CaliToday (06/11/2025): The move, intended to secure a landmark US-brokered Syria-Israel peace deal, would mark a tectonic realignment, sidelining decades of Russian and Iranian influence.
The United States is in advanced preparations to establish a military presence at the Damascus Air Base in Syria, a move designed to support and guarantee a landmark security agreement being mediated by Washington between Syria and Israel, six sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The plan, which has not been previously reported, signals a profound and rapid strategic reorientation of Syria away from its traditional allies, Iran and Russia, and toward the United States.
This dramatic diplomatic and military pivot comes just a year after the collapse of the decades-long regime of Bashar al-Assad, a key client of both Tehran and Moscow.
A US deployment to an air base in the Syrian capital a city that was the nerve center of Assad's anti-Western "Axis of Resistance" would represent one of the most significant geopolitical shifts in the Middle East in decades.
A New Security Architecture
According to the sources, the proposed US deployment would serve as the primary implementation and verification mechanism for the security deal. This agreement, brokered by the White House, is reportedly aimed at:
Formalizing an end to hostilities between Syria and Israel.
Guaranteeing the permanent removal of all Iranian-backed militias, including Hezbollah, from Syrian territory.
Establishing demilitarized zones in southern Syria, particularly near the sensitive Golan Heights border with Israel.
"A U.S. presence is the only guarantee all sides will trust," one source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters. "It is meant to ensure the Iranians and their proxies cannot use the post-Assad vacuum to re-establish a presence. For the Israelis, it's a non-negotiable security guarantee. For the new Syrian government, it's a firm anchor to the West."
Sidelining Russia and Iran
For nearly two decades, the United States has maintained a small footprint of several hundred troops in eastern and southern Syria (such as at the Al-Tanf garrison), but their mission was strictly focused on counter-ISIS operations, far from the seat of power.
A deployment to the Damascus Air Base, however, would be a fundamentally different mission shifting from counter-terrorism to great power politics and regional security.
It would serve as a powerful physical and symbolic check on Iran's ambitions, effectively severing the land bridge Tehran has long used to supply its proxy, Hezbollah, in Lebanon.
It also marks a major strategic defeat for Russia, which invested heavily in its military intervention to save the Assad regime. A US flag flying at a military base in Damascus would confirm the collapse of Russia's influence in the country following its pivot away from the region in recent years.
The plan is reportedly still under final review by the White House, but the sources indicated that preparations are moving quickly, signaling a high level of confidence that the Syria-Israel deal is approaching a historic conclusion.