Heather Nauert
On August 18, spokesperson for the United States Department of State, Heather Nauert, rejected claims that the US is planning to stay in Syria for decades as the spokesperson of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) claimed on August 17.
“Our overall mission is to defeat ISIS, whether it’s in Iraq or in Syria. That is our intent to defeat ISIS and not do anything more than that,” Nauert said.
Spokesperson for the SDF, Talal Silo, claimed on August 17 that the US has a strategic plan to stay in Syria for decades. Silo claimed that the US and the leadership of the northern Syrian areas –SDF- will sign an economic and political agreements in the future.
“That is not our plan. Our intent is to defeat ISIS and we’re keeping our focus on that,” Nauert said in response to a question on if the US is planning to stay in northern Syria. “We want the Syrians to lead their country, not the United States or any other power, only by the Syrians.”
Many in Syria from the opposition and the government side predicted that the Silo statement is more of a dream than a reality, especially, that the US have no legal base to stay in Syria after ISIS is defeated.
The US deployment in Syrian have also caused a lot of tension between the Syrian Kurds and Turkey and even between the SDF and the SAA lately.
