Lawmaking requiring President Joe Biden to withdraw some 900 US troops from Syria within 180 days was soundly conquered in the House on Wednesday as opponents of the action alerted that it could allow a disassembled ISIS to reorganize and threaten the US and its allies.
The resolution presented by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., was voted down 321-103. Gaetz presented the measure after four US servicemembers were wounded during a helicopter attack last month in northeastern Syria that killed a senior ISIS leader.
Despite their loss in Syria, ISIS sleeper cells still perform raids around Syria and Iraq where they once declared governance. In arguing for his ruling, Gaetz said he didn’t believe that “what stands between a caliphate and not a caliphate are the 900 US troops who have been sent to this hellscape with no meaning of victory.”
Support is increasing in Congress for ending decades-old grants for the service of American military force. On Wednesday, A Senate panel approved a bill 13-8 that aims to formally end the authorizations for the Gulf and Iraq wars. But Gaetz’s action was too abrupt for many Republican and Democratic lawmakers.
Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the Republican chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said the US was involved last year in operations with members that killed 466 ISIS operatives and imprisoned 250 others. He said that if the US removes troops now, it could lead to the revival of ISIS.
Withdrawal of this legal, authorized US troop deployment must be based on the total defeat of ISIS.”
McCaul said.
The ranking Democratic member of the committee, Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, said he disagrees with an indefinite US military presence in Syria but said of Gaetz’s bill: “This measure forces a premature end to our mission at a critical time for our efforts.”
ISIS lost all territorial power in Iraq and Syria in 2019, following a years-long US-backed campaign that conquered their governance, where Raqqa was once the ISIS de facto capital. But militant sleeper cells persist and have since killed scores of Iraqis and Syrians. Syrian Kurdish and US forces often conduct raids targeting ISIS sleeper cells in northern and eastern Syria.
The hard truth is this, either we fight them in Syria or we’ll fight them here. Either we fight and defeat them in Syria, or we’ll fight them in the streets of our nation.”
Rep. Ryan Zinke said.
Last week, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley made a surprise visit to Syria to get updates on the US counter-ISIS mission, review force defense measures and assess repatriation actions for a sprawling refugee camp housing tens of thousands of mostly ISIS-linked women and children.
The ruling drew support from some of the same conservatives who object to continuing aid to Ukraine. Some say the money would be better spent strengthening protection on the US-Mexico border.
But the legislation also drew support from several of the chamber’s more liberal Democratic lawmakers. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who voted for the effort, said the core of the bill was to underscore that it is the job of Congress to “determine where and when we go to war, take on hostilities.” In the end, 47 Republicans voted for the bill with 171 opposing, while 56 Democratic lawmakers voted for the bill with 150 opposing.
