The US withdrawal from Syria, reversed into the US staying in Syria, which President Trump says is purely for oil but Pentagon officials say is fighting ISIS, has boiled down to a lot of arguments and little substance.
To that end, a senior US commander announced that the US decision to keep fighting ISIS means that they are continuing to partner with Kurdish forces, and that the US partnership with the Kurds endures.
The US has transferred troops around eastern Syria a bit in the process. On Friday, US forces withdrew from the Kurdish city of Kobani, where they will be replaced by Russians. The US presence is centered around oilfields in the area.
The Pentagon focus on pursuing ISIS, along with the lack of ISIS territory to actually fight, is roughly identical to the position before all the US changes. The Kurds are roughly in the same position with respect to the US then, though there is clearly some annoyance at them having let Turkey seize much of the safe zone.
As US Reverses Syria Pullout, Officials Say Partnership With Kurds Endures
After several announced changes to the war, little actually changed
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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