The US Reportedly Plans to Pull All its Troops from Syria as Trump Declares Victory Over ISIS
Kevin Breuninger
@KEVINWILLIAMB
CNBC News
President Donald Trump declares in a tweet that the U.S. mission to defeat the militant group in Syria has been accomplished.
That declaration came just after a slew of reports that the U.S. military is weighing an immediate and complete withdrawal of its forces in Syria.
The decision will reportedly take 2,000-plus U.S. service members out of the country, ending the ground strategy against the Islamic State.
President Donald Trump declared in a tweet Wednesday that the U.S. mission to defeat the Islamic State in Syria has been accomplished.
Defeating the Islamic militant group in the region, he said, was “my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency.”
The declaration came on the heels of several reports that the U.S. military is planning a complete withdrawal of its forces in Syria in a reversal of U.S. policy as the declining threat of the Islamic State has been supplanted by increasing tensions with other world powers in the region.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the development, which U.S. officials have reportedly said is set to begin immediately.
The decision would take 2,000-plus U.S. servicemembers out of the country, ending the ground strategy against the Islamic State, a U.S. defense official told The Washington Post.
The move appears to contradict the existing stance on the conflict in Syria advocated by senior Trump administration officials, which was to maintain a longer-term presence in the country and even to expand beyond its core mission to defeat the Islamic State. National security advisor John Bolton reportedly said in September that the U.S. was “not going to leave as long as Iranian troops are outside Iranian borders.”
Defense Department spokesman Col. Rob Manning said that, “At this time, we continue to work by, with and through our partners in the region.”
The surprise pivot comes just days after Turkey reaffirmed to CNBC that it would not soften its rhetoric against the U.S.-backed Kurds in northern Syria. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that his country’s military was “not risking American soldiers’ lives” through its targeting of the Kurdish factions.
During a news briefing Wednesday morning, a spokeswoman for Russia’s foreign ministry knocked the existing U.S. forces in Syria as “a dangerous obstacle to the path to” a peace settlement, Reuters reported. The spokeswoman also accused the U.S. of keeping its troops in Syria illegally.
The White House, the State Department and the Russian Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment on the reports.
@KEVINWILLIAMB
CNBC News
President Donald Trump declares in a tweet that the U.S. mission to defeat the militant group in Syria has been accomplished.
That declaration came just after a slew of reports that the U.S. military is weighing an immediate and complete withdrawal of its forces in Syria.
The decision will reportedly take 2,000-plus U.S. service members out of the country, ending the ground strategy against the Islamic State.
President Donald Trump declared in a tweet Wednesday that the U.S. mission to defeat the Islamic State in Syria has been accomplished.
Defeating the Islamic militant group in the region, he said, was “my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency.”
The declaration came on the heels of several reports that the U.S. military is planning a complete withdrawal of its forces in Syria in a reversal of U.S. policy as the declining threat of the Islamic State has been supplanted by increasing tensions with other world powers in the region.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the development, which U.S. officials have reportedly said is set to begin immediately.
The decision would take 2,000-plus U.S. servicemembers out of the country, ending the ground strategy against the Islamic State, a U.S. defense official told The Washington Post.
The move appears to contradict the existing stance on the conflict in Syria advocated by senior Trump administration officials, which was to maintain a longer-term presence in the country and even to expand beyond its core mission to defeat the Islamic State. National security advisor John Bolton reportedly said in September that the U.S. was “not going to leave as long as Iranian troops are outside Iranian borders.”
Defense Department spokesman Col. Rob Manning said that, “At this time, we continue to work by, with and through our partners in the region.”
The surprise pivot comes just days after Turkey reaffirmed to CNBC that it would not soften its rhetoric against the U.S.-backed Kurds in northern Syria. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that his country’s military was “not risking American soldiers’ lives” through its targeting of the Kurdish factions.
During a news briefing Wednesday morning, a spokeswoman for Russia’s foreign ministry knocked the existing U.S. forces in Syria as “a dangerous obstacle to the path to” a peace settlement, Reuters reported. The spokeswoman also accused the U.S. of keeping its troops in Syria illegally.
The White House, the State Department and the Russian Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment on the reports.
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