Senator Lindsey Graham speaks to reporters outside the White House after lunch with Donald Trump, December 30, 2018
In a sign that US agencies may pull Donald Trump back from full US withdrawal from Syria, Senator Lindsey Graham has said Washington is in a “pause situation”.
Graham opposes Trump’s snap decision, made during a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, for the departure of all 2,000 American personnel. However, he is a close friend of Trump’s and a fervent supporter on almost all issues.
The Senator said after a Sunday lunch with Trump, also attended by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford:
I think we’re in a pause situation where we are re-evaluating what’s the best way to achieve the president’s objective of having people pay more and do more….
I think we’re slowing things down in a smart way….The goal has always been the same. To be able to leave Syria and make sure ISIS never comes back.
Graham’s statement referred to Trump’s overriding valuation of the US deployment in Syria as spending of money. Trump has repeatedly said that he is persuading others, notably Saudi Arabia, to assume the cost. Riyadh has rejected Trump’s claim that it is taking over US commitments at a price of $4 billion.
Reports initially said that Trump, after his December 19 announcement of the withdrawal, gave the Pentagon 30 days to fulfil the order.
But US officials have indicated, that amid the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and US envoy Brett McGurk over Trump’s impulsive command, they will take longer than a month. Pentagon officials have spoken about 60 to 100 days.
The US military and other American agencies are opposed to the abandonment of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, created by Washington in October 2015 to push back the Islamic State.
Kurdish groups hold about 27% of Syria, much of it territory in the north taken from ISIS, but they are vulnerable to attacks from both a Turkey-rebel alliance and pro-Assad forces if the US departs.
The situation has already been highlighted by the scramble for Manbij in Aleppo Province, at the western edge of the Kurdish-held territory. The SDF, fearing a Turkish-rebel assault, is in talks with the Assad regime about handing over control of the town. Meanwhile, the US still holds positions to the northeast of Manbij.
Syria Daily, Dec 30: Turkey & Russia Agree “Coordination” After US Leaves — But What About Manbij?
Syria Daily, Dec 29: The Multi-Sided Scramble for Manbij
Graham said in a televised interview, before the lunch, “If we leave now, the Kurds are going to get slaughtered. The president is reconsidering how we do this [the withdrawal].”
“He Promised to Destroy ISIS”
The Pentagon also fears a resurgence of the Islamic State, which has been reduced to small pockets of territory in eastern Syria, if the US leaves.
Trump’s whimsical decision was prompted, during his December 14 call with Erdoğan, by the Turkish President’s assurance that ISIS is “99% defeated”.
Turkey’s priority is “erasure” of the “terrorist” YPG, the Kurdish militia that is the leading faction is in the SDF. Ankara considers the YPG to be part of the Turkish Kurdish insurgency PKK.
Graham indicated on Sunday that Trump is backing away from his view of no need for US forces to remain in Syria because of ISIS:
We talked about Syria and he told me some things that I didn’t know that make me feel a lot better about where we’re headed in Syria.
He promised to destroy ISIS. He’s going to keep that promise. We’re not there yet, but as I said today, we’re inside the 10-yard line and the President understands the need to finish the job.
Trump made no comment on Sunday about the issue, and the White House declined to comment.
Graham also spoke aobut the Pentagon’s wider objective of remaining in Syria to counter Iran’s position as an essential military and political ally of the Assad regime:
[Trump is] worried about Iranian influence and the potential dangers to Israel from having a superhighway from Beirut to Tehran in terms of delivering weapons into Lebanon, and he’ll be talking to Turkey about making sure we don’t have a war between the Turks and our allies the Kurds.
SDC welcomes proposal to send Dutch troops to Syria to stop Turkish threats
The Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) welcomed a proposal by the Dutch government coalition Christian Union party to send Dutch troops to Syria to stop a potential Turkish attack east of the Euphrates after US president Donald Trump said he would withdraw US troops.
“I think any European forces, including Dutch forces, that want to operate as peace forces in the northeast of Syria are most welcome,” said Bassam Ishak, a member of the multi-ethnic SDC, which is co-chaired by a Kurd and an Arab.
The Dutch Christian Union Party on Friday proposed to send Dutch soldiers to Syria to join a “coalition of the willing,” where they will help French and British troops in the war-torn country.
http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/e4339a9a-aab6-43ef-bb87-cbfc508d3cce 12/31/2018
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Former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt said a US withdrawal would be a victory for Russia, Iran, Turkey, Turkish proxies and the Syrian regime.
“Unsurprisingly, it leaves Europeans more vulnerable — and shows how wrong it is that we do not have a defense force able to help stabilize our immediate neighborhood,” he wrote on Twitter, amid French-led calls for a European-wide army separate from NATO.
https://www.france24.com/en/20181219-us-syria-pullout-will-have-wide-ramifications 12/19/2018
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European Syriac Union: “we urge European countries to step in as US forces withdraw from North-East Syria. […] All that is needed is that four countries send 250 armed forces to replace the 2000 US forces. This will enable the UK and France to continue its operations and presence in North-East Syria.”
https://www.european-syriac-union.org/news-reader/isis-is-not-defeated-and-europe-can-stop-a-disaster-for-itself-and-the-people-of-north-east-syria.html 12/21/2018