By Denis Korkodinov
The withdrawal of US troops from northeastern Syria indicates that the White House administration has radically changed its vision of the Syrian theater of operations. If until recently, Donald Trump did not oppose the fact that the United States will be in the region until the complete elimination of all the centers of international terrorism, then he now has a different opinion.
Thus, in a recent public statement, the American leader noted that Damascus must solve its problems independently, without counting on Washington’s support, as Syria is “very far” for the United States. Therefore, Donald Trump practically emphasized that he is unable to achieve one of the main foreign policy objectives of the United States: the fight against international terrorism in the Middle East.
Donald Trump does quite often reckless actions, as a result of which he is criticized on the international arena. However, due to the withdrawal of American troops from Syria, the president of the United States has raised a strong protest, even from representatives of the Republican Party.
The need to complete military operations outside the United States was the main link in Donald Trump’s campaign program. This allowed him to obtain the support of the majority of voters who were focused on solving problems that were exclusively intra-American.
However, the withdrawal of American troops from north-eastern Syria, which, apparently, should have reinforced Donald Trump’s image as a supporter of restrictions on the use of military force outside the United States, caused a flurry of criticism in American society.
Therefore, Donald Trump is blamed, among other things, to submit to Turkey, to actually betray the Kurds and to abandon his plans to put pressure on the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Also, the Syrian Kurds were US allies in the fight against the Islamic state.
However, after Donald Trump’s refusal to support them in the confrontation with Turkey, it is becoming increasingly difficult for members of the White House administration to involve external force groups as allies to advance American interests. This proved difficult because the United States undermined its credibility among its potential allies. In turn, this could adversely affect the implementation of US policy in Afghanistan, Eastern Europe and Latin America, where former US allies have suddenly turned into critics of the White House.
After the withdrawal of US troops from Syria, the widely used message from Donald Trump that Washington will be grateful to any ally now seems very ambiguous. In this case, “gratitude for the United States” can only mean giving up guarantees of mutual assistance.
(The views expressed in this article belong only to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of World Geostrategic Insights)
Image Credit: VOA