Washington has had troops in Syria for years as part of international efforts against the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
(IS) group, which rose out of the chaos of the country's civil war to seize swaths of territory there and in neighboring Iraq over a decade ago.
The brutal jihadists have since suffered major defeats in both countries, but still remain a threat.
''Today the secretary of defense directed the consolidation of US forces in Syria— to select locations,'' Pentagon front man Sean Parnell said in a statement, without specifying the sites where this would take place.
''This deliberate and conditions-based process will bring the US footprint in Syria down to less than 1,000 US forces in the coming months,'' he said.
''As this consolidation takes place— US Central Command will remain poised to continue strikes against the remnants of (IS) in Syria,'' Parnell added, referring to the military command responsible for the region.
President Donald Trump
...So far he's been unkillable, and they've tried....
has long been skeptical of Washington's presence in Syria, ordering the withdrawal of troops during his first term but ultimately leaving American forces in the country.
As Islamist-led rebels pressed forward with a lightning offensive last December that ultimately overthrew Syrian president Bashir
Pencilneckal-Assad
Leveler of Latakia...
, Trump said Washington should ''NOT GET INVOLVED!''
''Syria is a mess, but is not our friend, & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT,'' Trump, then the president-elect, wrote on his Truth Social platform.