TRUMP TO WITHDRAW US FORCES FROM SYRIA

Advisers shocked and hours later, US seals $3.5bn missile sale to Turkey

US President Donald Trump yesterday said Washington would withdraw its 2,000 troops from Syria, shocking his advisers with a move that appeared to be co-ordinated with Turkey.

“We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump presidency,” he tweeted yesterday.

The White House ordered the Pentagon to “begin planning for immediate withdrawal”, CBS reported, as Vice President Mike Pence met US Secretary of Defence James Mattis.

A source at the Pentagon confirmed the White House’s intentions. The State Department, caught off guard by the announcement, cancelled its daily briefing.

“The United States has defeated the territorial caliphate,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said. “We have started returning US troops home as we transition to the next phase of this campaign.”

Later yesterday, the Pentagon said it had started the process of withdrawing US troops from Syria but opposed Mr Trump’s assertion that the ISIS campaign was over.

Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said command was preparing for the next phase of the campaign.

“We will continue working with our partners and allies to defeat ISIS wherever it operates,” Ms White said.

The announcement was preceded by high-level meetings and calls to Turkey, Israel and European allies last week, The

National has learnt.

And just hours after Mr Trump’s announcement, the US approved a $3.5 billion (Dh12.86bn) sale of Raytheon’s Patriot missile system and 80 guidance missiles to Turkey.

Nouri Mahmoud, a spokesman for the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a US-backed Kurdish group in Syria, told The

National that his forces had yet to receive confirmation of a full US withdrawal.

Mr Trump called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last Friday, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, sources said.

Those sources confirm he gave his decision on complete withdrawal from Syria after his call with Mr Erdogan.

The US military advised a longer presence to assist and train Syrian Democratic Forces and help to stabilise the country.

Last month, US National Security Adviser John Bolton tied any US withdrawal from Syria to the departure of pro-Iran militias and proxies.

He was said to be furious at Mr Trump’s change of course.

The US never had the appetite for a permanent presence in Syria, or managing political transitions FAYSAL ITANI Senior fellow at The Atlantic Council

The National has also learned that non-government organisations in US-controlled areas of Syria received alerts yesterday to prepare for departure.

Experts pointed to a US-Turkish arrangement on Syria but warned of the consequences a rapid withdrawal could have on US efforts to finish ISIS.

Just 10 days ago, US envoy in the war against ISIS Brett McGurk said “we want to stay on the ground and make sure that stability can be maintained in these areas”.

The withdrawal plans are “a disaster for the counter-ISIS mission”, said Nicholas Heras, a senior fellow at the Centre for New American Security.

“Turkey has no ready made force to build stability in Syria, but it seems that President Trump was sold on Mr Erdogan’s promises that Turkey could take the troublesome Syria load off his shoulders,” Mr Heras said.

Leaving Syria, Afghanistan and taking Iraq’s oil were promises made by Mr Trump during the campaign but were opposed by his military advisers after becoming president.

With the US withdrawing, its allied force, the SDF, “either cuts a deal with the Assad regime and Russia and Iran, or it faces a war with Turkey and Turkish occupation,” Mr Heras said.

Faysal Itani, a senior fellow at The Atlantic Council, told The

National that the withdrawal moves the US’s previous goal posts on Syria, such as “enduring defeat of ISIS, getting the Iranian military out of Syria, and achieving a political transition”.

But he said there should be no surprise at the US announcement.

“The US never had the appetite for a permanent presence in Syria or managing political transitions.”

Washington’s exit will also have implications for the presence of ISIS in Syria, as well as aiding Iranian and Russian ambitions.

“I expect ISIS will be back in some form within a year, and expelling Iran from Syria will not be achieved if the US is not in Syria,” Mr Itani said.

A more likely outcome would be “a possible military confrontation between Turkey and the Kurds, at least in the border area, if Russia allows that”.

American guarantees for the Kurdish forces are unlikely to hold if it withdraws, said Mr Itani, while Iran and the Syrian regime now have a path “to encroach on territory east of the Euphrates” held by the US and its allies.