Commander warns of risks of Trump’s troop withdrawal
WASHINGTON: The United States commander in the Middle East yesterday warned lawmakers about the risks of President Donald Trump’s plans to withdraw American forces from Syria and Afghanistan.
The Islamic State terrorist group is down to less than a 1.6km square of territory in Iraq and Syria, but the group has made a ‘‘calculated decision’’ to lay low and remains a dangerous threat, Army General Joseph Votel told the House Armed Services Committee.
Votel also said Russia reacted ‘‘positively’’ to the president’s December announcement of a planned US troop withdrawal from Syria, saying Moscow views it as ‘‘an opportunity to fill the void’’.
‘‘It makes Russia a bigger player in the area. It puts Russia in the driver’s seat’’ in Syria, Votel said. ‘‘It solidifies their presence in the Middle East.’’
Votel’s testimony contrasts sub stantially with recent remarks by Trump, who has celebrated the complete defeat of the Islamic State with only slight acknowledgement of the group’s persistent peril.
Trump has ordered the withdrawal of most of the roughly 3000 US troops that had been deployed in Syria to fight IS. In December he said ‘‘all’’ of them would come home ‘‘now,’’ but recently agreed to retain a force of about 400 troops.
The president also plans to withdraw in the years ahead most of the roughly 14,000 US troops in Afghanistan.
To achieve that, American diplomats are negotiating with the Taliban, a group the US has alternately embraced and vilified in recent decades. — TCA