Trump orders withdrawal of US forces from northern Syria, days after Pentagon downplays possibility

Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters celebrate a victory. Photo / AP

President Donald Trump has ordered a withdrawal of virtually all US forces from northern Syria in the face of a Turkish military offensive targeting Kurdish fighters in the region, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Sunday, after days of assurances from the Pentagon that the United States was not "abandoning" its partners in the campaign against the Islamic State.

The order to remove the troops came toward the end of a chaotic day in which the viability of the U.S. mission in Syria rapidly unraveled after Turkish troops and their Syrian rebel proxies advanced deep into Syrian territory and cut US supply lines.

US troops were forced to abandon a base in the town of Ain Issa on Sunday morning as the Turkish-led forces approached, a US official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. The Turkish-backed fighters seized control of the nearby highway, establishing checkpoints and severing the main US supply line to the western portion of territory held by the Syrian Democratic Forces, the Kurdish-led alliance that helped the United States defeat the Islamic State.

Smoke billows from fires caused by Turkish bombardment in Tal Abyad, Syria. Photo / AP

Hundreds of Islamic State-affiliated foreigners escaped from a camp for women and children in the town as guards fled heavy shelling. Late Friday afternoon, there were reports that a prison housing foreign and local Islamic State fighters was ablaze. The fate of the fighters was not known.

Trump ordered the withdrawal of the about 1,000 US troops left in northern Syria late Saturday. The president made the decision after indications that Turkey intends to expand its attack "farther south than originally planned and to the west," Esper said, speaking on CBS News' 'Face the Nation.'

The defense secretary also cited signs that the SDF is "looking to cut a deal" with the Syrian regime and the Russian government to carry out a counterattack to the north.

He said the situation had changed significantly over the previous 14 hours.

Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters on pick-up trucks drive through Tal Abyad, Syria. Photo / AP

"We have American forces likely caught between two opposing advancing armies and it's a very untenable situation," Esper said. "So I spoke with the president last night after discussions with the rest of the national security team, and he directed that we begin a deliberate withdrawal of forces from northern Syria."

Trump has downplayed concerns about the crisis for days, saying that Turkey will be responsible for any Islamic State fighters who might break free in the chaos.

On Sunday, he tweeted before departing for his golf course in Virginia that it was "very smart not to be involved in the intense fighting along the Turkish Border, for a change" and accused "those that mistakenly got us into the Middle East Wars" of pushing the United States to stay in the fight.

Trump added that the Kurds and Turks have been fighting for years, a reference to a decades-long Kurdish insurgency in Turkey.

"Others may want to come in and fight for one side or the other," Trump said. "Let them! We are monitoring the situation closely. Endless Wars!"

.....The Kurds and Turkey have been fighting for many years. Turkey considers the PKK the worst terrorists of all. Others may want to come in and fight for one side or the other. Let them! We are monitoring the situation closely. Endless Wars!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2019

He added in a later tweet that he was working with members of Congress to impose sanctions on Turkey.

"There is great consensus on this," Trump said. "Turkey has asked that it not be done. Stay tuned!"

Dealing with @LindseyGrahamSC and many members of Congress, including Democrats, about imposing powerful Sanctions on Turkey. Treasury is ready to go, additional legislation may be sought. There is great consensus on this. Turkey has asked that it not be done. Stay tuned!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2019

The announcement created confusion among US officials with knowledge of operations in Syria about how the withdrawal may go.

One official, reached Sunday after Esper made his comments, said it is not clear that all the 1,000 US troops based in northeastern Syria will come home. It is possible, he said, that some could move farther south, to a safer location.

"It's all very fluid right now," he said.

Smoke billows from fires on targets in Ras al-Ayn, Syria. Photo / AP

At this time, the United States also intends to keep open its Tanf base in southeastern Syria, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Another US official, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, said it is likely that virtually all of the 1,000 troops will be sent home. It is unlikely that any new outposts with US troops will be built, the official said.

The departure of US troops and the disintegrating security are already reshaping the region, with aid workers and civilians fleeing as SDF defenses crumble.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has rejected offers for mediation with Syrian Kurdish fighters. Photo / AP

"The US let us down by abandoning their positions and opening the door for Turkey to attack and massacre our people in northeast Syria," said Badran Jia Kurd, a senior Kurdish official in the town of Qamishli. He refused to confirm or deny Esper's claim that the Kurds are poised to strike a deal with Russia and Damascus to confront Turkey but said negotiations have begun.

"This has obliged us to look for alternative options that could stop those massacres," he said.

The withdrawal will start after days of mixed messages in Washington that began with the White House announcing a week ago that Turkey planned to launch an offensive into northern Syria. While the United States does not support the operation, U.S. troops will not stand in the way, US officials said.

Turkey began the offensive Wednesday. Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Friday that the Pentagon had withdrawn a small number of service members - thought to be about 50 - from the border towns of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn. Elsewhere, U.S. forces were still located with SDF fighters, he said.

Esper, speaking on "Fox News Sunday," said that Turkey was fully committed to its operation regardless what the United States did and that the administration did not want to go to war with a long-standing NATO ally.

Asked whether he thought Turkey seemed like much of an ally now, he said he did not.

"I think Turkey, the arc of their behavior over the past several years, has been terrible," Esper said. "I mean, they are spinning out of the Western orbit, if you will."

The US withdrawal is likely to force allies with forces on the ground in support of the US mission - principally France and Britain - to also considering pulling troops out.

Since Trump's initial withdrawal from the Syrian-Turkish border was announced, Esper and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have repeatedly reassured their French and British counterparts that the US mission to secure the region against an Islamic State resurgence and continue stability operations was unchanged and that there were no immediate plans for US troops to leave Syria.

Former defense secretary Jim Mattis, who resigned last year after Trump ordered a large withdrawal of US troops from Syria that was later slowed, said in a separate interview Sunday morning on "Meet the Press" that is possible the Islamic State will regroup amid the chaos.

"We may want a war over; we may even declare it over," Mattis said. "You can pull your troops out as President Obama learned the hard way out of Iraq, but the 'enemy gets the vote,' we say in the military. And in this case, if we don't keep the pressure on, then ISIS will resurge. It's absolutely a given that they will come back."