FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 22, 2019
Contact: press@defensepriorities.org
WASHINGTON, DC—On Tuesday, President Putin of Russia and President Erdogan of Turkey met to discuss the Turkish incursion into Syria and seek a new status quo for the Middle East nation torn from years of civil war. Defense Priorities Senior Fellow Gil Barndollar issued the following statement in response:
“Whatever one thinks of the presidents of Turkey and Russia, their meeting may be a useful step toward negotiating an end to the violence in Syria.
“The defeat of ISIS’s caliphate left the United States in notional control of a large portion of Syria with no vital interests in the country. A methodical, full withdrawal was the best policy, returning Syrian land back to Syria.
“Staying in Syria after the fall of ISIS's last stronghold in March created an American quasi-protectorate that was never politically or militarily sustainable. Kurdish reconciliation with Assad, however distasteful, was inevitable. The hubris of U.S. officials in Washington—and the administration’s indecision—has now made that outcome as rushed and painful as possible.
“U.S. withdrawal from northern Syria, however, will force local actors to resolve the crisis on their own. The responsibility for Syria’s future and eventual reconstruction is a burden, not a prize.
“The Trump administration’s plan to leave a residual force behind—in the oil fields of the northeast and the al-Tanf base in the southeast—will hinder Syrian reconstruction and encourage further false hopes of a U.S. solution to the conflict.
“The United States has completed its achievable military objectives in Syria and should implement a full withdrawal of all remaining forces.”
Defense Priorities explainer: Escaping the Syria trap
Defense Priorities explainer: Disentangling from Syria's civil war
USA Today opinion from Benjamin H. Friedman: Get out of Syria, but give the Kurds fair warning