Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO and former Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker warned on Newsmax Saturday that the deadly ISIS attack on U.S. personnel in Syria underscores the continued threat of terrorism in the Middle East and said President Donald Trump is right to promise retaliation.
Speaking on "The Count," Volker described the attack as a targeted ambush against U.S. forces operating in a volatile region, raising serious questions about how ISIS obtained intelligence on a supposedly secure meeting involving U.S. and Syrian officials.
U.S. troops were on what Volker called a highly dangerous mission when they were apparently ambushed by ISIS gunmen.
The assailant, described as a lone ISIS gunman, appeared to have advance knowledge of the meeting.
"What happened here is you had a lone gunman from ISIS who went to a location where U.S. Military leaders were meeting with Syrian government officials, military security officials in Palmyra.
"They must have had intelligence about the fact that this meeting was going to take place.
"The people who were killed were guarding the meeting. They were standing outside, and this sniper just stood up in a window and took shots at them," he said.
"There was an immediate response from the Syrian forces that were there. They tracked him down and killed him, so the immediate threat there is gone.
"But we have three killed and three wounded, as you say, as well as wounded Syrian soldiers as well," he added.
"This is just a reminder that terrorism in the Middle East is still a problem. America is still a target. We saw this National Security Strategy from the White House last week and said, 'We want to move on a bit from the Middle East and deal with other issues,' but the reality is that these things are still there.
"They can still hit us. President Trump is absolutely right to promise retaliation. This cannot stand," he said.
President Donald Trump echoed that assessment in public remarks and social media posts following the attack, which the United States has blamed on the Islamic State group.
Trump said Saturday that "there will be very serious retaliation" after two U.S. service members and one American civilian were killed in the Syria attack.
"We mourn the loss of three Great American Patriots in Syria — two soldiers and one Civilian Interpreter," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. "Likewise, we pray for the three injured soldiers who, it has just been confirmed, are doing well.
"This was an ISIS attack against the U.S. and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria that is not fully controlled by them. The President of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is extremely angry and disturbed by this attack.
"There will be very serious retaliation. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
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