Foreign

Trump pulls back from Middle East as Putin rejoices

Published

5 years ago

December 20, 2018

President Donald Trump vowed Thursday that the United States would no longer be the “ policeman of the Middle East” as he ordered troops back from Syria , delighting Russian President Vladimir Putin as US allies voiced unease .
Doubling down on his surprise declaration by Twitter of victory over the Islamic State group a day earlier , the US leader both boasted of commanding the world ’ s most powerful military and said that others should lead the fighting .

“ Does the USA want to be the Policeman of the Middle East , getting NOTHING but spending precious lives and trillions of dollars protecting others who, in almost all cases , do not appreciate what we are doing ? Do we want to be there forever ? Time for others to finally fight , ” he tweeted .

The real estate mogul turned president , returning to his pre -White House isolationism, on Wednesday ordered the pullout of the 2 , 000 US troops in a decision that caught off – guard US allies , the Pentagon and members of Congress , several of whom attempted to persuade Trump to reconsider .

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo , who like most US officials had been speaking for months about a long- term commitment in Syria , promised that the fight was not over against the Islamic State extremists , also known as ISIS .

“ The United States of America intends to continue that counterterrorism campaign , continue the fight against ISIS , whether it stems from Syria or other places , ” Pompeo told the conservative radio host Laura Ingraham.

The United States will keep up air strikes in Syria so long as troops remain , Pentagon spokeswoman Commander Rebecca Rebarich said , but it was unclear what would happen afterward.

A US defense official told AFP that “ there ’ s not a lot of clarity on the future situation , ” with the air campaign contingent on what allies do .

– Putin praises Trump –

France and Britain both have small contingents of special forces inside Syria , focused like the US troops on battling the Islamic State group .

The US withdrawal will make Russia , which has deployed its air power in support of President Bashar al – Assad , the pre – eminent global power in the conflict .

As Trump tweeted that Russia wanted US forces to stay and blamed the “ fake news ” media for reporting otherwise , Putin publicly rejoiced over the pullout order .

“ The fact that the US has decided to withdraw its troops is right, ” Putin said during an annual year – end press conference , saying that “ on the whole I agree with the US president ” on the level of damage inflicted on Islamic State.

Putin, who has described the fall of the Soviet Union as a historic geopolitical disaster , sees Moscow’ s longtime ally Syria as a key asset in preserving influence in the Middle East .

Iran ’ s Shiite clerical regime has also strongly backed Assad , a secular leader from the heterodox Alawite sect.

Turkey opposes Assad and may be emboldened by Trump to attack Kurdish fighters inside Syria , who fought alongside US troops against the Islamic State group .

Turkey links the Kurds who dominate the US – backed Syrian Democratic Forces to a decades -old insurgency at home , but had been reluctant to strike for fear of setting off a crisis if the United States suffered casualties .

Mustefa Bali, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces , said the fighters would keep up the battle against Islamic State — but that all bets were off if Turkey attacks .

“ The scenario of a halt in the anti -terrorist battle is tied to Turkish threats, ” he told AFP .

– Worries in Europe –

Bali said the Kurdish forces would keep locked up the Islamic State extremists in their custody — but alleged that Turkey may target prisons to sow chaos once US troops leave .

French President Emmanuel Macron ’ s office called the prisoner issue “ extremely important for France ” and urged discussions to avoid “ one of the negative consequences of a hasty retreat . ”

The Islamic State movement has claimed credit for a slew of bloody attacks around the world , including the 2015 coordinated assault on Paris , and experts estimate that thousands of sympathizers remain .

Germany , which has taken in more than one million refugees stemming in large part from the Syria conflict , questioned Trump ’ s assessment that the threat was over .

“ There is a danger that the consequences of ( Trump ’ s ) decision could hurt the fight against the IS and endanger what has been achieved , ” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a statement.

While fighting has largely subsided in Syria and the Islamic State group holds little territory , a political solution remains elusive in ending the war that has killed more than 360 , 000 and displaced millions since 2011 .

The outgoing UN envoy to Syria , Staffan de Mistura , acknowledged Thursday to the Security Council that a goal would not be met of setting up a committee by the end of the year to write a new Syrian constitution .

James Jeffrey, the US pointman on Syria , had been due to take part in the New York meeting . A State Department official said that Jeffrey instead stayed in Washington “ given recent developments . ”

( AFP )