US Plans to Complete Syria Pullout by April: WSJ
The United States military is expected to fully withdraw its forces from Syria by the end of April following an order by President Donald Trump, unnamed officials have confirmed to The Wall Street Journal.
Current and former Trump administration officials told the WSJ on Thursday that American troops stationed in Syria would leave the country even though the White House has yet to unveil its plans to protect allied Kurdish forces in the country, according to Press TV.
Trump announced in December that he was withdrawing more than 2,000 US forces from Syria because the Daesh terrorist group had been defeated and was no longer considered a threat.
The decision was met with backlash at home and prompted then Defense Secretary James Mattis to hand in his resignation.
On Monday, the US Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of a largely symbolic amendment that opposed the decision.
Drafted by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and heavily supported by Republican lawmakers, the new amendment warns that “a precipitous withdrawal” could “cause instability in the region and leave behind a vacuum that Iran and Russia would fill.”
Trump, however, insists that he has made the right call.
In an interview aired by CBS on Sunday, Trump made it clear that he would not halt the withdrawal and retract one of his main campaign promises just because Senate Republicans said it was being done “precipitously.”
H.M