The US plans to establish two new military bases in Kurdish-controlled Syria where it will relocate troops as part of a drawdown of its forces in the country, Rudaw reported on Monday.
Bassam Ishaq, a US-based member of the political wing of the US-backed SDF, said the US would establish one new base near the Tishreen Dam in northern Syria and another in the southeastern Deir Ezzor province near the Iraqi border.
The Tishreen Dam has been the site of heavy fighting between the SDF and the Turkish-backed SNA. Under an integration deal, the SDF is handing over the dam to the Syrian government, which is led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an offshoot of al-Qaeda.
Ishaq said that the US plans to leave 400 troops in Kurdish-controlled areas of Syria. The US also has bases in areas not controlled by the SDF, including at Al Tanf in southern Syria. From Al Tanf, the US helped a militia it backs to join in on the HTS offensive that ousted former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The Pentagon announced last week that it would be pulling more than 1,000 troops out of Syria as part of a “consolidation” of its forces in the country. “This deliberate and conditions-based process will bring the US footprint in Syria down to less than a thousand US forces in the coming months,” said Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell.
For years, the Pentagon claimed there were only 900 US troops occupying Syria, but the Biden administration revealed late last year that the real number was 2,000.
Parnell’s announcement came after media reports said that the US had informed Israel that it was planning to reduce its military footprint in Syria. The reports said Israel is opposed to any US withdrawal or drawdown from the country over concerns that it would lead to an expanded Turkish presence.
So… the US is removing troops from Syria to place them in Syria? Under the direction of Management (Tel Aviv), no doubt.
A bad plan today, won’t be any better tomorrow!… ….. ……
Gee one just can't keep up. I thought Trump said we withdrew troops form Syria? How can you relocate in Syria if they are no longer there? OK I get it more confusion and chaos so no one can keep up.
As I previously thought the drawdown is actually a Transferdown…!
November 21, 2019: President Donald Trump: "We're keeping the oil, remember that. We want to keep the oil. Forty-five million dollars a month."
Thats something like 6 years ago. President Trump should pay Syria for that oil.
Pillaging: a technical term for theft during wartime, illegal under international law, and prohibited by the Fourth Geneva Convention.
There are no joint patrols around the dam, the SDF left, they were replaced by the Syrian Arab Army and nobody in the US has stated that they have any plans for bases in the North of the country, that report was based on wishful thinking by the Kurds who hoped they could push Trump into helping them in the North. It's not going to happen, the Syrian Arab Army is not going to allow a base anywhere near the dam and Trump has said over and over that he will not help the Kurds stay in the North, where they can cause problems for Turkey.
All the US has said is that they are redeploying, with sources saying that all the equipment has been moved South, not north. Not one single US source has said a word about a new base in the North. That report came from ONE Kurdish source.
I'll also point out that as of now Trump can not legally remove all of our troops thanks to Congress, that passed a law saying the numbers can not fall below 400, until it can be proven that ISIS is gone for good. Trump seems to be reducing the number to the lowest level allowed by law and he is moving them South not North.