Is it any wonder the ragtag outfit at the Pentagon can’t pass an audit if their lives depended on it?
The Department of Defense admitted that they’ve been providing the media with an incorrect troop count in Syria for months, indicating the number is actually more than twice the information they’d been publicly acknowledging.
And that’s not even the worst part.
“We have been briefing you regularly that there are approximately 900 U.S. troops deployed to Syria,” Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters on Thursday.
“In light of the situation in Syria, and in significant interest, we’ve recently learned that those numbers were higher.”
Wait, what? The Pentagon just suddenly “learned” that the Pentagon sent more troops? After asking the Pentagon about it months later?
Jiminy flippin’ Christmas. Who’s running the place?
HOLY COW!🤯The Pentagon just admitted they had no idea how many American soldiers were in Syria.
“We have been briefing you that there are approximately 900 US troops in Syria.”
“I learned today that in fact there are approximately 2,000 US troops in Syria.”
INSANITY! pic.twitter.com/oWh8Grt2YO
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) December 19, 2024
Not The First Time The Pentagon Fudged Troop Numbers
It’d be nice to think that President-elect Donald Trump’s return as Commander-in-Chief would curb this kind of behavior, but he’s got a lot of cleaning house to do at the DOD.
Military officials flat-out admitted to repeatedly lying to Trump throughout his first term about the number of boots on the ground in Syria.
“America’s top envoy to the multinational military coalition to defeat ISIS claimed in a recent interview that he routinely lied to senior government officials about U.S. troops levels in Syria,” Task & Purpose reported in 2020.
Then-diplomat Jim Jeffrey admitted the real number of U.S. troops in Syria was “a lot more” than what Trump had requested, and he said the department was “always playing shell games to not make clear to our leadership how many troops we had there.”
Subordinates lying to the Commander-in-Chief – and then bragging about it with no consequences. And there are people out there who say the Deep State “isn’t real.” Please.
RELATED: House Votes Overwhelmingly To Condemn Trump’s Decision To Remove Troops From Syria
Do They Still Serve The Interests Of The American People?
Jeffrey was among 50 Republican national security officials who, prior to the 2016 election, signed a letter stating Trump was not “qualified to be President and Commander-in-Chief” and “would put at risk our country’s national security and well-being.”
He somehow got appointed as United States Special Representative for Syria Engagement in 2018 and a year later as Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
The letter flat-out admitted he was one of many in the intelligence and security community who would defy him if, as he felt, Trump overstepped his bounds.
And the brass at the Pentagon are still admitting they lie to the American people about the number of troops overseas – er, excuse me, they didn’t lie – they apparently just “didn’t know” that they themselves more than doubled troop numbers to an active, undeclared war zone.
Remember when Vice President Kamala Harris used this talking point during her campaign?
“As of today, there is not one member of the United States military who is in active duty in a combat zone in any war zone around the world, the first time this century,” she lied.
It’s going to take a Herculean effort by President-elect Trump to restore faith in all facets of government after they’ve been doing it for so long.
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