US House votes down bill urging withdrawal of troops from Syria

Legislation directing President Joe Biden to remove some 900 US troops from Syria within 180 days was soundly defeated in the House on March 8 as opponents of the measure warned that it could allow a dismantled Islamic State group to reorganize and endanger the US and its allies.

The resolution introduced by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., was voted down 321-103. Gaetz introduced the measure after four US servicemembers were wounded during a helicopter raid last month in northeastern Syria that killed a senior IS leader, per AP News.

Despite their defeat in Syria, IS sleeper cells still conduct attacks around Syria and Iraq which they once declared a “caliphate.”

In arguing for his legislation, Gaetz said he didn’t believe that “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.”

Support is growing in Congress for ending decades-old authorizations for the use of American military force. A Senate panel on Wednesday approved a bill 13-8 that seeks to formally end the authorizations for the Gulf and Iraq wars. But Gaetz’s effort was too abrupt for many Republican and Democratic lawmakers.

Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the Republican chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said the US was involved last year in operations with partners that killed 466 ISIS operatives and detained 250 others. He said that if the US withdraws troops now, it could lead to the resurgence of ISIS.

“Withdrawal of this legal, authorized US troop deployment must be based on the total defeat of ISIS,” McCaul said.

The ranking Democratic member of the committee, Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, said he opposes an indefinite U.S. military presence in Syria, but said of Gaetz’s bill: “This measure forces a premature end to our mission at a critical time for our efforts.”