U.S. Troops In Syria Not Coming Home; Headed To Iraq

TAJI, IRAQ - APRIL 12: U.S. Army trainers watch as an Iraqi recruit fires at a military base on April 12, 2015 in Taji, Iraq. U.S. forces, currently operating in 5 large bases throught the country, are training thousands of Iraqi Army combat troops, trying to rebuild a force they had origninally trained before the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq in 2010. Members of the U.S. Army's 5-73 CAV, 3BCT, 82nd Airborne Division are teaching members of the newly-formed 15th Division of the Iraqi Army, as the Iraqi government launches offensives to try to recover territory lost to ISIS last year. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

In trying to justify the sudden withdrawal of the U.S. military from Syria, Donald Trump said earlier this week, it was time to bring our troops home.

But they’re not coming home. Despite the president’s words, Defense Secretary Mark Esper has confirmed that U.S. troops will only be relocating to Iraq, where they will continue to fight ISIS. From a Politico reporter traveling with the Defense Secretary:

“Speaking to reporters traveling with him to the Middle East, Esper did not rule out the idea that U.S. forces would conduct counterterrorism missions from Iraq into Syria. But he said those details will be worked out over time.“

“The developments made clear that one of President Donald Trump’s rationales for withdrawing troops from Syria was not going to come to pass any time soon.“

The Pentagon currently has more than 5,000 troops in Iraq, and Trump is moving more than a thousand to Saudi Arabia.

All of the nearly 1,000 U.S. troops withdrawing from northern Syria will head to western Iraq to continue the campaign against Islamic State militants, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said late Saturday. https://t.co/NAHb7zHiSg
— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 20, 2019