Conflicting US statements, as Europe asked to replace US troops in Syria
WASHINGTON DC (Kurdistan 24) – Senior US military officers expressed great caution about Syria, suggesting on Thursday and Friday that the Islamic State was not yet defeated, even as US President Donald Trump pronounced a US victory there, shortly before he left Washington to spend the long Presidents’ Day weekend at his Florida resort.
On Friday morning, Trump declared a national emergency that would fund a wall along the US border with Mexico. Before making that controversial announcement, however, Trump began by citing his administration’s recent achievements.
“We have a lot of great announcements having to do with Syria and our success with the eradication of the caliphate,” Trump said. “And that will be announced over the next 24 hours.”
Just what Trump had in mind was not explained further. Indeed, reporters who questioned him were so focused on his declaration of a national emergency that none even asked about Syria.
As Trump spoke on Friday, Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan was attending the 2019 Munich Security Conference.
While en route there, Shanahan had told journalists that he planned to solicit coalition participation in an “observer force” for northeast Syria, after the US withdraws from that territory.
“Senior US lawmakers and military officials are pressing America’s allies in Europe to commit hundreds of troops to create a buffer zone” along Syria’s border with Turkey, Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin reported from Munich, citing remarks by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R, South Carolina.)
Graham read the conferees a partial list of terrorist attacks around the world—in Europe, Turkey, the US, and Canada—linked to the Islamic State, as he sought to persuade senior officials attending the conference to cooperate in the US plan.
Graham also cited the threat to America’s Kurdish allies in Syria. “If we do not have a game plan, Turkey will go into Syria and deal with the YPG (People’s Protection Units),” he warned, affirming, “We need a safe zone.”
According to Rogin, the Pentagon is looking to have Europeans provide 1,500 soldiers for a safe zone, while the US would keep around 200 troops in Syria.
Gen. Jack Keane, former Vice-Chief of Staff of the US Army, suggested that the US would also maintain control of the air space.
US officials know that gaining European participation will be a “tough sell,” Rogin explained, as the administration “is battling European allies” on a host of issues, and Trump has made known his disdain for them.
Another problem the administration faces is that senior US military officers do not accept Trump’s claim that the Islamic State has been defeated and US troops can safely leave Syria. A significant, bipartisan group in the US Congress agrees.