{"id":44681,"date":"2019-02-06T19:26:53","date_gmt":"2019-02-06T19:26:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/02\/06\/pentagon-officials-syria-withdrawal-heightens-isis-risks\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:47:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:47:04","slug":"pentagon-officials-syria-withdrawal-heightens-isis-risks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2019\/02\/06\/pentagon-officials-syria-withdrawal-heightens-isis-risks\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon officials: Syria withdrawal heightens ISIS risks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 A day after President Donald Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2019\/02\/06\/great-nations-do-not-fight-endless-wars-trump-touts-troop-drawdowns-in-state-of-the-union\/\" target=_blank>defended<\/a> plans to pull troops from Syria in his State of the Union address, a top Pentagon official said a withdrawal would make the military less effective against the Islamic State group and that he didn\u2019t understand the strategic thinking behind it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/news\/2017\/12\/21\/meet-the-recon-marine-vet-who-is-now-a-top-adviser-for-secdef-mattis\/\" target=_blank>Owen West<\/a>, the assistant defense secretary for special operations\/low-intensity conflict, and Air Force Maj. Gen. Jim Hecker, the Joint Staff\u2019s vice director for operations, detailed the tightrope Pentagon planners are walking as they work to defeat ISIS, safely withdraw U.S. troops, keep pressure on the militant group to prevent a resurgence and protect Kurdish allies from Turkey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., asked West if former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis \u2014 who resigned over a disagreement with Trump\u2019s plan for the Syria withdrawal \u2014 was wrong. West said only: \u201cNo, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mattis&#8217; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/12\/20\/mattis-out-defense-secretary-says-his-views-no-longer-aligned-with-trump\/\" target=_blank>resignation<\/a> letter in December took aim at Trump\u2019s past criticism of foreign allies and his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria in the months ahead. Senior officials in the Defense Department, which has about 2,000 troops stationed in and around Syria, have claimed progress against ISIS but repeatedly warned in congressional testimony that too rapid a withdrawal could lead to regional instability.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2019\/02\/05\/centcom-chief-says-trump-did-not-consult-him-on-syria-withdrawal-declaration\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"180\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19024433994346.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">CENTCOM chief says Trump did not consult him on Syria withdrawal declaration<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Ahead of the State of the Union, Trump&#039;s top general in the Mideast said he was not consulted or warned Trump would declare a U.S. troop withdrawal from Syria.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asked by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., to explain the strategic rationale behind the withdrawal, which Trump announced on Twitter in December, West said: \u201cSir, I do not know the strategic thinking that went into it.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI know that we\u2019ve been given an order to deliberately withdraw,\u201d West said, adding that U.S. forces \u201cdo not need to be co-located to keep the pressure on the enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While officials said plans were underway to conduct \u201cremote\u201d advise-and-assist operations, they acknowledged the mission would be tougher and that there would be less pressure on ISIS as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hecker said the U.S. needs to work with the Syrian Democratic Forces, Iraq, Jordan or Turkey, to keep up the pressure, but \u2014 when pressed by Moulton \u2014 he acknowledged: \u201cThere will be a decrease in the amount of pressure we will be able to supply.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">West echoed that assessment amid questions from Rep. Michael Waltz, a special forces combat veteran and a freshman Florida Republican.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cCongressman, it is much more effective to be co-located with your partners,\u201d West said. \u201cMilitarily, we will be less effective.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The hearing came the day after Trump railed against \u201cendless wars\u201d in his annual State of the Union address, making the case for drawing down the number of American troops fighting overseas and boosting up those deployed along the southern U.S. border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump, in his address, insisted that coalition forces \u201chave liberated virtually all of that territory from the grip of these bloodthirsty monsters,\u201d echoing his recent comments declaring victory in the Syria fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNow, as we work with our allies to destroy the remnants of ISIS, it is time to give our brave warriors in Syria a warm welcome home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2019\/01\/31\/lawmakers-urge-trump-to-protect-kurds-after-us-withdrawal\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"210\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1084651610.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Lawmakers urge Trump to protect Kurds after US withdrawal<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Marsha Blackburn want Kurdish allies protected after U.S. troops leave Syria.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The position has both attracted and alienated lawmakers from both parties, highlighted when the Senate passed a Middle East policy bill Tuesday that urged Trump not to precipitously withdraw troops from Syria and Afghanistan. It passed with broad bipartisan support, 77-23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After Wednesday\u2019s hearing, the HASC\u2019s top Republican, Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, reiterated to reporters his disagreement with the president and credited military leaders with trying to minimize the risks \u201cthat ISIS could spring back to life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c[Trump] said last night he wants to bring the troops home, and obviously it\u2019s a desire to end a mission, to reduce the exposure that they could be hurt and hope to pass off the supporting part to somebody else, so it\u2019s understandable\u201d Thornberry said, adding that the withdrawal comes with increased risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMy statements have been pretty open that I think it\u2019s a mistake,\u201d Thornberry added, \u201cbut the president is the one who\u2019s the commander in chief, and he has to evaluate the increased risks to terrorists versus the risk to troops.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Pentagon official in charge of special operations says former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was not wrong to object to the U.S. withdrawal from Syria.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":84358,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","flashpoints","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"4":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","flashpoints"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"5":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","flashpoints","home","middle-column"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"6":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","flashpoints"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"7":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","flashpoints"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"8":{"categories":["congress","federal-oversight","daily-brief","newsletters","home"],"primary_category":"congress"}}},"categories":[8,160,36,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3446],"class_list":["post-44681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","category-daily-news-roundup","category-newsletters","category-pentagon"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"OF4OUQR6GRFAXBNC7BKZTV364I","arc_canonical_url":"\/congress\/2019\/02\/06\/pentagon-officials-syria-withdrawal-heightens-isis-risks\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Pentagon officials: Syria withdrawal heightens ISIS risks - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Pentagon official in charge of special operations says former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was not wrong to object to the U.S. withdrawal from Syria.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pentagon officials: Syria withdrawal heightens ISIS risks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Pentagon official in charge of special operations says former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was not wrong to object to the U.S. withdrawal from Syria.\" \/>\n<meta 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