Sec. 102. Findings
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/bill/116/s/2641/rs/section-102·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Congress makes the following findings: The Syrian Democratic Forces
(SDF)have fought on the frontlines against the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), in close partnership with the United States and United States allies. While territorial gains have been made, the Department of Defense, as of August 2019, estimates that ISIS likely retains between 14,000 and 18,000 members in Iraq and Syria, including up to 3,000 foreigners. Since 2015, the United States Government has deployed members of the United States Armed Forces to Syria for the purpose of the counter-ISIS campaign, in an advise, assist, and accompany role, working closely with the SDF. The congressionally mandated Syria Study Group in September 2019 found, Although the United States military mission in Syria is often lumped together with the Iraq and Afghanistan missions in the forever war category, the Syria case offers a different, and far less costly, model. A small United States military footprint, supported by United States air power and other high-end capabilities, reinforced by a global coalition of like-minded allies and partners, rallied a local partner force many times its size to liberate territory from a terrorist group. According to the Department of Defense, as of August 2019, the SDF continued to hold about 10,000 ISIS fighters in detention centers in Northeast Syria this quarter. Of these, approximately 2,000 are foreigners from more than 50 countries. The remaining 8,000 are Iraqi and Syrian. In August 2019, the United States Government and the Government of Turkey began implementing a security mechanism to address legitimate Turkish security concerns along the Turkish Syrian border in which United States and Turkey established a Combined Joint Operations Center and the SDF withdrew forces from certain areas. On October 9, 2019, Turkish military units began operations in Syrian territory. On October 13, 2019, the SDF announced a deal with President of Syria Bashar al-Assad’s regime that would allow government forces to enter the Kurdish-controlled areas of Northeast Syria for the first time in years. On October 14, 2019, the governing coalition of the Kurdish self-administered region in Northeast Syria announced that they were finalizing a Memorandum of Understanding with Russia. On October 14, 2019, the European Union unanimously announced that it would suspend weapons exports to Turkey in condemnation of their military action against Syria.