Mr. Trump has said that the sole American national interest in Syria was to defeat the Islamic State terrorist group, also known as ISIS, not to hold President Bashar al-Assad of Syria and his government responsible for atrocities committed against the Syrian people. In announcing the withdrawal, Mr. Trump declared victory over the Islamic State, which once controlled large parts of Iraq and Syria, saying, “We have won against ISIS.”
Western analysts say, in fact, that tens of thousands of former ISIS fighters are still active and have gone underground, and that the group still controls a small pocket of territory around the town of Hajin in eastern Syria, near the border with Iraq.
“During the conversation we had with Trump, he asked us, ‘Can you clean up Daesh from there?’” Mr. Erdogan said. He said he responded: “We have cleaned up and we can clean up after today, too; just you provide us with necessary logistic support.”
Leaders of the Kurdish forces this week discussed releasing 1,100 Islamic State fighters they hold prisoners, as well as more than 2,000 of the militants’ relatives, which could breathe new life into the group. It was not clear if the idea was meant as retaliation for the American withdrawal, but running prisons is a drain on resources the Kurdish-led group will want to marshal in preparation for any Turkish attack.
Israeli intelligence officials said that they felt betrayed by the United States withdrawal. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a close ally of Mr. Trump’s, has not publicly criticized the move but the intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it left Israel in a security lurch.
One official said the United States was practically evacuating the Middle East, leaving Russia as the sole global power there. The official said Israel feared that without an American presence, weapons would flow freely from Iran and Russia to Syria, and from Syria to Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy in Lebanon.
The official said Mr. Trump had effectively thrown Israel under the bus — and the bus in this case was a Russian Army transport truck transporting weapons to Syria and Hezbollah.
The timetable for removing United States forces has not been made clear. Mr. Trump also said this week that he would reduce American forces in Afghanistan.
Source : Nytimes
