Intel: Why Kurds' joy at Trump's decision to keep troops in Syria may be premature
The White House’s announcement Thursday that it will keep a “small peacekeeping group” of about 200 troops in Syria “for a period of time” is welcome news to both the United States’ Kurdish allies and its Turkish foes.
Why it matters: The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and America’s European allies have long argued that a hasty US withdrawal would allow the Islamic State to stage a comeback, encourage Turkey to take further hostile action against the Kurds and bolster the influence of the Bashar al-Assad regime, Russia and Iran. Abdulkarim Omar, an SDF-linked politician, said Donald Trump’s apparent about-turn “could encourage other countries to stay in this area to preserve the stability and preserve peace and security and to stop the Turkish threats on this area.”
Ironically, Turkey also doesn’t want the United States to pull out — at least not before it defangs the Syrian People’s Protection Units, the Kurdish component of the SDF. A full withdrawal of all 2,000 or so US troops in the country was due to be completed as soon as May 1.
National security adviser John Bolton and Syria envoy Jim Jeffrey have been lobbying the president for US troops to stay. Jeffrey has been shuttling between Ankara and the Syrian Kurds amid frenzied talk about a US-enforced safe zone. Turkey insists the zone should protect it from the “terrorist” YPG, while the Kurds want it to shield them from further Turkish attacks.
