The revelation that the United States has more forces than was publicly known in Syria could prove advantageous for President-elect Joe Biden’s strategy in the country if those troops aren’t first withdrawn by his predecessor. In an interview with Defense One published on Nov. 12, outgoing diplomat and U.S. envoy for Syria, Jim Jeffery, admitted that lower-level officials had played “shell games” to ensure that the United States maintained more forces in Syria than the agreed-upon 200-400 troops that President Donald Trump wanted to keep in the country after his aborted withdrawal attempt in October 2019. Although the full number is still not publicly known, Jeffrey, who is now retiring, hinted that troop levels had been unchanged since October 2019, when around 1,000 troops were estimated to be in Syria. ...
