The Trump Administration continues to backpedal on a withdrawal of US
troops from Syria. Announced in December, it was originally said to
cover all 2,000 troops there. Now, indications are that around 1,000 of the troops will be staying.
This followed previous claims that 200 or 400 troops would be left behind. Officials say no exact number i2 settled on yet, but if anything it seems the momentum is for the number to keep going up.
Officially, the justification for this is that the Kurdish SDF’s offensive against the last ISIS village of Baghouz continues to go poorly, and US officials will be mostly staying in Syria to participate in the endless war against Baghouz with the Kurds.
In practice, a lot of people in the administration, particularly the
Pentagon, never wanted a withdrawal from Syria to begin with, and have
been chipping away at it so long now that its been cut in half, and
there’s still no sign of anyone leaving.
US Planning to Keep Around 1,000 Troops in Syria
Exact troop levels are undecided, troops will be working with Kurds
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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