If Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has his way, U.S. troops won’t be leaving Syria any time soon. They’re supposedly needed to keep ISIS from reconstituting as a major force. American forces are still needed there, particularly to ensure the security of detention camps holding tens of thousands of former IS fighters and family members, Austin said Jan. 8 in one of his final interviews before he leaves office, reported AP. According to estimates, there are as many as 8,000-10,000 IS fighters in the camps, and at least 2,000 of them are claimed to be very dangerous.
If Syria is left unprotected “I think ISIS fighters would enter back into the mainstream,” Austin said. “I think that we still have some work to do in terms of keeping a foot on the throat of ISIS,” he said.
