Top US General, on Surprise Syria Visit, Says US Deployment To Combat ISIS Worth the Risk

Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Saturday that the almost eight-year US deployment to Syria to combat the Islamic State group is still worth the risk that it entails. The statement was made after a rare, unannounced visit to a base in the northeast of the country to meet with US troops. Gen. Milley’s visit aimed to assess efforts to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic extremist group and to review safeguards for American forces against attacks, including those from drones flown by Iran-backed militia.

Although ISIS is not as powerful as it was when it ruled over a third of Syria and Iraq in a caliphate declared in 2014, hundreds of fighters are still camped in areas where neither the US-led coalition nor the Syrian army, with support from Russia and Iranian-backed militias, exert full control. Thousands of other ISIS fighters are in detention facilities guarded by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, America’s key ally in the country.

Four US troops were wounded during a helicopter raid last month when an ISIS leader triggered an explosion. Also last month, the US military also shot down an Iranian-made drone in Syria that was attempting to conduct reconnaissance on a patrol base in northeastern Syria. Three drones targeted a US base in January in Syria’s Al-Tanf region. US officials believe drone and rocket attacks are being directed by Iran-backed militia.

US Army Maj. Gen. Matthew McFarlane, who commands the US-led coalition against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, stated that the attacks against US forces are a “distraction from our main mission.”