Tabnak – In an unexpected development which has raised many speculations in a short period of time, the US announced that it’s preparing for the withdrawal of its troops from Syria. The statement comes as the American military officials have been persistently talking about the need to stay in the Arab country for a long time.
In this vein, US President Donald Trump has declared victory against Daesh terrorists in Syria as reports suggest that he is planning to pull out American troops from the conflict-torn country. “We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency,” Trump tweeted Wednesday, using an acronym for the terrorist group.
The declaration comes after the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post reported that Trump is preparing to “immediately” withdraw the 2,000 American troops in the country.
According to the Wall Street Journal, The US military is preparing to withdraw its forces from Syria, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday, a move that marks an abrupt reversal of the American military strategy in the Middle East.
When asked to comment on the reports, Pentagon spokesman Col. Rob Manning said on Wednesday only that “at this time, we continue to work by, with and through our partners in the region.”
The US has reportedly more than 2,000 troops stationed in eastern Syria, in addition to several thousand others in the Arab country's north. Trump has complained that the US has wasted trillions of dollars in Middle East wars, but gets "nothing" in return.
"We spent $7 trillion in the Middle East. And you know what we have for it? Nothing," Trump said earlier this year, promising to focus future US spending on building jobs and infrastructure at home.
The US and its allies have been bombarding what they call Daesh positions inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from the Damascus government or a UN mandate. The strikes have on many occasions resulted in civilian casualties and failed to fulfill their declared aim of countering terrorism.
The Washington Post reminds in its report of the development that both the Trump and Obama administrations have resisted becoming more involved in Syria's larger civil war but many senior officials - including at the State Department and Pentagon - have supported an ongoing troop presence in Syria until security conditions improve and a political solution can be reached.
The unexpected White House move comes as tensions increase sharply with NATO ally Turkey, which has promised to launch a military offensive against the US partner forces in Syria, which Ankara considers part of a Kurdish terrorist group. Losing their US ground partner will be a major blow to the Syrian Kurdish forces.
