On Wednesday, Donald Trump surprised his foreign allies and fellow Republicans by announcing that the US would withdraw its troops from Syria after claiming that the “Islamic State has been defeated”. The US has over 2 000 ground troops stationed in the Kurdish region in northern Syria training local forces to fight ISIS. Although a large portion of the organization has been defeated, there are an estimated 14 000 ISIS fighters left in Syria. The British government, as well as US Senator Lindsay Graham, have already criticized this move claiming that ISIS has not been completely defeated and that it would be a big win for Iran, Russia and Bashar Al Assad.

Dawit Tesfay

For further information:

BBC world news
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46628811

CNN
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/12/19/opinions/trump-withdrawal-syria-bergen/index.html

Le monde
https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2018/12/19/syrie-donald-trump-envisage-un-retrait-rapide-des-troupes-americaines_5399950_3210.html