Jeffrey said the departure of Iranian forces and militias is now one of the administration’s three conditions for leaving. The other two are total defeat of ISIS, which is the military’s stated mission, and supporting the United Nations peace process.
“The president wants us in Syria until that and the other conditions are met. But I want to be clear here: Us. ‘Us’ is not necessarily American boots on the ground,” he said. “There are many ways that we can be on the ground. We’re certainly on the ground diplomatically. … We have local forces that we have trained in various parts of Syria. Our allies have local forces.”
The U.S. military could also provide air support to allies on the ground, as it did previously in Iraq, Jeffrey said.
“I’m not suggesting any of these scenarios are what we will apply in the future in Syria. I’m just saying there are many ways that we will be active,” he said.
