The US House of Representatives rejected, by a large majority, a bill submitted by conservative Republican Representative Matt Gaetz, to demand that President Joe Biden withdraw US forces deployed in Syria within 6 months.
Opponents of the measure warned that such a step could allow ISIS to regroup, exposing the United States and its allies to the threat of terrorist attacks.
A majority of 321 deputies voted against the bill, while only 103 deputies supported it.
Gaetz presented the text after four American soldiers were injured during a helicopter raid, last month, in northeastern Syria that killed a prominent ISIS leader, Hamza al-Homsi. Despite its defeat in Syria, the sleeper cells of the terrorist organization continue to launch attacks in both Syria and Iraq.
In his defense of the bill he submitted, the representative said: “I do not believe what stands between a caliphate and not a caliphate are the 900 Americans who have been sent to this hellscape with no definition of victory, no clear objective…”
Support is growing in Congress for ending longstanding authorizations for the use of US military force. A Senate committee approved on Wednesday a bill by a majority of 13 against the objection of 8 senators, seeking to end the mandates officially granted to the Gulf and Iraq wars.
But Gaetz’ efforts came as a surprise to many Republican and Democratic lawmakers.
The Republican Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Michael McCaul, said the the United States participated in operations with partners that resulted in the killing of 466 ISIS members and the arrest of 250 others.
He noted that if the United States withdraws its forces now, it could lead to the resurgence of ISIS.
“The withdrawal of this lawful and authorized deployment of US forces must be based on the complete defeat of ISIS,” he said.
ISIS lost its full control over the lands in Iraq and Syria in 2019, following a US-backed campaign that lasted for years, and defeated the so-called “caliphate state”, where Raqqa was once its de facto capital. But the militants’ sleeper cells are still present, and have since killed scores of Iraqis and Syrians. The American and Syrian Kurdish forces frequently launch raids targeting those cells in northern and eastern Syria.
