In his first term, President Donald Trump expressed a desire for our troops to leave Syria. Several years later, after another “ambush” attack on U.S. troops, it is time for our military to finally come home.
On Saturday, two U.S. Army National Guard soldiers from Iowa – Sgts. William Nathaniel Howard and Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar – and a civilian interpreter were killed in Palmyra, Syria. Three other U.S. soldiers, as well as two Syrian “security personnel,” were injured. President Trump is vowing “very serious retaliation” for the attack against Americans.
A member of the government’s “security forces” who had connections to the terrorist group, the Islamic State (ISIS), committed the “ambush.” According to Dr. Antonio Graceffo, national security analyst, writing in the Gateway Pundit, “An internal assessment on December 10 identified him as holding ‘extremist ideas,’ and his dismissal had been scheduled for Sunday, December 14. The attack occurred the day before, on Saturday, an administrative holiday.”
It is troubling that this individual was not removed immediately by Syrian officials after his terrorist sympathies were discovered. Their delay cost the lives of three American heroes.
Along with the shooter, the Syrian government announced that five people had also been arrested for their role in the attack.
The attack underscores the instability in the country and the concerns of many experts about the ability of the new government to maintain power.
One year ago, a “lightning” military operation forced Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad into exile in Russia. His family had controlled the country for five decades.
The new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has befriended President Trump. However, he was formerly known as al-Golani, the leader of an al-Qaeda linked terrorist organization known as Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS).
As a terrorist leader, al-Sharaa was placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted List from 2013 through 2024. Upon taking power in Syria and renouncing violence, al-Sharaa was removed from the “Most Wanted List,” and the $10 million bounty for his arrest was “scrapped.” Despite his assurances, it is obvious that al-Sharaa can never be trusted.
Currently, there are “under 1,000 American troops” in three U.S. bases in Syria. Since these troops will continue to be targets, the future of U.S. involvement in Syria may be debated within the Trump administration.
In a Sunday interview on Newsmax, former Trump National Security Council Chief of Staff Fred Fleitz said, “There’s going to be an evaluation right now about our presence there and whether it should continue or whether maybe we should up the ante.”
It would be ludicrous to add more troops to Syria. Instead, we should end our military presence in the country. Most Americans do not even know our troops are in Syria. Of those who are informed, many are not aware or do not support the rationale.
It is imperative not to replicate the mistakes that were made in Afghanistan. In 2021, U.S. military forces left Afghanistan after 20 years of a war that was originally launched in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The mission morphed into a “nation-building” campaign that failed miserably.
It was a wise move to leave Afghanistan; however, the withdrawal was conducted in a hurried, embarrassing manner by President Joe Biden, resulting in one of the biggest blunders in American history.
As we left Afghanistan, 13 American heroes were killed in a terrorist attack, and the Biden administration left behind billions of dollars of our military equipment and the massive Bagram airbase for Islamic jihadists, the Taliban, to use.
The human cost of that war was staggering. America lost 2,448 military service personnel and 3,846 contractors in a war that was won by a terrorist organization.
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq cost U.S. taxpayers an astounding $2 trillion, with the interest costs reaching $6.5 trillion by 2050. In addition, “the United States has committed to pay” another $2 trillion “in healthcare, disability, burial, and other costs for roughly 4 million Afghanistan and Iraq veterans.”
Imagine the positive impact on our country if those funds had been spent on the multitude of problems in the United States or on helping the millions of Americans in desperate need.
Instead, the money was wasted on a war that was eventually designed to turn Afghanistan into a democracy. Ultimately, the misguided effort was a complete failure, and, after 20 years, Afghanistan returned to chaos and terrorist leadership.
After the withdrawal from Afghanistan, U.S. forces should have also left Syria, a country that has been a hotbed of terrorism for many years.
The new leader has a tentative hold on power; however, there are elements within the government that are not loyal. To make matters worse, Islamic terrorists remain throughout Syria. Our presence in the region places our military forces in grave danger.
In a Sunday interview on Newsmax, foreign policy analyst Walid Phares noted that the attack took place in a region marginally controlled by the government. Thus, he stressed that a major concern is that some of the country’s security forces have been infiltrated by terrorist groups such as ISIS.
This same concern has been expressed by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has “warned, on many occasions, of the infiltration of ISIS members and individuals adopting ISIS ideology in the ranks of the government forces and security services, stressing that this infiltration poses a direct threat to the security situation and stability in Syria.”
Another troubling development in Syria is the persecution of Christians. In 2011, 1.5 million Christians lived in Syria. Today, that total has dwindled to 300,000, and more are leaving every day.
The new regime has failed to protect Christians in Syria, described as “the cradle” of the faith, with 1st-century roots. For example, “in June 2025, a Christian church in Damascus was targeted in a suicide attack, which reportedly killed twenty-five people and injured sixty-three. It was reportedly the largest attack on Christians in Syria since 1860.”
For all these reasons and more, it is time that U.S. forces left Syria, a country in turmoil.
Jeff Crouere is a native New Orleanian, and his award-winning program, “Ringside Politics,” airs Saturdays from Noon until 1 p.m. CT nationally on Real America’s Voice TV Network & AmericasVoice.News and weekdays from 7-9 a.m. & 6-7 p.m. CT on WGSO 990-AM & Wgso.com. He is a political columnist, the author of America’s Last Chance, and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and at Crouere.net. For more information, email him at jcrouere@gmail.com
