SDF: US withdrawal will leave military, political ‘vacuum’ in northeast Syria

Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) issued a statement on Thursday criticizing President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw US forces from northeast Syria, warning the move will leave civilians “to the claws of enemy forces”.

“The decision to pull out will directly affect the efforts to fully rout the terrorist organization, and it will have dangerous repercussions that will affect the global stability and peace,” the SDF said in a statement, published online. 

“It will also be disappointing to the people of the area for security and stability, as a pull out in such circumstances will lead to a condition of instability and insecurity, creating a political and military vacuum in the area, leaving the people to the claws of enemy forces.”

On Wednesday, Trump said ISIS has been defeated in Syria. 

As the US presence in Syria was committed solely to defeating the jihadist group and not resolving the Syrian civil war, Trump said America’s 2,000 personnel in northeast Syria will be immediately and completely withdrawn. 

The shock announcement has drawn opposition and condemnation from members of Trump’s own administration and US allies France and Britain. Critics accuse Trump of abandoning America's allies and giving up Syria to Russia and Iran. 

In a series of early morning Tweets, Trump defended the move, arguing he has consistently called for a US withdrawal and called on others to do the fighting.

“Getting out of Syria was no surprise. I’ve been campaigning on it for years, and six months ago, when I very publicly wanted to do it, I agreed to stay longer. Russia, Iran, Syria & others are the local enemy of ISIS. We were doing there (sic) work. Time to come home & rebuild. #MAGA,” Trump wrote on Twitter.

“Does the USA want to be the Policeman of the Middle East, getting NOTHING but spending precious lives and trillions of dollars protecting others who, in almost all cases, do not appreciate what we are doing? Do we want to be there forever? Time for others to finally fight,” he added.




Kurdish forces fear the US departure leaves them vulnerable to a threatened Turkish offensive against the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which make up the backbone of the SDF, similar to the Afrin offensive earlier this year. 

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) warned on Thursday the SDF could retreat from the ISIS battlefield to shore up its defenses against Turkish incursions. Commanders are seriously considering the release of thousands of ISIS detainees held in SDF prisons, the monitor said. 

“At a time when we are engaged in fierce fights against terror in its last stronghold, and while we are fighting against sleeper cells and undercover terrorist elements that want to reorganize in the liberated areas, the decision of the White House to pull out from northern and eastern Syria will negatively impact the anti-terror campaign, and it will give terrorism, its backers, and supporters political, field, and military momentum to breathe again, to carry out a terror counterattack in the area,” the SDF warned in its statement.

“We reiterate to the world opinion that the fight against terror hasn’t finish yet, and it hasn’t been fully defeated yet. Rather, it is at a fateful and decisive stage requiring the joining of efforts on the part of everyone and a greater support from the international coalition to continue it, and to increase support in all forms to the fighting forces on the ground, not to retreat from it.”

In an ominous statement on Thursday, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said: “Now we have Manbij and the east of the Euphrates in front of us. We are working intensively on this subject.” Kurdish fighters east of the Euphrates “will be buried in their ditches when the time comes,” he added.