LOC21:03
18:03 GMT
WASHINGTON, Jan 13 (KUNA) -- US State Secretary Michael Pompeo on Sunday said that the US remains "fully engaged" in the Middle East regardless of the physical withdrawal from Syria, and diplomacy is a part and parcel of the arsenal to "secure" the region and "keep it stable."
In an interview with a US News station Pompeo, currently in the Arabian Gulf region, said that "The roughly two thousand uniformed soldiers that are in Syria today are going to be withdrawn - that activity is underway. We're going to do so in an orderly and deliberate way. A way that protects America's national security. A way that allows us to continue the important mission that they were on - the counterterrorism mission."
He asserted that the US "real missions" are to "make sure" that the "destruction" of the so-called Islamic State (IS) is "complete" and "that their resurgence is not possible" as well as to "counter the threat from terrorism stemming from the Islamic Republic of Iran.
"The Turks have made clear that they understand that there are folks down in Syria that have their rights. We also want to make sure that those in Syria aren't attacking - terrorists aren't attacking Turkey from Syria," he reiterated.
"We're fully engaged," he asserted.
He noted that the physical withdrawal of troops from Syria does not mean that the US would be gone militarily from the Middle East.
He said that the US "can project military power from lots of places in the world. The absence of a couple thousand soldiers on the ground in Syria in no way materially diminishes the capacity of the United States of America and our amazing armed forces to deliver American power to accomplish our objectives anywhere in the world."
Pompeo added that "certainly includes in Syria. It certainly includes into Iran if need be. We still have those tools. America's diplomats still have that leverage and that power standing behind them. I'm very confident in our military capabilities here in the Middle East."
However, he said that his task as State Secretary "is to make sure that we don't have to use that tool. That we get the diplomatic outcomes to secure the Middle East and keep it stable and protect the American people as well." (end)
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