WASHINGTON -- For nine months, the Pentagon played down the presence of its 1,000 troops in Syria, hoping that President Donald Trump would not focus on the extent to which the U.S. military was continuing to fight the Islamic State despite his order in December to pull out.On Sunday, the president appeared
WASHINGTON — For nine months, the Pentagon played down the presence of its 1,000 troops in Syria, hoping that President Donald Trump would not focus on the extent to which the U.S. military was continuing to fight the Islamic State despite his order in December to pull out.
Pentagon officials were insisting Monday that the United States remained firmly opposed to a Turkish incursion. “The Department of Defense made clear to Turkey — as did the president — that we do not endorse a Turkish operation in northern Syria,” Jonathan Hoffman, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement. He warned that “unilateral action creates risk for Turkey,” which would be responsible for thousands of Islamic State fighters being held by the Kurds.
The military would then assesses conditions on the ground and reduce the number of forces periodically, if conditions allowed, until the force levels reached the 400 troops that Trump approved in February. By late March, the American withdrawal settled around 1,000 troops — what the military calls an “economy of force” mission. The troops effectively operated between two allies: Turkey and the Kurds. Turkey is a decadeslong NATO partner. The Syrian Kurds are much more recent allies, but have played a pivotal role as the major ground force against the Islamic State.After Erdogan threatened in early August to carry out a cross-border operation to attack the Syrian Kurds, U.S.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Turkey poised for Syria safe zone operation as Trump defends troop pulloutAnkara says a military operation in northeastern Syria will secure the border region from terrorists, and establish a peace corridor to resettle potentially millions of displaced Syrians.
Read more »
Donald Trump gives Turkey the green light to invade northern SyriaDonald Trump announced that American troops would withdraw from the area around Syria’s border with Turkey
Read more »
Trump to host Turkish leader as he considers invading SyriaA day after threatening Turkey with economic ruin if it goes too far in invading northern Syria, President Trump says he'll host Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House next month.
Read more »
Trump ignores his own warning in SyriaPresident Trump's recent decision to remove the remaining American troops in Syria is particularly odd because it does exactly what the President repeatedly criticized Barack Obama of doing in Iraq: withdrawing US forces too quickly and paving the way for the rise of ISIS, writes Peter Bergen.
Read more »
'Buckle up': Abrupt Syria policy shift is sign of Trump unchainedOver the span of just a few hours, President Trump upended his own policy on Syria with a chaotic series of pronouncements, blindsiding foreign allies, catching senior Republican supporters off guard and sending aides scrambling to control the damage
Read more »