US plans to end Syria occupation as regional tensions heat up: FP

By Hussein Assaf
Source: Foreign Policy + Al Mayadeen English
24 Jan 2024 21:22
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The Foreign Policy cites top US officials explaining that Washington no longer deems its presence in Syria as "necessary".

A US occupation soldier patrols near an oil well in al-Qahtaniyah in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province, on June 14, 2023 (AFP)

The United States is considering pulling out its occupation forces from Syria following almost a decade of illegal presence under the guise of fighting the Islamic State, deeming further presence in the country as "unnecessary," the Foreign Policy reported on Tuesday, citing US senior officials.

This potential measure comes amid increasingly growing risks of a regional war in the Middle East as the US-backed Israeli ongoing genocide on Gaza nears its 4-month mark, and Washington reassessing its military priorities.

Since pushing forces into eastern and northeastern Syria, the US went on to establish several military bases and sites, where some 900 soldiers are currently stationed as per Pentagon claims, to oversee the stealing of the country's vast oil and gas resources, as well as destabilizing its security and backing proxy groups such as the Syrian Democratic Forces.

Israelis dragging the US into regional war becoming a reality

Israelis have so far killed over 25,700 people in Gaza, over 70% of which are children and women, destroyed more than three-quarters of Palestinian homes, and put most major civilian facilities such as hospitals and schools, in addition to crucial infrastructure including sewage and water purification systems, out of service.

In response to the brutal crimes, regional Resistance factions have launched a phase of operations against Israeli and US targets, given Washington's direct involvement in the war. US bases in Iraq and Syria have since been attacked over 150 times by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq group.

This also saw a Yemeni-enforced ban on Israeli and "Israel"-bound ships in the Red Sea, which later evolved into Sanaa listing US and UK naval assets among the target bank after the two countries carried out several aggressions on Yemen.

The Yemeni threat was carried out last week when the country's armed forces struck and hit a US military cargo ship - Ocean Jazz - near the Gulf of Aden.

In retrospect, concerns publicly voiced by top officials in Biden's administration that the Israeli occupation entity seeks to drag Washington into a war in the region are becoming a reality.

'You got nothing'

Citing four Pentagon and State Department sources, the Foreign Policy reported that no final decision has been made, while discussions are underway to determine the method and time of the withdrawal.

In the past few weeks, the United States attacked positions for the Iraqi Kataib Hezbollah inside Iraq, a member of the governmental Popular Mobilization Forces PMF. This caused a severe backlash by Baghdad, which initiated a process to end the presence of foreign forces in the country.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani is now publicly calling the US-led coalition to exit the country, explaining that the agreed-upon mission to end ISIS has been fulfilled.

Former President Donald Trump was the first to make such suggestions public.

In 2019, Trump ordered a withdrawal of US forces from northern Syria and restationing them in Iraq.

His decision came amid a military campaign launched by Turkey on Syrian grounds against Washington's Kurdish allies.

Trump then explained that his decision was driven by the high expenses of maintaining the forces in the country with no significant gains, and not wanting to fight the Kurd's war on behalf of them.

However, the process failed to proceed after he lost the 2020 reelection.

Come today, in a 2024 presidential rally in New Hampshire on Tuesday, Trump, the top Republican candidate now leading polls, slammed Washington's current Middle East policies.

Addressing a crowd of supporters, Trump said "Here we go again with the Middle East! We spent $9 trillion, and killed millions of people, including on our side and their side. You know what we got? Nothing! you got death, you got Blood. you got Nothing!”