Pentagon Finally Shows Its Hand: US Denies ISIS Defeat in Syria and Refuses to Pull Troops Out

On Wednesday, the President of the country and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Vladimir Putin announced ISIS' total defeat in Syria and, in fact, the end of the large-scale military operation with Russia's participation.

On Wednesday, the President of the country and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Vladimir Putin announced ISIS' total defeat in Syria and, in fact, the end of the large-scale military operation with Russia's participation.

Vladimir Putin: "The Minister of Defense has reported that the operation on the eastern and western banks of the Euphrates is over. Total defeat of the terrorists. Some detached resistance hotspots will naturally still exist, but on the whole, the military part at this point and on this territory is finished. I emphasize, we have achieved complete defeat over ISIL and victory over the terrorists".

 

Putin mentioned the banks of the Euphrates, but it was actually the last stronghold of the resistance of the barbarian pseudo-Caliphate in Syria. Later on in same day, the Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov offered some insights.

Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff: "There are no territories controlled by ISIL in Syria today".

One day later, Colonel-General Rudskoy Head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff, added:

Sergey Rudskoy, Head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff: "One mustn't forget that detached subversive groups of ISIS can appear on the liberated territory. In this case, they will be exterminated by government forces that have specially prepared mobile reserves".

One would think everything is clear. But the Pentagon "respectfully disagrees" with Russia's victory over ISIS and says that the Americans will keep fighting against ISIS. The US Department of Defense spokesman Eric Pahon literally stated this. Another Department of Defense spokesman, Rob Manning, added that there are about 2000 soldiers in Syria.

In response, Manning's Russian colleague Major General Konashenkov, the chief spokesman for the Ministry of Defence, explained in his confident and polite manner:

Igor Konashenkov, chief spokesman for the Ministry of Defence: "We would like to remind the representative of the Pentagon that the start of expansion in Iraq and the invasion of the international terrorist group ISIS to Syria occurred with the silent non-interference of the US military department. And ISIS remains undefeated in Iraq — in the zone of direct responsibility of the US.

The words about the allegedly undefeated ISIS in Syria are an artificial pretense and an excuse for the illegal stationing of American military forces in the Syrian Republic. As for "respect", we recommend them to show it to the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic and generally accepted norms of international law".

An important remark. After all, the Americans — and it is unclear why and in what terms they still remain in Syria — have the impudence to declare that they have "their own sky" there.

Thus, in an interview with The New York Times and CNN, Damien Pickart, spokesman for Air Forces Central Command, complained of the Russian Aerospace Forces because it allows its fighter jets to fly dangerously close to American warplanes in Syria, "crossing into our airspace".

On Saturday, Konashenkov also commented on this reminding them that "the US never had sky in Syria, it's impossible." And he recommended some members of the US Central Command to "watch their thoughts and focus on the destruction of ISIS terrorists in Iraq rather than on provoking incidents in the air".