In an interview with Germany’s DW, US Special Envoy on Syria James
Jeffrey defended President Trump’s declaration of victory over ISIS
earlier this year, and argued that people who thought he was going to
end the war or withdraw from Syria simply “misunderstood.“
Jeffrey conceded that there was confusion around the announcement,
saying even some within the administration misunderstood. At the same
time, he said Trump’s statement was clear and “close to the truth”
compared to other statements by victorious political leaders.
Jeffrey also suggested that the inspector general’s statement on the
ISIS war was mistaken, but added that they “would not ever deliberately
put out false statements, but they often put out inaccurate statements
based upon a misrepresentation of one-sided information.”
Trump had been pretty clear about there being a pullout in Syria, and
defended it for at least some time from critics before eventually
backing down and claiming he was going to stay. Though Jeffrey’s
narrative is that continuing the war was the plan all along, it simply
doesn’t fit with what officials had been saying at the time.
US Envoy: Trump Was ‘Misunderstood’ in Syria Pullout Announcement
Declaring victory never meant the war was going to end
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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