‘Firebrand senators want boots in Syria to dislodge Russia’
The US Republican senators who seek troop deployment in Syria are in pursuit of driving Russia out of the Arab country and establishing America’s foothold there, says an army veteran.
Former US Army Psychological Warfare officer Scott Bennett told Press TV’s Website on Monday that the latest call by senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham for US boots in Syria showed their “aberrant and distasteful element of American politics.”
His comments come on the heels of a Reuters report that Republicans McCain and Graham pushed on Sunday for Washington to nearly triple the US military force levels in Iraq to 10,000, and send an equal number of troops to Syria to ‘counter’ Daesh (ISIL) terrorists in both countries.
Bennett said, “Their views do not represent the American people. The American people do not want 20,000 people of their US military, wearing the uniform, going to Syria. They do not want the military going over to Iraq.”
The two US senators also criticized President Barack Obama's Daesh strategy, which relies on airstrikes and modest support to what Washington deems as ‘moderate’ militants in Syria, stressing the need for greater US in the Middle East conflicts.
"The only way you can destroy the caliphate (Daesh) is with a ground component," said Graham.
McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, recently proposed intervention in Syria by a European and Arab ground force backed by 10,000 US military advisers and trainers.
This is while, Bennett has called into question the true intention of US politicians regarding the ISIL issue in the Midde East, and described their policy as an agenda for regime change in the region rather than a counterinsurgency tactic.
“That is what these 20,000 troops is all about. It is not about battling ISIS (ISIL). It is about getting US troops into position so that they can force the Russians out of Syria and remove [President Bashar al-] Assad,” Bennett pointed out.
On Sunday, the two senators told reporters during a visit to Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, that US personnel could provide logistical and intelligence support to a proposed 100,000-strong force from countries like Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
Last month, the US president ordered the deployment of dozens of special operations troops to northern Syria to “advise” what it calls ‘opposition forces’ in their fight against ISIL.
US counter-terrorism experts, however, have warned that deploying ground troops risks backfiring.
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