Senate votes down to withdraw US forces from Syria
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly voted down on Thursday a bill proposed by Republican Senator, Rand Paul, to withdraw the U.S. forces from Syria.
The resolution, that would have required U.S. President Joe Biden to withdraw the 900 troops from Syria, was failed by a vote of 13-84.
Ahead of the vote, Paul said, their forces in Syria regularly come under attack from militants of the Islamic State group (ISIS), those of Iranian-backed militias, and from Turkey.
“Our troops in Syria regularly come under attack, not from ISIS but from Iranian-backed militias,” he said. “”We also had American troops take fire from our own NATO ally Turkey.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that voting down the resolution would be a gift to Iran and its “terrorist network.” He added, “Driving American troops from the Middle East is exactly what they’d like to see.”
Late in November, Paul revealed his plan to push for a vote on a bill that could withdraw U.S. forces from Syria.
In a statement to Responsible Statecraft, he said “900 U.S. troops remain in Syria with no vital U.S. interest at stake, no definition of victory, no exit strategy, and no congressional authorization to be there.”