Remove our troops as quickly as possible

U.S. military forces are designed to defend Americans from actual or imminent attack. They are not for “posturing,” sending signals or defending the interests of other countries or groups — and our troops are not supposed to sacrifice their lives to separate one fighting force from another in a civil war.

The four Americans killed in Syria last week provide graphic reminders of the cost in blood of our continued delay in executing President Donald Trump’s directive to withdraw. The 2,000 troops are far too few to provide even tactical utility to our country, much less a strategic rationale.

The troops were primarily intended to join with the Syrian Democratic Forces in ridding Raqqa of the Islamic State. That was accomplished in October 2017. Based on my four combat deployments in the region, I believe it is imperative that Trump remove our troops as quickly as possible. Whether it’s a paltry 2,000 troops in Syria, 5,000 in Iraq or 15,000 in Afghanistan, troops on the ground overseas is not what keeps us safe at home.

Recent studies have shown that virtually all attempted terror plots within the U.S. since 9/11 were thwarted — not by combat actions in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Pakistan or Yemen but by effective cooperation by our federal, state and local law enforcement, combined with aggressive global intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. This effective means of defending our country was graphically depicted just last week.

Having troops on the ground in permanent wars overseas does nothing to prevent terrorists from attacking us here, but it does engender animosity and come at great cost. The only thing we accomplish by refusing to withdraw from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan is to dissipate our troops’ ability to defend against potentially existential threats that could arise elsewhere — or unnecessarily spill their blood, as was the case last week. It’s time to bring our troops home.

Daniel L. Davis is a senior fellow for Defense Priorities and a retired lieutenant colonel in the Army who did four combat deployments.