叙利亚东部——美国驻中东最高军事指挥官乐观地认为，下周计划中的100个伊拉克家庭从叙利亚的一个大难民营中遣返回国叙利亚这可能是减少伊斯兰国死灰复燃威胁的第一步，这种威胁来自难民营，那里有65 000人，其中大多数是妇女和儿童，包括许多伊斯兰国的支持者。

美国中央司令部司令弗兰克·麦肯齐将军星期五访问叙利亚东北部的几个美国基地时，对陪同他的美国广播公司新闻和美联社记者发表了评论。

美国在叙利亚境内仍有大约900名美国士兵，他们正在协助叙利亚库尔德武装打击伊斯兰国的残余势力。

麦肯齐乐观地认为，遣返将按照目前的计划在下周进行，并将成为从叙利亚中部al-Hawl难民营“许多此类遣返的第一步”。

“我认为这将是减少哈尔难民营以及该地区其他难民营人口的关键，”他补充说。“国家需要召回他们的公民，让他们重新融入社会，必要时让他们去激进化，让他们成为社会的生产要素。”

美国广播公司新闻

肯尼斯·麦肯齐将军访问叙利亚，2021年5月21日。

这个庞大的拘留营已成为伊斯兰国的一个行动中心，并因其支持者在营地居民中推行激进意识形态而臭名昭著。

麦肯齐说:“我担心的是伊斯兰国接触这些年轻人的能力，除非我们能找到挽回的方法，否则这将使我们付出高昂的代价。”

在美国广播公司新闻的另一次采访中，麦肯齐将难民营中的幼儿作为目标描述为“一个长期的威胁”。

“他们每天都被伊斯兰国激进化，即使他们提供基本服务来维持营地的运转，”他说。“很难打破这种循环”，十年后他们可能会成为伊斯兰国战士。

麦肯齐认为，将家庭遣返回国是解决这一噩梦般局面的办法，尽管他认为这一进程进展太慢。

“带他们回家，”麦肯齐说。“这就是需要发生的事情，我们的国务院正在积极努力实现这一目标。的确，整个国际社会都是如此，但现在的步伐太慢了。”

内特·卢娜/美国广播公司新闻

美国中央司令部司令弗兰克·麦肯齐将军准备登上一架C-17运输机

但麦肯齐在叙利亚的短期重点是保持对该国剩余的伊斯兰国战斗人员的压力，这是美国军队撤出的主要原因还在那个国家。

尽管在战场上被击败，不再在叙利亚和伊拉克拥有任何领土，但美国及其反ISIS联盟中的合作伙伴仍然担心，ISIS决心改革，成为一支可行的战斗力量。

“他们试图重建自己;“他们试图回来，”英国准将理查德·贝尔说，他是“固有决心行动”的副总指挥。

但贝尔补充说，联军、伊拉克安全部队以及叙利亚和伊拉克的库尔德武装的共同努力，“有效地将他们作为一个大规模恐怖组织解散了。”

贝尔说，但他们“没有消失”，这就是为什么他解释说，叙利亚仍然需要联军。

“直到最后的残余势力被完全击败，意志也被打破，停止并试图回来，然后我认为将需要帮助我们的伙伴部队，”他说。

美国广播公司新闻

肯尼斯·麦肯齐将军访问叙利亚，2021年5月21日。

为了表明联盟对这些库尔德伙伴的承诺，麦肯齐星期五会见了库尔德人领导的叙利亚民主力量高级指挥官马兹隆·阿卜迪将军，他正在继续打击伊拉克和黎凡特伊斯兰国的残余分子。

目前在叙利亚的大量美国军队是路易斯安那州第256旅战斗队的国民警卫队队员，他们在海外部署之前已经在美国度过了繁忙的一年。

去年春天，该旅的500名士兵帮助建立了机动部队新冠肺炎(新型冠状病毒肺炎)路易斯安那州的测试点，而该单位的其他成员随后帮助建立了一个有2000张床位的医院来治疗COVID患者。随后，该旅在准备向叙利亚和伊拉克部署之前，帮助应对了六次飓风。

在叙利亚，第256旅指挥官斯科特·德索默奥上校说，他的部队为与库尔德人合作的特种作战部队提供支持。“我们都是允许自卫队继续战斗的一部分，”德索默说。

但叙利亚东部的局势很复杂，美国军队也与支持阿萨德政权的俄罗斯军队发生互动，后者已经向东向美国军队活动的幼发拉底河地区移动。

去年俄罗斯军队公然骚扰美国军队在一次巡逻中，麦肯齐下令向叙利亚部署布拉德利装甲战车。

在周五看到其中一些车辆后，麦肯齐告诉美国广播公司新闻，他们的部署发出了“现在不是在该地区与美国人打交道的时候”的信息。

德索默说，自从他的部队抵达后，他的部队与俄罗斯巡逻队的互动一直很专业。

美国广播公司新闻

肯尼斯·麦肯齐将军访问叙利亚，2021年5月21日。

为了进一步缓解紧张局势，他的团队吸收了俄罗斯语言学家，以避免误解，“这样翻译就不会丢失任何东西。”

周四，麦肯齐访问了伊拉克，会见了伊拉克总理穆斯塔法·卡希米，讨论了在该国的2500名美国士兵的未来。

正如在叙利亚一样，美国军队正在向伊拉克军队提供援助，帮助他们消灭伊斯兰国的残余势力。

卡迪米政府正在与美国就美国军队在该国的长期存在进行谈判，这一努力引起了伊朗支持的什叶派民兵组织的愤怒。美国指责其中一些组织对美国在伊拉克的设施发动火箭袭击，这显然是企图加剧紧张局势，迫使美国撤军。

定于10月举行的议会选举可能会产生另一个什叶派领导的政府，但一名美国高级官员表示，新的什叶派政府不会自动受到伊朗的影响。

这位官员表示乐观，认为新一批伊拉克什叶派政治家可能会掌权，他们更加民族主义，对伊朗对伊拉克政治的影响更加警惕，并将继续倡导美国在伊拉克的长期军事存在。

Repatriating refugees at Syrian camp could stem ISIS resurgence: US general

EASTERN SYRIA -- The top U.S. military commander in the Middle East is optimistic that next week's planned repatriation of a hundred Iraqi families from a large refugee camp inSyriacould be the first step toward reducing the threat of a resurgence of the Islamic State emanating from the camp that is home to 65,000 mostly women and children, including many ISIS supporters.

Gen. Frank McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command, made his comments to ABC News and Associated Press reporters accompanying him during his visit Friday to several U.S. bases in northeastern Syria.

The U.S. still has about 900 American troops inside Syria who are assisting Syrian Kurdish forces in their fight against the remnants of ISIS.

McKenzie was optimistic that the repatriation would actually take place next week, as is currently planned, and would serve as "the first step in many such repatriations" from the camp at al-Hawl in central Syria.

"I think that's going be the key to bringing down the population at at the al-Hawl camp and indeed other camps across the region," he added. "Nations need to bring back their citizens, reintegrate them, de-radicalize them if necessary and make them productive elements of society."

The sprawling detention camp has become a hub of Islamic State operations and become notorious as a place where ISIS supporters enforce their militant ideology on camp residents.

"What concerns me is the ability of ISIS to reach out to these young people in a way that unless we can find a way to take it back, it's gonna make us pay a steep price down the road," said McKenzie.

In a separate interview with ABC News, McKenzie described the targeting of young children at the camp as "a long-term threat."

"They're being radicalized every day by ISIS even as they provide basic services to keep the camp running," he said. "It's very hard to break that cycle" that in a decade could potentially see them become ISIS fighters.

McKenzie sees the repatriation of families to their home countries as a solution to that nightmare scenario, though he feels that process is moving too slowly.

"Bring them home," said McKenzie. "That's what needs to happen and our State Department's aggressively working to that goal right now. Indeed, the entire international community is, but the pace is too slow right now."

But McKenzie's short term focus in Syria is keeping the pressure on the remaining ISIS fighters in that country, the main reason why U.S. troops arestill in that country.

Though defeated on the battlefield and no longer holding any territory in Syria and Iraq, the U.S. and its partners in the anti-ISIS coalition remain concerned that ISIS is determined to reform as a viable fighting force.

"They're attempting to reconstitute themselves; they're attempting to come back," said British Brig. Gen. Richard Bell, who serves as the deputy commanding general of Operation Inherent Resolve.

But Bell added that the combined efforts of the coalition, Iraqi security forces and Kurdish forces in Syria and Iraq have "effectively dismantled them as a large-scale terrorist organization."

But they "haven't gone away," said Bell, which is why he explained that coalition forces are still needed in Syria.

"Until the last remnants are completely defeated and the will is also broken to stop and try to come back then I think there will be a requirement to assist our partner forces," he said.

As a demonstration of the coalition's commitment to those Kurdish partners, McKenzie met Friday with Gen. Mazloun Abdi, the senior commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, who are continuing the fight against the remnants of ISIS.

A large number of the U.S. troops in Syria right now are Louisiana National Guardsmen from that state's 256th Brigade Combat Team who already had a busy year stateside before their overseas deployment.

Last spring, 500 of the brigade's soldiers helped establish mobileCOVID-19testing sites in Louisiana while other members of the unit then helped build a 2,000-bed hospital to treat COVID patients. The brigade then helped assist with the response to six hurricanes before preparing for their deployment to Syria and Iraq.

In Syria, Col. Scott Desormeaux, the commander of the 256th Brigade, said his forces provide support to the special operations forces working with the Kurds. "We''re all a part of allowing the SDF to continue to fight," said Desormeaux.

But the landscape in eastern Syria is a complex one where American forces also interact with Russian forces supporting the Assad regime who have moved eastward toward the Euphrates River area where U.S. forces operate.

An incident last year where Russian forcesbrazenly harassed American troopson a patrol led McKenzie to order the deployment of armored Bradley Fighting Vehicles to Syria.

After seeing some of those vehicles on Friday, McKenzie told ABC News that their deployment sent the message that "this is not the time to mess around with the Americans in the region."

Desormeux said that since the arrival of his forces the interactions his forces have had with Russian patrols have been professional.

In a further attempt to de-escalate tensions, his unit incorporated Russian linguists to avoid miscommunication "so that nothing gets lost in translation."

On Thursday, McKenzie visited Iraq where he met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to discuss the future of the 2,500 American troops in that country.

As in Syria, American troops are providing assistance to the Iraqi military as it stamps out the remnants of the Islamic State.

Kadhimi's government is in talks with the United States about the long-term presence of American troops in the country, an effort that has drawn the ire of Iranian-backed Shiite militia groups. The U.S. has blamed some of those groups for rocket attacks on U.S. facilities in Iraq, an apparent attempt to escalate tensions and force a U.S. withdrawal.

Parliamentary elections scheduled for October may result in another Shiite-led government, but a senior U.S. official said it is not automatic that a new Shiite government would let itself be influenced by Iran.

The official expressed optimism that a new wave of Iraqi Shiite politicians that are more nationalistic and wary of Iranian influence on Iraqi politics may come to power and will continue advocating for a long-term U.S. military presence in Iraq.