For several days there has been a flurry of reports in both independent and mainstream media outlets suggesting the US could finally withdraw American troops from Iraq and Syria. These reports spread widely especially before the Sunday drone attack on a US base on the Syrian-Jordanian border, which killed three American soldiers and injured over 40 more, according to revised casualty figures.
For example, Foreign Policy reported last Wednesday that the White House is actively reviewing and reconsidering the troop presence after a years-long occupation of Syria, however the report emphasized that “no definitive decision has been made to leave.”
Still, there had not been any serious reporting or “debate” on a plan to withdraw from Syria going back to the middle of the Trump administration, when then President Trump pointed out that troops were there “to secure the oil”.
Just as in the aforementioned Foreign Policy article, hawks argue that American must “stay the course” (with no exit date, as these things tend to go) as if somehow the Pentagon’s absence from the region will unleash chaos and an expansionist Iran (or insert Russia, China, or any ‘bad guy’ of the moment).
But this week, a top Biden admin official sought to definitively dispel the substantial rumors that an Iraq or Syria withdrawal could be around the corner.
And it was none other than Victoria “F*ck The EU” Nuland:
“Well, first let me set the records straight, the United States is not withdrawing from Syria,” Nuland, who is US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, has told CNN Turk.
Nuland’s comments are being reported in foreign media but have been absent from the US mainstream, perhaps given general apathy among the American public on questions of the ‘forever’ occupation of Syria.
After the killings of 3 US troops, top State Dept. official Victoria Nuland declares that "the USA is not withdrawing from Syria." She adds that the US needs to stay to fight ISIS.
— Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) January 30, 2024
Pentagon documents show that this is a lie: the US is barely fighting ISIS. In fact, the US has… pic.twitter.com/KKsmbAD1Yb
At this point, Americans are by and large conditioned to assume that it is the “right” of America to indefinitely occupy sovereign foreign states in the Middle East and sweep up their energy resources. And all the while the ruling class in the D.C. beltway feigns concern for the needless loss of life of US troops placed precariously in far-flung deserts.
The Ron Paul Institute’s Daniel McAdams has aptly described what’s really going on, and nothing more really needs to be said…
She loves having American troops killed in places like Syria. It brings the US closer to the neocon fantasy of war with Iran. She views members of the US military as mere cattle. Mere pawns. The people in charge of American foreign policy hate Americans. https://t.co/IyucfW4PYO
— Daniel McAdams (@DanielLMcAdams) January 30, 2024
Reprinted with permission from ZeroHedge.
