May 6, 2018
The United States, the Global Coalition, and local partners, including the Syrian Democratic Forces, are launching operations to liberate the final ISIS strongholds in Syria. “The fighting will be difficult,” said State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, “but we and our partners will prevail. We will defend United States, Coalition, and partner forces if attacked. The days of ISIS controlling territory and terrorizing the people of Syria are coming to an end,” she declared.
The United States will work with its NATO Ally Turkey and partners Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon to secure their borders from ISIS. The U.S. will seek to share in a fair manner contributions in forces, material, and resources from regional partners and allies to stabilize liberated territories.
As President Donald Trump said in remarks with President Emmanuel Macron of France, we will ensure that there is a strong and lasting footprint in Syria such that ISIS cannot return and populations liberated from ISIS are not exploited by the regime of Bashar al-Assad or its Iranian supporters.
The U.S. will seek to reinvigorate the Geneva process under United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254, and mobilize international resources to address Syria's urgent humanitarian and stabilization needs. Syria's civil war is in its eighth year. The carnage has been unspeakable: hundreds of thousands dead; millions displaced; untold thousands disappeared into prisons.
The United States is committed to ensuring a future political settlement in Syria that honors the will of all Syrians, including Sunni Arabs, Kurds, Christians, Turkmen, and other minorities.