The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, told Jordanian TV on August 24 that U.S. military forces would remain stationed in northeast Syria to “fight ISIS” for the foreseeable future. 

“The ideology is not dead yet, and there are some ISIS terrorists that are still roaming the deserts of Syria and somewhat into Iraq, so that presents a threat,” Milley told Al-Mamiaka TV.

“There are still fighters in small groups in and around Syria and around Iraq, and if we were to somehow suddenly withdraw, those forces could reconstruct themselves,” he added. “So the situation is much, much better than it was. But it still requires a level of commitment. So we’ve got some modest amount of forces in Syria, and we’ve got forces in Iraq.”

Milley added that a decision to withdraw from Syria could only come from President Biden.

“I can’t imagine that the United States would ever walk away from the Middle East,” he said. “I think we’ll remain committed for many, many years and decades to come.”

The general’s comments came within 24 hours of the U.S. envoy to Iraq confirming there were recent large-scale troop movements in Iraq. U.S. officials claim the movements are “part of the exchange of existing forces.” Iraqi officials had previously reported hundreds of American troops were moving through Iraq towards Syria.

While the U.S. claims American forces are only in Syria to fight against terrorist organizations, specifically ISIS, Syrian locals and Russian intelligence report that U.S. forces are housing and training extremist militant groups within 55 kilometers of the Al-Tanf base in southeast Syria.

According to a recent in-depth investigation by The Cradle, the U.S. military was aware that ISIS was expanding its territory over 10 years ago and did nothing to stop it. This was particularly alarming when ISIS crossed the Syrian border into Iraq in 2014 and captured Mosul. 

It also needs to be noted that U.S. forces ignored ISIS’ advances on Palmyra in 2015. The ancient Syrian city had been liberated by Syrian and Russian forces twice before the end of 2017. 

Syria is currently seeing a resurgence in ISIS activity. Multiple terror attacks have been carried out against army personnel and civilians, with various reports saying the ISIS militants are operating from areas in Deir Ezzor that the U.S. controls. 

According to SOHR, the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, Syrians are facing the “most violent” escalation of ISIS activities since 2019 when the U.S. announced ISIS as “eliminated geographically.” 

A few weeks ago, earlier in August, the Syrian government accused the U.S. of “sponsoring terrorist organizations, foremost of which is ISIS.” Officials in Damascus said that the U.S. was using Kurdish and Sunni Muslim militias as a “tool to implement its plan towards Syria and the region.”

U.S. support for ISIS was also previously illustrated by a 2012 U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) document indicating a Salafist principality similar to the one established in 2014 by ISIS emerged in western Iraq and eastern Syria. The document stated that the U.S. and its regional partners would see this as a positive outcome as part of the U.S. covert war to take down the Syrian government in 2011.