With Turkey reportedly unhappy at the rate in which the US is
participating in joint patrols on the Syrian border, a Thursday report
claimed the Pentagon would send about 150 more troops to Syria to
participate.
Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the head of CENTCOM, insists that’s not the case, saying that the US
has no intention of increasing its presence in Syria just for patrols,
and that he believes the US has enough troops as it is.
Reports estimated that the US has in the ballpark of 1,000 troops in
Syria right now, and that there aren’t plans to increase that at all.
The exact figures are difficult to say with certainty, as the Pentagon
no longer publicly confirms troop levels.
Turkish officials have said the US involvement in the patrols is only
“cosmetic” and that they are deliberately dragging their feet. Turkish
FM Mevlut Cavusoglu has threatened to send troops to unilaterally
conduct the operations.
General: US Won’t Send More Troops to Syria for Turkey Patrols
Previous reports suggested US would send 150 more troops to north Syria
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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