U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday defended his administration´s decision to withdraw US troops from northern Syria and said it would be too expensive to continue supporting US-allied Kurdish forces in the region.
"The United States was supposed to be in Syria for 30 days, and that was many years ago, but we stayed deeper and deeper in the battle without a goal in sight," he said in a Twitter tweet on Monday morning.
"When I arrived in Washington, ISIS was rampant in the region. We quickly defeated 100% of ISIS succession, including the capture of thousands of its fighters, mostly from Europe, but Europe did not return them, and they said you should keep them in the USA!" I said no: we have done a lot to your advantage, and now you want us to hold them in American prisons at a huge cost. "
"The Kurds have fought with us, but huge sums of money and equipment have been paid to do so," Trump said in a tweet. "It is time for us to break out of these endless and ridiculous wars, many of which began with tribal motives, and bring our soldiers home." Now, Turkey, Europe, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Russia, and the Kurds will have to find a settlement, and what they want to do with ISIS fighters captured in their neighborhood.All of them hate ISIS, and they have been enemies for years, we are 7,000 away. We will crush ISIS again if they come. "
"Today, President Donald Trump spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the phone. Turkey will soon move forward through its long-planned operation in northern Syria, and the U.S. armed forces will not support or participate in the operation," the White House statement said. After defeating ISIS´s regional caliphate, the US forces will not be in the vicinity. The US government has pressured France, Germany and other European countries, from which many ISIS fighters who were captured came to take them back, but did not want and refused. ´
The United States began withdrawing some of its troops from northeastern Syria on Monday in a major political shift, paving the way for a Turkish military offensive against Kurdish-led forces and handing Ankara responsibility for thousands of ISIS captives. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said the move was a "backstab" and the forces were Washington´s strongest partner in fighting the militant group in Syria. The SDF accused the United States of abandoning an ally, warning that the Turkish attack would have a "significant negative impact" on the war on IS.
A US official said on Monday the withdrawal of US troops in Syria would initially be limited to a piece of land near the Turkish border where Ankara and Washington had agreed to work together to establish a special security zone there.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the pullout from the area would not include many troops, but perhaps only dozens.
A senior UN official said on Monday that civilians should be protected from any Turkish military operation in northeastern Syria, where the United Nations hopes to prevent violations or displacement.
The United States has said it will withdraw its troops from northeastern Syria in a major shift paving the way for a Turkish military operation against Kurdish-led forces, and Turkey will hand over responsibility for thousands of ISIS prisoners.
Panos Moumcis, the regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syrian crisis, told reporters in Geneva that the UN had prepared contingency plans for aid. "We hope for the best but prepare for the worst."
The neocons, who expressed outrage at Trump´s decision, unanimously agree that the US administration should engage in the destruction of the Syrian state and the overthrow of the Syrian regime, and consider retreating as a defeat for the United States.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a hawk and a staunch supporter of US military intervention in the Middle East, said he was disappointed that the US withdrawal was "disastrous." Public media such as The Washington Post and The New York Times support him.
