Trump: Troops exit Syria, not region

President Donald Trump says the roughly 1,000 U.S. troops he has ordered to leave Syria will remain in the Middle East to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State threat. In a written statement Monday announcing his authorization of economic sanctions on Turkey, Trump made clear that the withdrawing troops will leave Syria entirely. He said the troops will “redeploy and remain in the region.” He described their mission as “monitoring the situation” and preventing a “repeat of 2014,” when Islamic State fighters who had organized in Syria as a fighting force swept into neighboring Iraq and took control of Iraq’s north and west. Trump confirmed that the small number of U.S. troops at a base in southern Syria will remain there.

The big question

How can the U.S. continue putting military pressure on the Islamic State in Syria without a troop presence on the ground? U.S. forces have been there since 2015, arming and advising a Kurdish-led Syrian group of fighters who largely eliminated ISIS control of Syrian territory but were still working to prevent an ISIS resurgence.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Sunday that the U.S. withdrawal would be done carefully to protect the troops and to ensure that no U.S. equipment was left behind. He declined to say how long that might take, but said the administration was considering its options.

“We have American forces likely caught between two opposing advancing armies and it’s a very untenable situation,” Esper said.

What could be at stake

The decision to withdraw seemed likely to herald the end of a five-year effort to partner with Syrian Kurdish and Arab fighters to ensure a lasting defeat of the Islamic State group. Hundreds of ISIS supporters escaped a holding camp amid clashes between invading Turkish-led forces and Kurdish fighters, and analysts said an ISIS resurgence seemed more likely, just months after Trump declared the extremists defeated.

Critics say the U.S. has betrayed the Kurds by pulling back in the face of Turkey’s invasion, but Esper said the administration was left with little choice once Erdogan told Trump a week ago that he was going ahead with a military offensive. Esper said the Kurds have been good partners, “but at the same time, we didn’t sign up to fight the Turks on their behalf.”

The Kurds have turned to the Syrian government and Russia for military assistance, further complicating the battlefield.

The prospect of enhancing the Syrian government’s position on the battlefield and inviting Russia to get more directly involved is seen by Trump’s critics as a major mistake. Earlier Monday, Trump tweeted that it shouldn’t matter.

“Others may want to come in and fight for one side or the other,” he wrote. “Let them!”

MAURICIO LIMA/THE NEW YORK TIMES/FILE LEFT: Members of Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army, a militant group active in parts of northwest Syria, head toward the Syrian town of Tal Abyad on Monday. The military action is part of a campaign to extend Turkish control of more of northern Syria, a large swath of which has been held by Syrian Kurds, whom Turkey regards as a threat. BURAK KARA/GETTY IMAGES RIGHT: U.S. Special Forces troops positioned in Syria are being withdrawn in a major change of military strategy in the region.