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One can only imagine what the mother or wife of one of the 200 members of the Army’s al-Tanf Garrison in Syria must have thought when a State Department official recently told reporters the US has no plans on the horizon of withdrawing them.
In total, there are 900 US servicemen in the eastern portion of Syria after being ordered in by the Obama Administration, and their justification for being there has changed at different times for different reasons. Located in a part of the country controlled by the Kurdish SDF (Syrian Defense Forces) that is beyond the control of the central government in Aleppo, their original justification was to support the Pentagon’s Kurdish allies during the fight against ISIS.
During the Trump Administration, ISIS was defeated by the international coalition led on the ground by Iran. After, the justification changed—to securing oil-rich areas of Syria and preventing the Syrian government from accessing them.
“We’re keeping the oil,” Trump said in Chicago at the time. “I’ve always said that—keep the oil. We want to keep the oil, $45 million a month. Keep the oil. We’ve secured the oil”.
It was also during Trump’s time that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the 900 soldiers were there for “diminishing Iran’s influence; making sure the country is free of weapons of mass destruction; and helping refugees to return after years of civil war”.
Under the Biden Administration, the 900 soldiers and their mission to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS and securing the oil is experiencing mission creep—as WaL reported that US forces began to establish forward operating positions in and around the nearby city of al-Qamishli, including Himo village, Naqarah village, and a third on the runway at al-Qamishli airport, while running patrols as far afield as Al-Hasakha district.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights recently reported that following a withdrawal from ‘CIA’ forces from Himo on January 8th, 10 days later the area was struck with drone bombs from Iranian-armed groups. The report said the CIA was pulling back because the feared continuing attacks by such groups, meaning they are common, and the garrison doesn’t have the forces necessary for defending Himo.
Since October 19th, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) documented 94 attacks carried out by Iranian-backed militias on Coalition bases in different areas across Syria.
Missions
Al-Tanf has been described as “Strategic Baggage” and represents the US military at its worst and most lawless. Without authorization from Congress, or the UN, and without invitation from the Syrian government, the 200-man garrison has remained from the military operation to topple the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, perched along a key highway between Baghdad and Damascus.
On January 20th, 2023, three one-way attack drones targeted al-Tanf injured two members of a US-backed Syrian militia.
Earlier this year, reports suggested that the US was considering a Syria withdrawal, but the SDF later said it received assurances from the US that its forces were there to stay, Antiwar reports.
Ethan A. Goldrich, assistant deputy secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, said the US wouldn’t leave Syria until its “mission” was completed, referring to the anti-ISIS operations.
“We are not planning to withdraw from Syria. We are planning to continue and complete our mission to prevent a resurgence of ISIS and to counter ISIS and to work with our partners,” Goldrich told Rudaw on Wednesday.
In May of last year, the Arab League voted 13 to 9 to readimt Syria into the association.
“Syria, starting from this evening, is a full member of the Arab League, and from tomorrow morning they have the right to occupy any seat,” said Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the Arab League’s secretary-general, adding that it didn’t mean the region had completely normalized relations with Syria; “these are sovereign decisions for each state individually,” he noted.
The US continues to maintain crippling sanctions meant to deliberately “prevent reconstruction” of the nation.
The Arab League ministers also voiced the necessity for Syria to reclaim all of its territory, including a large part of the east where the US troops are to be found.
Award-winning reporter Dave DeCamp, writing for Antiwar, says that the most important role the paltry 900 US troops have in the region as Pentagon planners see it is to act as bait for attack, and thereby give the US a justification for war or escalation in the region in case the it finds it advantageous to do so. WaL
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PICTURED ABOVE: US Bradley fighting vehicles on patrol in Al-Hasakha district, Syria, in 2023. PC: Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
