US hints longer Syria presence amid army gains on battlefield
Tehran (KNA) - US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis claims that a swift withdrawal of US troops from Syria will be a "strategic blunder" as pro-Damascus forces edge closer to victory through sweeping gains against foreign-backed Takfiri terrorists.
Speaking at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels on Friday, Mattis linked the US pullout from Syria to the fate of the UN-brokered Geneva peace talks.
"In Syria, leaving the field before the special envoy Staffan de Mistura achieves success in advancing the Geneva political process we all signed for under the UN security council resolution would be a strategic blunder, undercutting our diplomats and giving the terrorists the opportunity to recover," he said.
The Pentagon says there are roughly 2,000 US troops, mostly in northern Syria where they collaborate with Kurdish militants. French troops recently joined them amid reports that they planned to carve out a statelet outside the Syrian control.
This is while Washington and its allies have been bombarding what they call Daesh positions inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from the Damascus government or a UN mandate. The strikes have on many occasions resulted in civilian casualties and failed to fulfill their declared aim of countering terrorism.
Late last month, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad said the US "is losing its cards" as the militant groups it supports have lost significant ground, emphasizing that the Americans "should leave" Syrian soil.
He also urged the US to "to learn the lesson" from Iraq, saying, "People will not accept foreigners in this region anymore."
Source: PressTV