Kirby says Biden committed to keeping US troops in Syria

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Sunday that President Biden is committed to keeping American troops in Syria in the wake of Iranian-backed attacks.

“We’re going to always act to defend our troops and our facilities,” he told Margaret Brennan on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

Kirby added that Biden is “absolutely” committed to keeping American troops in Syria, where they are stationed to fight back any remnants of ISIS forces.

“Here’s what’s not gonna change … the mission in ISIS is not gonna change,” Kirby said. “We have under 1,000 troops in Syria that are going after that network which is, while greatly diminished, still viable and still critical.”

U.S. officials said that an Iranian-backed group launched a drone attack on an American base in northeast Syria last Thursday, leaving one American contractor dead and five U.S. service members and another contractor injured. Biden directed U.S. forces to respond the same day with precision airstrikes.

Kirby on Sunday said Biden acted “swiftly and boldly,” saying additional U.S. action has not been ruled out.

“I’m certainly not going to rule out the potential for additional U.S. action if the president deems it appropriate and necessary to continue to protect our troops and our facilities,” Kirby said. “We’re going to keep at that and that message is sent loud and clear.”

“And we demonstrated here this week, that the United States will always act decisively to protect our people,” he added.