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Syrian lawmaker says U.S. troop plan to have no effect

 
Published Nov. 1, 2015

DAMASCUS, Syria — The United States' decision to send troops into Syria is an act of aggression because it does not have the government's agreement, a Syrian member of parliament said Saturday.

Sharif Shehadeh told the Associated Press that the troops will have no effect on the ground, but that Washington wants to say it is present in Syria.

"What has happened to make America realize, after five years, that it should send between 30 and 50 military advisers?" asked Shehadeh, referring to the start of the country's crisis in March 2011 that has since killed more than 250,000 people.

American officials say up to 50 special operations troops will be sent to assist Kurdish and Arab forces in northern Syria.

A U.S.-led coalition has been targeting the Islamic State group with airstrikes since September 2014, killing 12,000 extremists without weakening the group.

The decision to send U.S. troops to Syria comes a month after Russia began launching airstrikes against insurgents in the country. Russia's airstrikes were agreed upon with the Syrian government.

"When America sends ground forces into Syrian territories without an agreement with the Syrian government it becomes an intervention and aggression," Shehadeh said by telephone. "Will America allow Russian ground forces to go into America without an agreement? I think the answer is no."

The United States has conducted special operations raids in Syria before and is expected to continue to carry out more unilateral raids.

The U.S. decision came as activists said some rebel groups, as well as the main U.S.-backed Kurdish militia known as the YPG, are preparing for an offensive against ISIS in its de facto capital of Raqqa. Last month, U.S. cargo planes dropped small arms and ammunition to Arab groups fighting ISIS in northern Syria in what appeared to be preparation for the attack.

At the same time, a dozen countries, including the United States and Russia, agreed during talks in Vienna on Friday to pursue a new peace effort involving Syria's government and opposition groups.

New U.S. aid: The United States ramped up its support for Syria's opposition with a pledge of nearly $100 million in fresh aid on Saturday. That brings to nearly $500 million the amount it has pledged to the opposition since 2012. The new funds will support local and provincial councils, civil society activists, emergency services and other needs on the ground in Syria.