Testimony of a US Army sergeant: “We have been around Deir Ezzor without doing anything for 9 months”

MWhat are US forces doing in Syria? Are they fighting ISIS, supporting the Kurdish forces in constant difficulty? It should be noted that only the US troops in Syria are numerically superior to the ISIS forces estimated at 2,000 men, not to mention the contribution of the Kurdish forces of the ‘Syrian Democratic Force’. Nonetheless, ISIS has regained all its territory and is pressing on Iraqi border and beyond the Euphrates in Syrian government territory.

Furthermore, as we all know, the American mission in Syria which was originally intended to be a “specialist mission” of 250 people, over time grew to 500 people, so this number rose to 2,000 people. And now the number of this infamous “US mission” has doubled, i.e. it has further risen to around 4,000 units. It should be noted that the increase in the number of US troops was never approved by the US Congress, nor was it ever authorized by the United Nations.

However, the United States has created ten other military bases on Syrian territory, including four air bases. And at the moment US-controlled forces in Syria occupy territory on the left bank of the Euphrates, at least comparable in size to the Republic of Croatia.

It is strange that this “small mission of American military specialists” which has transformed into a full-fledged military contingent of 4,000 men, appears immobile and helpless in the face of 2,000 ISIS men.

How is it possible!?

American officials say they are making every effort to ensure that the situation is resolved and that ISIS is eliminated once and for all. But an interview by New Yorker proves the opposite: US ground forces remain firmly in their bases. A sergeant from the 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team says that for nine months his unit has been boring and there’s nothing left to do but pass the time watching YouTube:

Just inside the main gate of the base, I met five soldiers from the Mississippi National Guard. Their job was to look with the “mirror” at incoming vehicles for car bombs and check the identification of the drivers. They sat under a canopy of camouflage netting, their weapons locked but not loaded. A couple of sergeants named Jackson and Jones, wearing trendy clothes, were eating Pringles. Another sergeant, named Muñoz, and a young enlisted man named Ngo were drinking sodas, smoking cigarettes and spitting on the ground. The sergeant in charge, a tall white guy whose name was covered in his armor [antischegge], told me they were from the 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team, and had been on a deployment in support of Operation Inherent Resolve for nine months. They had never been outside the barbed wire [della recinzione della base] and they confessed that they were quite bored. I asked what they did to pass the time.

“You basically stay in tune with YouTube,” Jackson said.

I asked if it was strange to be in Syria.

“I had something where I forgot where I really am,” Jones said. “He could be here or in Kuwait or training in Texas or Mississippi, but it all looks the same and feels the same. Same buildings, same people, same vehicles, same equipment. ”

“The only difference is the weather,” Jackson said.

“But sometimes,” Jones said, “I’ll wake up in the morning and be like, ‘Oh, fuck, I’m in Syria.’ ”

This happens while the Kurdish forces of the Syrian Democratic Force are fighting the ISIS forces on a daily basis and are in serious difficulty, despite the US air support which is actually very imprecise given that in recent days – after yet another civilian casualty and the destruction of a hospital in Hajin – the UN in a note urged greater attention. Furthermore, the news came on Friday that 7,000 civilians had been taken by militants of the Islamic State and there is strong fear for their fate given that among them there are families of members of the SDF and sympathizers of the Syrian government army.

Here is the whole interview in the New Yorker: