An American magazine, questioning the United States' policy in Syria, wrote: "Despite the fact that the Syrian regime has changed, Trump has no intention of ending Washington's military presence in the country."
According to Ashura News, citing Al-Mayadeen, the American magazine The Intercept published an article in which it announced that despite the change of government in Syria, the United States has no intention of withdrawing its troops from the country.
According to the Pentagon, Washington's new policy towards Damascus does not include ending the US occupation of Syrian territory, and there are currently about 1,000 American troops stationed in Syria.
The US military has been operating in Syria for years as part of its complex and confusing military efforts in the region. Late last year, the former Syrian government led by Bashar al-Assad was overthrown following a rapid offensive by rebel forces led by Abu Muhammad al-Julani, and in the past few months, reports have emerged that the United States is closing three of its eight small military bases in Syria.
Experts say that the withdrawal of US forces from its handful of bases in Syria has been long overdue, but this is necessary to make a real change in US strategy and policy in the region.
“More than 1,000 American troops remain in Syria, and there is no clear mission or timeline for their return,” said Rosemary Kalanick, director of the Middle East Program at Defense Priorities. “These American troops are a legacy of the war against ISIS, but ISIS was defeated more than five years ago and lost all of its territory, and now it is time for American troops to come home.”
When asked whether the United States plans to withdraw its troops from Syria, a Pentagon spokesperson said in a statement released last April that the U.S. presence in Syria will be reduced to fewer than 1,000 American troops in the coming months, but it will not be completely eliminated.
“The fear of ISIS resurgence has long been a strong reason to maintain a U.S. presence in Syria, but the recent history of Afghanistan makes it clear that we need ground forces to counter any resurgence of ISIS,” Kalanick said.
“The main argument for the US presence in Afghanistan was that we might see a resurgence of terrorism from al-Qaeda or ISIS in the country,” he told The Intercept, “but the United States was never targeted by these terrorist groups in Afghanistan.”
Rosemary Kalanick concluded: “The presence of US forces in Syria exposes them to the risk of retaliatory attacks, and it’s almost like we’re giving hostages to America’s enemies in the region to imprison whenever they want.”
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