Trump’s Syria withdrawal plan draws ire from allies
PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s sudden decision to pull back US troops from northern Syria drew quick, strong criticism on Monday from some of his closest allies in Congress. It was condemned, too, by Kurdish fighters who would be abandoned to face a likely Turkish assault after fighting alongside Americans for years against the Islamic State (IS).
The announcement threw the military situation in Syria into fresh chaos and injected deeper uncertainty into US relations with European allies. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham called it “a disaster” while Syria’s Kurds accused the US of turning its back on allies and risking gains made in the years-long fight against IS.
Trump defended his decision, acknowledging in tweets that “the Kurds fought with us” but adding that they “were paid massive amounts of money and equipment to do so”.
“I held off this fight for almost three years, but it’s time for us to get out of these ridiculous Endless Wars, many of them tribal, and bring our soldiers home,” he wrote.
If the Turks go too far, he tweeted later, “I in my great and unmatched wisdom” will destroy their economy”.
Hours after the White House announcement, two senior State Department officials minimised the effects of the US action, telling reporters only about two dozen American troops would be removed from the Turkey-Syria border, not all the US forces in the north-east of the country.
They also said Turkey might not go through with a large-scale invasion and the US was trying to discourage it.
Both officials spoke only on condition of anonymity to discuss what led to the internal White House decision.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened for months to launch a military operation across the Syrian border. He views the Kurdish forces as a threat to his country.
Both Republicans and Democrats in the US have warned that allowing the Turkish attack could lead to a massacre of the Kurds and send a troubling message to American allies across the globe.
US troops “will not support or be involved in the operation” and “will no longer be in the immediate area”, in northern Syria, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in an unusual late-Sunday statement that was silent on the fate of the Kurds.
There are about 1000 US troops in northern Syria, and a senior US official said they would pull back from the area – and could depart the country should widespread fighting break out between Turkish and Kurdish forces.