WASHINGTON – The United States released a statement on Wednesday claiming that the withdrawal of U.S Forces from Syria has begun.U.S Officials also stated on Wednesday that Washington is contemplating on withdrawing all U.S. troops as the operation to recapture Islamic State(ISIS) held territory is entering its final stages.
A complete pull out of troops however will raise international concerns regarding the resurgence of ISIS. There is also great concern on helping end Syria’s Civil War which has not settled for 8 years strong.
The earlier statement regarding the withdrawal of all troops received a lot of criticism from some Republicans, who are of the view that a withdrawal at this time would leave a window of opportunity for Russia and Iran to move in .
“We have started returning United States troops home as we transition to the next phase of this campaign,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders
Prior to Sarah Sanders’ statement President Donald Trump tweeted “We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there.”
Former President Barack Obama was reticent to get the U.S involved in to Syria’s civil war. A war had killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced around half of Syria’s 22 million population. Eventually though the U.S had to intervene and Air Strikes were ordered by President Obama in September 2014, U.S troops were deployed in 2015.
It is still unclear from Sanders’ statement whether a complete pull out of the 2000 U.S troops stationed at Syria is in order, and if that is the case the timeline is not certain either.
“The United States and our allies stand ready to re-engage at all levels to defend American interests whenever necessary, and we will continue to work together to deny radical Islamist terrorists territory, funding, support,” Sanders’ said in a statement.
Contemplation on the complete pull out of U.S Troops from Syria has received criticism from U.S Senator. Senator Lindsey Graham deemed the decision to have “devastating consequences” for the U.S and the Middle East.
“An American withdrawal at this time would be a big win for ISIS, Iran, Bashar al Assad of Syria, and Russia,” Graham said in a statement.