U.S. Prepares to Fully Remove Troops From Northeastern Syria

The Wall Street Journal has reported that the US military has started preparations to remove all of its forces from northeastern Syria:

U.S. officials began informing partners in northeastern Syria of their plans to begin immediately pulling American forces out of the region where they have been trying to wrap up the campaign against Islamic State, the people said.The move follows a call last week between President Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has threatened to launch an assault on America’s Kurdish partners in Syria.

The US has 2,000 troops in this area. The official said that President Donald Trump made the decision on Tuesday. The Washington Post reminded people that “Trump has long promised to conclude the campaign against the Islamic State and has questioned the value of costly and dangerous military missions overseas.”

The Wall Street Journal stated that the task to eliminate the Islamic State “is largely complete” since the terrorist group “has been effectively cornered in a small stretch of Syrian territory along the Iraq border.” The Pentagon estimated that the Islamic State controls “less than 2% of the territory it once held in the Middle East

Vijeta blogged about Erdogan’s decision to launch a military offensive against the Kurds in northeastern Syria, who the US has allied with against the Islamic State. He noted that the Kurds have held a key role to liberate areas in Syria and Iraq from the terrorist group.

Tags: Islamic State, Kurds, Syria, Trump Foreign Policy, Turkey

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