President Donald Trump won’t insist on a full withdrawal of US forces from Syria – at least not right away.
In an interview with CBS on Sunday, Trump cited concern for the Zionist entity’s security and other US interests in the region as reason to keep some American forces stationed in Syria for the time being.
Trump claimed that the US-led coalition in the Middle East had liberated nearly all of the territory once held by the terror group, and that most of the roughly 2,000 American troops in Syria could be pulled out soon.
But Trump also said that the US would retain a presence in the area, likely referring to the Al-Tanf base in eastern Syria. In the past, National Security Advisor John Bolton suggested the US could retain a foothold at Al-Tanf even after the pullout from Syria.
US forces are “starting to” return home, Trump said in the interview, “they’ll be going to our base in Iraq, and ultimately some will be coming home. But we’re going to be there and we’re going to be staying.”
The president cited concerns for the security of ‘Israel’ as one of the reasons the US withdrawal from Syria would not be immediate.
“We have to protect Israel. We have to protect other things that we have. But we’re- yeah, they’ll be coming back in a matter of time. Look, we’re protecting the world.”
President Trump also vowed to return US forces quickly to the region should there be a resurgence in terror groups like Al Qaeda and ISIL.
“We’ll come back if we have to. We have very fast airplanes, we have very good cargo planes. We can come back very quickly, and I’m not leaving. We have a base in Iraq and the base is a fantastic edifice. I mean I was there recently, and I couldn’t believe the money that was spent on these massive runways. And these- I’ve rarely seen anything like it. And it’s there. And we’ll be there. And frankly, we’re hitting the caliphate from Iraq and as we slowly withdraw from Syria.”
In December, President Trump ordered the US to withdraw all American forces from Syria within 30 days.
Source: Websites
