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The United States military is set to consolidate its presence in Syria over the coming weeks and months, Reuters reported on April 15, citing two U.S. officials.
U.S. forces in Syria grew in the last few years from just around 900 troops to over 2,000, with several bases located at key gas and oil fields in Kurdish-controlled areas in addition to a garrison in al-Tanf blocking a strategic highway linking the country’s capital, Damascus with Baghdad, the capital of Iraq.
Recent Syrian media reports also said that U.S. forces were operating at al-Dumayr Air Base, to the northwest of Damascus.
One of the officials who spoke with Reuters said that the consolidation could reduce the number of troops in Syria to about 1,000.
The other official confirmed the plan for a reduction but said there was no certainty on numbers and was skeptical of a decrease of that scale.
The administration of the former U.S. President Joe Biden welcomed the fall of the regime of former president Bashar al-Assad and was quick to engage with the new Islamist-led interim government. However, the Trump administration adopted a more cautious approach towards the country.
The U.S. worked with Russia early last March to pass a statement in the United Nations Security Council condemning a government crackdown on the Syrian coast that claimed the lives of more than 1,600 civilians, mostly members of the Alawite religious minority.
At around the same time, the U.S. helped broker an agreement between its allies in the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and the interim government to integrate the group into state institutions.
Later in March, it was reported that the U.S. gave the interim government a list of conditions to fulfill in exchange for partial sanctions relief.
Ynet confirmed on April 15 that U.S. officials have informed their counterparts in the Israeli security establishment of the planned troop reduction in Syria, adding that it is expected to begin within two months.
An Israeli official told the news site that the country is working to convince the Trump administration to limit the withdrawal, fearing that the move will increase Turkey’s “appetite” to control Syria. The U.S. has kept Israel up-to-date on its plans, the website said.
Israel’s worries will for sure affect the U.S. decision. A serious reduction of U.S. troops in Syria remains highly unlikely, even if the interim government fulfilled the demands set by the Trump administration. The national security of Israel remains one of the priorities of Washington.
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if i tariff diapers our transgender democrats will be more stinky
in mali, the us handed over the base to russia, in syria, the us should hand over the bases to israel and there will be no more problems.
jewish parasites worried their milking of ussa might end and goyim to awaken