The Pentagon said Thursday that the United States has more than twice as many troops in Syria as the federal government previously reported, and that even larger forces have been deployed “for some time.”
Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder confessed to the shocking discrepancy at a press conference Thursday, saying that 2,000 troops instead of 900 were in Syria, where rebels recently overthrew former President Bashar al-Assad. He admitted that he was stationed there.
“We have regularly explained that there are approximately 900 U.S. troops deployed in Syria,” Ryder said.
“Today we learned that there are actually about 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria,” the major general said sheepishly.
“As I understand it, and as it was explained to me, these additional forces are considered to be temporary rotational forces that deploy to meet changing mission requirements, but the core 900 deployed troops are on long-term deployment,'' the major general said, adding further context. .
These temporary units tend to be deployed for between 30 and 90 days, but the spokesperson did not say when these temporary deployments began.
Asked by reporters when the surge began, Ryder said, “I can't give you a specific date,'' but added, “My understanding is that it was clearly a long period of time before the fall of the Assad regime.'' That's it,” he added. So, yeah. ”
When asked by reporters when the deployment would take place, a spokesperson said: “It will take at least several months.”
Ryder said the force is primarily U.S. Army and “focused on defeating the ISIS mission.”
“As you know, many of our developments change from time to time, but given that this number is significantly higher than what we have previously discussed, we wanted to share this information as soon as we found it.” said Ryder. He stressed that it was “his decision” to publish the exact figures.
A Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson told reporters that the company did not claim it was part of a regular RIP/TOA (“relief in place”), which is part of standard operating procedure, the Joint Chiefs of Staff reported. Officials have only vaguely stated the purpose of the increase in military strength.
“I'm sure some of it is RIP/TOA, but a lot of those forces are already operating there, coming in and out and doing things like that,” Ryder told reporters. I made it clear. .
Earlier this month, President Bashar al-Assad became the beleaguered country's latest refugee, fleeing the country he rules with an iron fist for friendlier pastures in Russia after being sworn in by rebels.
