Syrian Democratic Forces

DECEMBER 11, 2018
State Department Daily Briefing
Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino briefed reporters and responded to questions on a range of international issues. He was joined by Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS Brett McGurk.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?455806-1/sta...

Brett McGurk, the US envoy to the global coalition fighting ISIL, resigned this week over his disagreement with President Donald Trump's surprise decision to pull US troops out of Syria, US media reported on Saturday, citing unnamed sources.

Both the Associated Press and CBS news reported the departure, saying McGurk submitted his resignation letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday, a day after Defense Secretary James Mattis said he was leaving his post.

In the letter, which was described to the Associated Press by an official familiar with its contents, McGurk said fighters with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) were on the run, but not yet defeated as Trump had said.

He added that the premature pull-out of American forces from Syria would create the conditions that gave rise to ISIL.

McGurk, whose resignation is effective on December 31, was planning to leave the job in mid-February after a US-hosted meeting of foreign ministers from the coalition countries, but he felt he could continue no longer after Trump's decision to withdraw from Syria and Mattis's resignation, according to the official speaking to the Associated Press.

The White House and State Department could not immediately be reached for comment.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/env...

Erdogan also promised on Friday to clear Syria of US-backed Kurdish armed groups after the US decision to pull troops out.

"In the next months, we will see an operational style aimed at removing the YPG (Kurdish People's Protection Units militia) and Daesh (ISIL) elements on the ground in Syria," Erdogan said.

The Turkish government views the US-backed YPG as an extension of an armed group fighting inside Turkey.

Although Erdogan welcomed Trump's decision to leave Syria, he said he remained "cautious" because of "past negative experiences", referring to Ankara's continued disappointment over the US administration's failure to stop providing military support to the YPG in their fight against ISIL.

In November last year, Turkish officials said Trump had promised not to supply weapons to the YPG, although the White House was not as explicit about its intentions.

American support of the YPG, which spearheaded Washington's battles in Syria to eliminate armed groups, has long been a source of tension between the NATO allies.

Meanwhile, on Friday, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is made up of an alliance of Arab and Kurdish groups, said they may not be able to hold ISIL prisoners if the situation in the region gets out of control.

Ilham Ahmed of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) warned that the Trump administration's decision to withdraw all of its forces would have dangerous repercussions and a destabilising effect on the entire region.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/erd...

March 9, 2017

WASHINGTON — The United States is sending an additional 400 troops to Syria to help prepare for the looming fight for Raqqa, the capital of the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed caliphate, American officials said on Thursday.

The increase, which includes a team of Army Rangers and a Marine artillery unit that have already arrived in Syria, represents a near-doubling of the number of American troops there.

The United States military has declined to say how many troops it has deployed in Syria. The formal troop cap is 503, but commanders have the authority to temporarily exceed that limit.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/09/world/m...