9 Mar 2023; MEMO: A resolution to withdraw US forces from Syria throughout this year was defeated in the House of Representatives yesterday, with the vast majority voting to keep troops in the north-east of the embattled country to prevent a revival of Daesh.
Introduced by Representative, Matt Gaetz, after the injury of four American personnel in a helicopter raid last month to kill a senior Daesh leader in north-eastern Syria, the resolution would have directed President Joe Biden to remove the approximately 900 troops currently remaining in Syria.
It was voted down 321-103, however, with 47 Republicans having voted for and 171 against, while 56 Democratic lawmakers voted for and 150 against. According to Gaetz, "what stands between a [Daesh] caliphate and not a caliphate are the 900 Americans who have been sent to this hellscape [Syria] with no definition of victory."
Many disagreed with that notion, though, such as Texas representative, Michael McCaul – the Republican Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs – who pointed out US forces' involvement last year in operations with partners which killed 466 Daesh operatives and detained 250 others.
READ: US forces reinforce presence in north-east Syria
If Washington were to withdraw its troops now, he insisted, it may result in the resurgence of the terror group. "Withdrawal of this legal, authorised US troop deployment must be based on the total defeat of ISIS [Daesh]".
New York representative, Gregory Meeks, also said that, while he opposes an indefinite US military presence in Syria, the defeated Bill "forces a premature end to our mission at a critical time for our efforts."
Since Daesh's rollout across Syria and Iraq in 2014, when it declared its so-called 'caliphate', the US led an 85 member-strong military coalition against the group, territorially defeating it in 2019. There have since been sleeper cells throughout the region, however, which have recently been launching a series of attacks on civilian areas and Syrian and Iraqi military personnel.
Alongside combating Daesh, US forces also support and train the Kurdish militias in north-east Syria – much to the displeasure of NATO ally, Turkiye – while also occupying oil fields in the that oil-rich area of Syria.
