PNN – 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 the report of Pakistan News Network, 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 militarily 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.
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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 of Bashar al-Assad was overthrown following a swift offensive by rebel forces led by Abu Muhammad al-Julani, and over the past few months, there have been reports that the United States is closing three of its eight small military bases in Syria.
Experts say the withdrawal of US forces from its handful of bases in Syria is now long overdue, but it is necessary to bring about a real shift in US strategy and policy in the region.
Rosemary Kalanick, Middle East Program Director at Defense Priorities, says in this regard: More than 1,000 American troops remain stuck in Syria, with no clear mission or timetable for their return. 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 the American troops to return home.
When asked whether the United States planned to withdraw its troops from Syria, the Pentagon said in a statement released last April: The US presence in Syria will be reduced to fewer than 1,000 US troops in the coming months, but will not end completely.
Rosemary Kalanick said in this regard: The fear of the resurgence of ISIS has long been a strong reason to maintain the presence of American forces in Syria, but the recent history of Afghanistan is a clear reason to reject claims about the need for American ground forces to counter any resurgence of ISIS.
He told the Intercept: 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, but this is despite the fact that the United States was never targeted by these terrorist groups in Afghanistan.
Rosemary Kalanick concluded: The presence of American forces in Syria exposes them to the risk of retaliatory attacks, and it’s almost as if we’ve given hostages to America’s enemies in the region to imprison whenever they want.