For the first time in more than a decade and a half, Syria is close to getting its full sovereignty back. Despite occasional flare-ups of violence and lingering skepticism in the West that Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa can unify the country, Damascus is now consolidating its authority in parts of the state that haven’t seen a central government presence in years.
The rapid Syrian government offensive in the provinces of Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa and Hasaka, which forced the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to sign a ceasefire on the Syrian government’s terms, and the ongoing transfer of up to 7,000 ISIS prisoners to Iraq have led to speculation that Washington’s nearly 12-year-long military presence in Syria may finally be coming to an end.
The mere mention of a possible U.S. troop withdrawal from Syria has generated panic among some in Washington. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., declared that ISIS would be the only winner if the U.S. withdrew. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote in The Washington Post that leaving Kurdish allies in the lurch “will have serious implications for American credibility and deterrence across the region.”
The case for keeping U.S. troops indefinitely deployed in Syria is a poor one. If there was ever a time when the United States could contemplate withdrawal, it’s now.
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