Saudi Arabia announces readiness to send ground troops to Syria
Saudi Arabia has so far only fought ISIS with airstrikes. Now, Riyadh is considering sending its ground special forces to Syria to fight alongside the United States. Saudi Arabia remains concerned about the expansion of Iranian influence in Syria.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir has announced his country's readiness to send military units to Syria to fight alongside the United States against the "Islamic State" (ISIS).
In an interview with the German newspaper "Süddeutsche" published in the newspaper's Tuesday (February 21) issue, the Saudi Foreign Minister announced: "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries have announced their readiness to deploy their special forces alongside the United States; some countries of the Islamic coalition against terrorism and extremism are also ready to send forces."
Saudi Arabia has so far been the only member of the US-led military coalition carrying out airstrikes against the Islamic State terrorist group in Syria. A year ago, however, Riyadh expressed its willingness to participate in ground operations in Syria if the US-led coalition launched such an operation.
Former US President Barack Obama, however, had always stated that sending ground troops to Syria was out of the question. In contrast, Trump made defeating the "Islamic State" one of his main slogans during the US presidential election campaign.
Review of ground force deployment at the Pentagon
Last week, CNN reported that the US Department of Defense is considering sending conventional military forces to Syria for the first time. The plan is one of several ideas currently being considered by the Pentagon to combat the Islamic State terrorist group, the American network said.
US Defense Secretary James Mattis has previously floated the idea of sending more troops to Syria. US House Speaker Paul Ryan has also backed the idea, saying the US cannot allow the Islamic State to continue using Syria as a safe haven for recruitment. He stressed that “the destruction of the Islamic State is in the national security interest of the United States.”
However, according to a CNN report, the idea of sending American ground forces to Syria has not been finalized, and the Pentagon has not yet presented its specific proposal to Donald Trump.
Source: DW
