Americans killed by ISIS attack in Syria
Critics questioning military pullout plan
ISIS killed four Americans in a suicide attack on Wednesday in Syria, less than a month after President Trump declared that the terrorist group was defeated and that he would begin to pull troops out of the wartorn nation — a decision critics continue to say puts Americans at risk.
The attack, which the Islamic State has claimed, killed two U.S. soldiers and two American civilians. It wounded three more U.S. service members along with other people in the strategic northeastern town of Manbij.
The attack killed as many as 16 people, including a number of fighters with the Syrian Democratic Forces, who have fought alongside the Americans against ISIS.
U.S. Central Command said one of the civilians killed was employed by the Defense Department and the other was a contractor. The names of the American victims were being withheld until their families could be notified.
Critics from around the political spectrum last month slammed the president’s sudden announcement that he would be pulling the 2,000 U.S. troops out of Syria, saying that though America and its allies in the area have greatly cut into the territory ISIS controls, the group remains dangerous and capable of making major gains if there’s no U.S. presence to hold it back.
“There can be serious debates about the nature and size of our troop deployment in Syria, but for the president to say that ISIS has been defeated was not supported by his own intelligence and military agencies then, and obviously not true after this tragedy,” Harvard professor Juliette Kayyem, a former state and federal national-security analyst, told the Herald on Wednesday.
Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday repeated Trump’s claims about the Islamic State, saying the “caliphate has crumbled” and the militant network “has been defeated.” His comments in a speech at the State Department came shortly after the U.S. military announced that American soldiers were among those killed in Manbij.
Later in the day he released a statement condemning the attack but affirming the withdrawal plan, saying, “As we begin to bring our troops home, the American people can be assured, for the sake of our soldiers, their families, and our nation, we will never allow the remnants of ISIS to re-establish their evil and murderous caliphate — not now, not ever.”
U.S. officials have suggested it will likely take several months to safely withdraw American forces from Syria.
The attack was the deadliest assault on U.S. troops in Syria since American forces went into the country in 2015.
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump backer and prominent voice on foreign affairs on Capitol Hill, said during a committee hearing that he is concerned that Trump’s withdrawal announcement had emboldened the Islamic State and created dangerous uncertainty for American allies.
“I know people are frustrated, but we’re never going to be safe here unless we are willing to help people over there who will stand up against this radical ideology,” he said.