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A2 u.s. news
Monday 14 october 2019
U.S. pulling out of northern Syria; full withdrawal possible

By ROBERT BURNS (the Turks) likely intend to
AP National Security Writer expand their attack fur-
WASHINGTON (AP) — The ther south than originally
United States appears to planned — and to the
be heading toward a full west," he said.
military withdrawal from The U.S. also has come to
Syria amid growing chaos , believe that the Kurds are
cries of betrayal and signs attempting to "cut a deal"
that Turkey's invasion could with the Syrian army and
fuel a broader war. Russia to counter the in-
Defense Secretary Mark Es- vading Turks, he said. As
per said Sunday that Presi- a result, Trump "directed
dent Donald Trump had di- that we begin a deliberate
rected U.S. troops in north- withdrawal of forces from
ern Syria to begin pulling northern Syria," Esper said.
out "as safely and quickly Trump, in a tweet Sunday,
as possible." He did not said: "Very smart not to
say Trump ordered troops be involved in the intense
to leave Syria, but that fighting along the Turkish
seemed like the next step Border, for a change. Those
in a combat zone growing that mistakenly got us into
more unstable by the hour. the Middle East Wars are
Esper, interviewed on two In this Aug. 28, 2019, file photo, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper speaks to reporters during a still pushing to fight. They
TV news shows, said the briefing at the Pentagon. have no idea what a bad
administration was consid- Associated Press decision they have made.
ering its options. not involved in the Kurd civilians," Menendez said in they are spinning out of Why are they not asking for
"We have American forc- mission, and so it seems a statement. "The only ben- the Western orbit, if you will. a Declaration of War?"
es likely caught between highly unlikely the 1,000 be- eficiaries of this action are We see them purchasing Esper said he would not dis-
two opposing advancing ing moved from the north ISIS, Iran and Russia." Russian arms, cuddling up cuss a timeline for the U.S.
armies and it's a very unten- would go to Tanf. The fast-moving develop- to President Putin. We see pullback, but said it would
able situation," Esper said. Critics say the U.S. has be- ments were a further un- them doing all these things be done "as safely and
This seemed likely to herald trayed the Kurds by pulling raveling of U.S. counter- that, frankly, concern us." quickly as possible."
the end of a five-year ef- back in the face of Turkey's terrorism efforts in Syria, The chairman of the House The Pentagon had said be-
fort to partner with Syrian invasion, but Esper said the and they highlighted an Foreign Affairs Committee, fore the operation began
Kurdish and Arab fighters administration was left with extraordinary breakdown Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., said that the U.S. military would
to ensure a lasting defeat little choice once President in relations between the the U.S. and its NATO part- not support it, and the U.S.
of the Islamic State group. Recep Tayyip Erdogan told United States and Turkey, ners should consider ex- pulled about 30 special op-
Hundreds of IS supporters Trump a week ago that he NATO allies for decades. pelling Turkey from the alli- erations troops out of ob-
escaped a holding camp was going ahead with a Turkish troops have often ance. "How do you have a servation posts along the
amid clashes between in- military offensive. Esper said fought alongside American NATO ally who's in cahoots invasion route on the Syrian
vading Turkish-led forces the Kurds have been good troops, including in the Ko- with the Russians, when the border to keep them out
and Kurdish fighters, and partners, "but at the same rean War and in Afghani- Russians are the adversar- of harm's way. The Turkish
analysts said an IS resur- time, we didn't sign up to stan. ies of NATO?" offensive initially covered
gence seemed more likely, fight the Turks on their be- Asked whether he thought In explaining Trump's de- an area along the border
just months after Trump de- half." The Kurds then turned Turkey would deliberately cision to withdraw from about 125 kilometers (77
clared the extremists de- to the Syrian government attack American troops northern Syria, Esper cited miles) wide and about 30
feated. and Russia for military as- in Syria, Esper said, "I don't two weekend develop- kilometers (19 miles) deep.
The U.S. has had about sistance, further complicat- know whether they would ments. "In the last 24 hours, Esper said it has since grown
1,000 troops in northeast- ing the battlefield. or wouldn't." we learned that they wider and deeper.q
ern Syria allied with the The prospect of enhanc- He cited an incident on Fri-
Kurdish-led Syrian Demo- ing the Syrian government's day in which a small num-
cratic Forces to combat IS. position on the battlefield ber of U.S. troops fell under
The Pentagon previously and inviting Russia to get artillery fire at an observa-
had pulled about 30 of more directly involved is tion post in the north. Esper
these troops from the Turk- seen by Trump's critics as called that an example of
ish attack zone along the a major mistake. But he "indiscriminate fire" coming
border. With an escalation tweeted that it shouldn't close to Americans, adding
of violence, a widening of matter. it was unclear whether that
the Turkish incursion and "Others may want to come was an accident.
the prospect of a deepen- in and fight for one side or Esper disputed the notion
ing conflict, all U.S. forces the other," he wrote. "Let that the U.S. could have
along the border will now them!" stopped Turkey from invad-
follow that move. It was un- New Jersey Sen. Bob ing in the first place. He said
clear where they would go. Menendez, the top Demo- Erdogan had made clear
The Pentagon chief did crat on the Senate Foreign he was going to launch
not say U.S. troops are Relations Committee, said his incursion "regardless of
leaving Syria entirely. The Trump is weakening Ameri- what we did."
only other U.S. presence ca. 'To be clear, this admin- Strongly critical of the Turks,
in Syria is at Tanf garrison, istration's chaotic and hap- Esper said "the arc of their
near Syria's eastern border hazard approach to policy behavior over the past
with Jordan. The U.S. and by tweet is endangering several years has been ter-
coalition troops there are the lives of U.S. troops and rible." He added: "I mean,