Pentagon developing plans to withdraw US troops from Syria: Report

ISTANBUL

The US Department of Defense is drafting plans to withdraw all US troops from Syria within 30, 60, or 90 days, two US defense officials told NBC News on Tuesday.

According to the officials, President Donald Trump and officials close to him recently showed interest in withdrawing troops from Syria, prompting the Pentagon to start drafting plans for a complete pullout within 30, 60, or 90 days.

Meanwhile, Trump’s newly appointed national security adviser, Mike Waltz, spent Friday at the US Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida and there, he met with senior military leaders and received briefings on the Middle East, the defense officials said.

A White House official stated that the potential reduction of US forces in Syria was not a subject of the briefings or the purpose of Waltz’s visit.

“It’s good for NSA Waltz to visit CENTCOM to get a sense of the entire region,” the White House official said, noting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the White House Tuesday and that Jordan’s King Abdullah is scheduled to visit next week.


Last week, Trump had said the US "will make a determination" regarding the troops in Syria following a report that said he intends to withdraw American forces.

"I don't know who said that, but we'll make a determination on that," Trump told reporters at the White House. "We're not involved in Syria. Syria is in its own mess. They've got enough messes over there. They don't need us involved."

Also, Israel's official public broadcasting Kan had reported that “senior White House officials conveyed a message to their Israeli counterparts indicating that President Trump intends to pull thousands of US troops from Syria.”

According to a Pentagon announcement in December, the US has some 2,000 troops deployed in Syria.