U.S. commander announces that Syria withdrawal is “right on track”

Abdelrahman Mohamed, World / Business Editor

The top U.S. commander in the Middle East said the military is pulling equipment out of Syria in preparation for a troop withdrawal .

They U.S. led coalition says that it’s in the last stages of fighting against Islamic State in Syria. Additional security and logistics forces were sent into Syria to prepare for the eventual withdrawal of the more than 2,000 American troops who have been helping to fight the Islamic State.

President Trump announced in December that he would pull all troops out.

The U.S. will start withdrawing the troops in the upcoming weeks; more than three-quarters of the troops could be drawn out by the end of March and the remaining troops will be deployed throughout April.

“I think we are right on track where we wanted to be,” General Votel told reporters. “We are less focused on a specific timeline than we are doing this in a very effective manner.”

Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces in Syria has been criticized by both Republicans and Democrats who believe that the decision betrayed America’s allies. General Votel said the military is doing what President Trump requested.“ The president’s orders are very clear to us; we understand exactly what he’s directed us to do,” said Votel.

The military aims to finish a number of tasks before it draws troops. The military is attempting to finish the fight against the Islamic State, protect the Kurdish forces and address the concerns of Turkey, which regards the same Kurdish forces as terrorists.

The U.S. is trying to persuade Western allies such as the U.K. and France to assume security and stability responsibilities along a safe zone 20 miles south of the Turkish border in Syria. No ally has so far agreed to take part.

President Trump sought to reassure nervous allies on Wednesday that his administration would continue an unrelenting hunt for Islamic State fighters “for many years to come,” even as the United States prepares to withdraw troops from the war zones of Syria and Afghanistan.

President Trump said said he expected to soon announce that the United States and its partners will have reclaimed the last slivers of territory that Islamic State fighters control in Syria.

However, he acknowledged that militants will go underground and continue to pose a serious threat wherever the extremist group operates.

“Remnants can be very dangerous,” stated President Trump. His comments, echoing themes from his State of the Union address on Tuesday, was a major change in tone from his assertion in December that the Islamic State had been defeated.

The President said he was looking forward to giving “a warm welcome back home” to the 2,000 American troops he ordered to pull out of Syria.

“The drawdown will be well coordinated, and our policy priorities in Syria have remained unchanged,” said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.