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REP. TED LIEU STATEMENT ON DEPLOYMENT OF U.S. GROUND TROOPS IN SYRIA

March 9, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WashingtonToday, Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D | Los Angeles County) issued the following statement regarding news that U.S. ground troops are being deployed to fight in Syria.

"The deployment of conventional U.S. ground troops to fight in Syria is a highly disturbing escalation of our military entanglement in a faraway country. While President Trump says stuff that makes you think he may be isolationist, his actions in Syria resemble those of a war monger."

"Putting our nation's men and women in harm's way to help assault a city in a faraway place is mission creep. It also violates the current Authorization for Use of Military Force. When Congress passed the post-9/11 AUMF to fight Al Qaeda terrorists, it never had the intention of authorizing ground forces to help take over a city in the middle of Syria's civil war in 2017."

"Today's news also underscores the troubling fact that the President has yet to articulate a strategy or endgame for Syria. Americans are left wondering how long our service members will be deployed in a conflict zone, what will happen if they come into conflict with Russian forces operating in the region, what our Administration plans to do with Raqqa after retaking the city, and how this all fits in with our national interests. The President owes it to the American people to speak to these questions. As a veteran and a Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I will continue to demand answers."

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