US envoy to anti-IS coalition quits after Syria decision
WASHINGTON: Brett McGurk, the US special envoy to the anti-Islamic State group coalition, has resigned, a State Department official said, capping a chaotic week that saw the departure of Defence Secretary Jim Mattis and Donald Trump’s stunning decision to pull troops from Syria.
McGurk’s resignation, effective Dec 31, comes on the heels of Mattis’s decision to quit the Trump administration over key disagreements with the US president, notably the Syria withdrawal.
Just last week McGurk, a Barack Obama appointee whom Trump kept on, said “nobody is declaring a mission accomplished” in the battle against IS – just days before the president blindsided politicians and allies with his announcement of victory against the militants movement.
Trump on Saturday said that the IS group “is largely defeated”. “When I became President, ISIS was going wild,” the president tweeted. “Now ISIS is largely defeated and other local countries, including Turkey, should be able to easily take care of whatever remains. We’re coming home!”
Trump later took aim at McGurk on Twitter, referring to him as a “grandstander” who was quitting just before his time was up.
McGurk, 45, was set to leave his position in February, but reportedly felt he could no longer continue in the job after Trump’s declaration and on Friday evening informed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of his intention to wrap up at year’s end.
His conclusion mirrored that of Mattis, who was seen as a voice of moderation in the mercurial Trump White House and quit after telling the president he could not go along with the Syria decision.
McGurk has served as the US envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS since 2015.
He also served as the deputy assistant secretary of state for Iraq and Iran, and worked under Republican George W. Bush as a senior official on Iraq and Afghanistan.
Discussing the US role in Syria this month, he said “it would be reckless if we were just to say, Well, the physical caliphate is defeated, so we can just leave now”. “I think anyone who’s looked at a conflict like this would agree.”
McGurk called Trump’s move to leave Syria “a shock” and “a complete reversal of policy that was articulated to us,” in an e-mail announcing his decision to colleagues that was obtained by The New York Times.