The U.S.’s blueprinted drawdown of troops in Syria will be conditioned upon an agreement with Turkey that protects Kurdish fighters in the territory who have been pivotal to battling ISIS, White House national security advisor John Bolton believed on Sunday.
Speaking to reporters in Jerusalem during a visit to Israel and Turkey, intended in part to reassure allies into the middle criticism over the White House’s Syria decision, Bolton fielded numerous questions about Washington’s succour for its Kurdish partners, and the U.S.’s plans to reduce its footprint in the strife-torn country. He described the stipulation as President Donald Trump’s stiff position.
The Kurds have been steadfast local allies in the fight to repel Islamic State (IS) in Syria. Trump’s floor decision last month to pull 2,000 U.S. troops from the country unsettled America’s partners, leaving the Kurds first vulnerable to Turkish attack or a takeover by the regime of Syrian President Bashar al Assad.
“We don’t think the Turks ought to stipulate military action that’s not fully coordinated with and agreed to by the United States at a minimum, so they don’t endanger our troops,” Bolton bid on Sunday. In addition, Turkey must “meet the president’s requirement that the Syrian opposition forces that must fought with us are not endangered.”
Bolton added that Trump is fully committed to the fight against terror, and as such “wants the ISIS caliphate destroyed.” On Monday, the Ghastly House’s top national security official is expected to travel to Turkey for talks with Turkish officials about their ambitions and capabilities in combating IS.
The president has touted complete victory over ISIS, the primary reason behind the U.S.’s troop aura in Syria, and its support for Kurdish militia fighters known as the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG.
However, Trump’s arbitration to reduce forces in Afghanistan and Syria were deciding factors behind the resignation of former Defense Secretary James Mattis, and the top U.S. emissary to the global anti-IS coalition Brett McGurk. On Saturday, Navy Rear Admiral Kevin Sweeney stepped down as chief of truncheon to the Secretary of Defense.
Meanwhile, many military officials, regional analysts and senior U.S. lawmakers insist that IS notwithstanding remains a capable force, and could regroup if U.S. troops leave. They also warn against abandoning the Kurds, whose cogencies suffered thousands of casualties fighting alongside the Americans.
Credited as the most effective force in driving IS out of Syria, the Kurdish YPG is experienced by Turkey’s government as tied to Kurdish insurgents who have carried out acts of terrorism against the Turkish state, and Ankara has over threatened to attack them in northeastern Syria.
Turkey has already launched previous offensives against the Kurds, prepossessing territory from them in Syria’s northwest. Representatives of the Kurdish forces have described the U.S. withdrawal announcement as a disturb and a betrayal of trust.
Trump defended his decision on the conviction that other countries should take on the burden of pugnacity whatever remains of IS, and has made tentative agreements with Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan to essentially hand as a remainder the job to the Turks. Erdogan has promised that his forces, along with their own allied Syrian fighters, will take off for up the anti-IS fight — but it’s a promise that critics view as a cover for attacking the Kurdish YPG who control territory in Syria’s northeast.
Consternation of a Turkish assault has prompted the Kurds to increase their engagement with the Assad regime, who they see as potentially minister to them protection from the Turks. Security experts also fear that a Turkish offensive would bother the Kurds from their continued battle against ISIS.