Tillerson: US troops will stay in Syria long after fight against ISIS

US Secretary of state Rex Tillerson officially confirmed Wednesday that American troops would remain in Syria long after the complete defeat of ISIS “to ensure that neither Iran nor Bashar Assad take over areas newly liberated with help from the United States.” He said the Trump administration would avoid Barack Obama’s mistakes in withdrawing troops from Iraq before the extremist threat was doused. Tillerson said this military commitment to Syria was “conditions-based” and not indefinite. But it would take time to foster a democratically elected government requiring Assad’s departure from power and make sure Iran’s influence was diminished.

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19 thoughts on “Tillerson: US troops will stay in Syria long after fight against ISIS

  • Jan 18, 2018 @ 12:56 at 12:56
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    This White House is not as stupid as the general media want us to believe. Every step is pretty rational notwithstanding the tweets.

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    • Jan 18, 2018 @ 20:00 at 20:00
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      I completely agree, it’s interesting, as a highschool student, to have a Government administration who isn’t scared of Radical Islam.

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      • Jan 19, 2018 @ 15:56 at 15:56
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        You are refreshing. I’m a 62 year old combat vet. Islam just steals, kills and destroys. Many of us have known this for a long time. Terrific to hear our young adults getting it. You’re the future and the future will have liberty and freedom, or, the darkness of sharia and Islam.

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      • Jan 19, 2018 @ 15:58 at 15:58
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        You couldn’t handle it

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    • Jan 19, 2018 @ 16:52 at 16:52
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      Hate to say it, but if Saddam Hussein was still the Leader of Iraq, the entire Syria/Iran situation would probably not have occurred. He was an ibn sharmoota, but at least he kept Iran at bay.

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  • Jan 18, 2018 @ 16:34 at 16:34
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    Not certain that describing “military commitment conditions-based” and “not indefinite” passes the “smell-test” of legality according to the Security Council mandate and how the administration will respond if not. Also, Tillerson may have added another wrinkle by following the non-conditioning of military he then conditions leaving only after Syria achieves a “democratically elected government requiring Assad’s departure”.

    Let us pray

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  • Jan 18, 2018 @ 20:03 at 20:03
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    I am afraid that the new “democratically elected government” will not be much of a difference from the Sharia-based Government they’ve had for so long.

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  • Jan 18, 2018 @ 22:27 at 22:27
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    So, Trump is as dumb as Bush and Obama after all. Sad.

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  • Jan 18, 2018 @ 23:47 at 23:47
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    It wasn’t Assad who created “ISIS”. Americans lost their proxy war and now their mask is off…

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  • Jan 19, 2018 @ 0:47 at 0:47
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    Who the fcuk invited Americans to Syria, under which authority can they just march into a sovereign country and deny the legal government access to the parts of its own territory?

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    • Jan 19, 2018 @ 9:33 at 9:33
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      The same events that brought Russia to Crimea brought Russia and America to Syria. Who invited Hezballah and Iran into Syria? A nuclear power will fight another nuclear power by proxy war only, that is the rule for the continuous WWIII that started in 1945, took a break between 1991 and 2000 and is back on. Russia, China and the US will create trouble around the world in order to come in and “fix” it. Putin is exceptionally crafty in this respect. China is busy printing unoccupied cities, while the US under Obama was busy printing unsupported by any real asset dollar bills. I hope businessman Trump is a match for KGB colonel Putin.

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      • Jan 19, 2018 @ 11:27 at 11:27
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        Who invited Iran? Syrian government did. Who invited Hezballah? Syrian government did. Why? Because they were being overrun with Israeli, US, Saudi and Jordanian (and Qatar) spawned ISIS terrorists. Russia was also invited by Syrian governement. US WAS NOT!

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      • Jan 20, 2018 @ 13:55 at 13:55
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        Ukraine is in Russia’s buffer zone and Crimea belonged to Russia up until 1954, plus in 2014 majority of Crimea citizens voted to rejoin Russia. So we cannot compare that with American presence in Syria. We could do that if instead of Americans it was a neighboring country, like Turkey or Israel. And since we know that regime change in Syria is in Israel’s interests, Americans are acting as Israeli proxy.

        Of course would be great if Syrian people were able to determine their own future, but are they ready? We have plenty examples in recent history of toppled dictatorships which ended up as failed states. Sure, Israel could handle that and in a way benefit, but how about Syrian people? What crime have they committed to be punished with this chaos?

        I guess their problem is that they support the regime hostile to Israel. If Assad goes and their political chessboard is reset, their smartest move would be to change their attitude towards Israel if they want to rebuild Syria as a civilized, prosperous and strong country. But will their mentality, culture and religion allow that? I doubt…

        I feel sorry for Syrians, but everyone is responsible for the consequences of their own choices.

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    • Jan 19, 2018 @ 16:13 at 16:13
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      They’re as “legal” a government as the toe jam on my left foot. Had external terrorists not gone to Syria, the “legal” government would not be this creature assad, in fact it would be those who originally revolted against assad. The people of Syria didn’t invite anyone. They tried to deal with an evil in their own country, and almost did.
      Fo your homework.

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      • Jan 19, 2018 @ 17:58 at 17:58
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        Dckhead, you have obiously not been to Syria, ever. The so called uprising was staged with agents of the CIA, Mossad and other “friendly” agencies.

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  • Jan 19, 2018 @ 9:57 at 9:57
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    The day Russian parlamenarians were opening their champagne bottles, slapping each other on the back and congratulating themselves on Trump’s victory, some insightul guy quipped that in the end they would deeply regret ‘their choice’ and wish it could have been a way more predictable H.C. in his place.

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    • Jan 19, 2018 @ 16:18 at 16:18
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      We already passed on the global Marxist Hillary

      Reply

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