A panel establish by Congress warned lawmakers this month against the U.S. withdrawing any more troops from Syria.
The Syria Study Group, a bipartisan panel composed of 12 experts, sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, with recommendations on the U.S. strategy in Syria.
The interim report concluded that pulling troops from Syria “undermines confidence in the American commitment to Syria.”
The report offered a series of key recommendations, including halting the withdrawal of troops, maintaining a sufficient presence to train and assist local partners to defeat the Islamic State, and supporting the Syrian Democratic Forces to secure and process ISIS detainees.
“Territorial defeat is not enduring defeat, and ISIS is already reconstituting in Iraq and Syria,” says the report, which was obtained by Politico. “Thousands of fighters along with their families are being held in temporary detention facilities across Syria, laying the groundwork for violence and radicalization if left unaddressed.”
The report said ISIS “is not the only terrorist threat emanating from Syria” and cautioned that al Qaeda is “in effective control” of Idlib in northwestern Syria, where it has the ability to carry out external attacks. U.S. aircraft do not frequently fly over Idlib because of Russian air defenses.
The panel also cautioned that U.S. sanctions and Israeli airstrikes have “contained, but not deterred, Iranian actions” and the status quo will not push out Iranian-backed forces from the region. The report recommended that sanctions be kept in place, while advocating for the U.S. to participate in a coordinated campaign to expose Iran’s conduct in Syria, such as the “entrenchment of militias and economic exploitation.”
The final report is expected in September.
In December, President Trump declared “victory” over ISIS in Syria and ordered a withdrawal of “all” 2,000 troops from the country. The announcement caught the Pentagon off guard and led to Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis’ resignation on principle.
Walking back a full pullout, the White House announced in February that 200 troops would remain in Syria.
The Syria Study Group is co-chaired by Dana Stroul, a staffer for the Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Michael Singh, who served as special assistant to Secretaries of State Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice during the George W. Bush administration.
