{"id":24127,"date":"2018-02-23T17:20:55","date_gmt":"2018-02-23T17:20:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/02\/23\/trump-administration-troops-can-stay-in-iraq-syria-indefinitely\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:07:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:07:56","slug":"trump-administration-troops-can-stay-in-iraq-syria-indefinitely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/02\/23\/trump-administration-troops-can-stay-in-iraq-syria-indefinitely\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump administration: Troops can stay in Iraq, Syria indefinitely"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. President Donald Trump has the legal authority to keep U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria<\/a> indefinitely, Pentagon and State Department officials said in a pair of letters released this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letters detail the Trump administration\u2019s plan for an open-ended mission for U.S. forces, beyond the fight against the Islamic State group. The letters \u2014 first reported by The New York Times \u2014 were to Virginia Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine, an advocate for a replacement for the post-9\/11 war authorizations for the use of military force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letters come amid various efforts<\/a> from congressional Republicans and Democrats<\/a> to have Congress approve a new authorization, or AUMF. Kaine and other critics argue the White House\u2019s use of authorizations from a decade and half ago is a legal stretch. He called on Trump to seek a new authorization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs I have long feared, we are moving from administrations exploiting the blurry authority between the president\u2019s and Congress\u2019s shared war powers to the alarming belief that Congress doesn\u2019t need to be involved at all,\u201d Kaine said in a statement, adding that Trump is \u201cacting like a king by unilaterally starting a war.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the letters to Kaine, not only is the end date of U.S. operations in Iraq and Syria vague \u2014 so is the number of U.S. troops working to defeat the remnants of ISIS. The Defense Department publicly says that number is 2,000, but has acknowledged that number omits troops on \u201csensitive missions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe anticipate these numbers will decrease as the nature of our operations change in Iraq and Syria, but we do not have a timeline-based approach to our presence in either Iraq or Syria,\u201d Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy David Trachtenberg wrote in the department\u2019s letter to Kaine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Administration officials emphasized the continued potential threat from ISIS as justification for U.S. troops to remain indefinitely deployed. In its letter, DoD included a list of complex precursors to the department considering ISIS defeated: stabilization, political reconciliation and local security forces becoming self-sufficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust as when we previously removed U.S. forces prematurely, the [Islamic State] group will look to exploit any abatement in pressure to regenerate capabilities and reestablish local control of territory,\u201d Trachtenberg wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For now, the DoD is not targeting other militias or organizations, including Shia militia groups or Iranian proxies, the officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe United States does not seek to fight the government of Syria or Iran or Iranian-supported groups in Iraq or Syria,\u201d wrote Mary Waters, the assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs. \u201cHowever, the United States will not hesitate to use necessary and proportionate force to defend U.S., coalition, or partner forces engaged in operations to defeat ISIS and degrade Al Qaeda.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


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