During an interview with Jordan’s Al-Mamlaka TV, Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the region is "very important and very significant to the United States for a lot of reasons.”
Asked whether the US is considering increasing the number of troops in the region, Milley said it rises and falls depending on "the threat at the moment in time.”
Claiming that the US presence in the region is aimed at defeating ISIL terrorists he said, "The ideology is not yet dead, and there are some ISIL terrorists that are still roaming the deserts of Syria and somewhat into Iraq, so that presents a threat.”
Justifying the occupying presence of Americans in the region, he claimed that US troops would remain in both countries to work for the group’s enduring defeat.
"There are still fighters in small groups in and around Syria and around Iraq and if we were to somehow suddenly withdraw, those forces could reconstruct themselves. So the situation is much, much better than it was. But it still requires a level of commitment. So we've got some modest amount of forces in Syria and we've got forces in Iraq," he added.
His remarks come as the decades-long presence of the Americans in the West Asian region has brought nothing but insecurity and instability in the region.
Asked if the US will leave Syria when the terrorist group is wiped out, Milley claimed the decision will fall on President Joe Biden and the US government.
SD/PR