We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2018
After historic victories against ISIS, it’s time to bring our great young people home! pic.twitter.com/xoNjFzQFTp
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2018
“We have won against ISIS. Our boys, our young women, our men — they’re all coming back, and they’re coming back now.
We won, and that’s the way we want it, and (pointing to the sky) that’s the way they want it."
President Trump’s national security adviser sought to reassure allies Sunday that the United States would be methodical about withdrawing troops from Syria, promising that the pullout would not occur until the Islamic State was fully eradicated from the country and Turkey could guarantee the safety of Kurdish fighters.
John Bolton’s comments, reported by the Associated Press, are the clearest statement yet from the administration about how officials plan to execute Trump’s abrupt December announcement that he would pull troops from Syria, surprising allies and advisers, sparking an outcry from lawmakers, and prompting the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.
“There are objectives that we want to accomplish that condition the withdrawal,” Bolton said while speaking to reporters in Jerusalem, on a trip intended to allay Israeli leaders’ concerns about Trump’s announcement. “The timetable flows from the policy decisions that we need to implement.”
Trump touched off global confusion and panic when he announced via tweet in mid-December that he would order the withdrawal of the 2,000 troops stationed in Syria to help fight the Islamic State — a move that both allies and critics warned could upset the balance of power in the Middle East, emboldening Russia and Iran, and threaten what tenuous stability U.S.-aligned forces had been able to achieve in Syria.
Bolton’s comments come amid reports that Trump had agreed to extend his initial 30-day deadline for withdrawal to four months. When asked whether Bolton’s comments would affect that timeline, a senior administration official said that “there is no specific timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, and reports to the contrary are false.”
Nonetheless, the plans and assurances the national security adviser offered in Israel were confirmation that withdrawal plans are slowing until conditions on the ground match the president’s stated assessment of the situation in Syria. As part of his announcement, Trump said the United States had “defeated ISIS” there — a claim that his advisers and political allies have disputed. ISIS is an alternative acronym for the Islamic State.
Trump’s advisers and GOP allies have warned that pulling out U.S. troops would also leave Kurdish fighters — who had been vital U.S. allies — susceptible to attacks by Turkey, where leaders see the group as a threat to their nation’s sovereignty.
In a Sunday news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Bolton said that “the defense of Israel and other friends in the region is absolutely assured” and that the United States would “take care of those who have fought with us against ISIS and other terrorist groups.” He also said that the withdrawal would take place but “in a way to make sure ISIS is defeated and is not able to revive itself and become a threat again.”
But while Bolton’s comments may have come as a relief to some, a top House Democrat stressed that the priorities the national security adviser outlined were “obvious” — and simply highlighted how dangerous Trump’s initial withdrawal announcement was.