Three months after announcing his plans for full military withdrawal from Syria, US President Donald Trump changed tack and confirmed on Wednesday that he would be leaving a residual force of 400 US troops out of 2000 currently in Syrian territory.
“We are going to leave 200 people there and 200 people in another place in Syria ̶ closer to Israel ̶ for a period of time,” Mr Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday. “Closer to Israel” implies the Tanf area in Syria where the US maintains a base, and it’s considered a critical border location to geographically interject Iranian access to Syria.
During King Abdullah of Jordan’s visit to Washington two weeks ago, US officials discussed the residual force and Jordanian help in securing such presence in Tanf near Jordan’s border.
Today, Mr Tump also told reporters that ISIS will be defeated this evening. Displaying a map of the areas left for ISIS, the president pointed to a “tiny spot which will be gone by tonight.”
Syrian Democratic Forces are fighting the last territorial battle against ISIS in the village of Baghouz. US military commanders have warned, however, that ISIS territorial defeat is not equivalent to the group's demise, and that the fight "is far from over." The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that the US would leave up to 1000 troops in Syria, but US military commanders denied the report.
Charles Lister, a senior fellow with the Middle East Institute told The National that by agreeing to leave 400 troops in Syria, "the US President bowed to pressure from those around him, but more importantly, he's now backing a policy that's wholly unsustainable."
Mr Lister, who specialises in Syrian conflict and extremism, said that “the idea that keeping 200 troops spread throughout 33% of Syria on a ‘hold’ and ‘support’ mission is a joke”.
“Until now, Trump acceded to the 400 number on the condition that US allies - principally the UK and France …There is no appetite in Paris, London or elsewhere to fulfil that demand.”
The French minister of defence Florence Parly held talks in Washington this week, but no agreement was reached on the troop levels in Syria.
“This doesn’t add up to a policy or strategy, it’s a temporary stop gap lacking any logical foundation,” argued Mr Lister. The expert also cautioned against underplaying the ISIS threat after its territorial defeat. “The ISIS threat remains very real and the challenge we face now is arguably more complex than the one we’ve confronted until now.”
