U.S. withdrawal would force local actors to solve Syria’s problems

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 23, 2019
Contact: press@defensepriorities.org

WASHINGTON, DC—On Wednesday, President Trump announced Turkey will observe a permanent ceasefire in Syria and the U.S. will lift sanctions in response. Defense Priorities President Edward King issued the following statement in response:

“Moving U.S. forces from northern Syria was needlessly hasty and reckless, but it has compelled local powers to search for a new, durable equilibrium for the region. The alternative is a permanent U.S. commitment with grave risks and no justifying interests. Assuming the ceasefire holds, it could help wind down the years-long civil war that has turned Syria into rubble and shift the burden of its reconstruction to local actors.

“The strongest policy for the U.S. is a methodical, full withdrawal of its military forces—including from the oil fields in eastern Syria and the southern base at al-Tanf—not to another Middle East country, but home. The U.S. should be doing less in the Middle East, a region of diminishing strategic importance. Washington should not confuse the region’s violent political problems with U.S. security and prosperity, which are separate.

“The U.S. is safe despite two decades of Middle East wars, not because of them. There are more U.S. troops deployed to the Middle East now than under President Obama, and President Trump has yet to fully exit any military conflicts he inherited. He should start by ending the U.S. interventions in Syria, Afghanistan, and Yemen.”