Many senior US officials criticize President Trump's decision to unleash his Kurdish allies by withdrawing from the fight against ISIS in northeastern Syria.
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Analysis. They are prominent figures in the US military, respected and loyal leaders. Unusually, they publicly criticize President Trump's decision to unleash his Kurdish allies by withdrawing from the fight against ISIS in northeastern Syria. Among others, there is the "monk-soldier" Joseph Votel, former boss of the special forces, who was the commander of US forces in the Middle East (CentCom) until March. "Disappointed" by the presidential decision, he is concerned that the Syrian Democratic "Exceptional partners" who lost 11,000 men in the fighting. "I am concerned about what this could mean for future partnerships. "
Another CentCom general, who had applauded the 2018 strikes against Damascus regime's chemical facilities, is quoted on the website. Military Times on condition of anonymity: "What we see in Syria is probably one of the most misinformed, even arrogant political decisions I've seen in the last thirty years. " Admiral James Stavridis, former Supreme Commander of NATO in Europe, was also heard: "The idea of withdrawing US troops from Syria is as misguided today as it was when it forced Jim Mattis to resign. "
At the end of 2018, General Mattis, US Secretary of Defense for Donald Trump, a soldier adulated by his peers in Europe, left his post to signal his disagreement with the presidential resolve to abandon the Syrian terrain. On the current withdrawal, he said: "If we do not maintain the pressure, then the Islamic State will re-emerge. There is absolutely no doubt that they will come back. " Which led the host of the White House to reply: "Mattis is the most overrated general in the world. "
For a time, wrote the New York TimesPentagon generals thought they would succeed in obeying the orders of the president, "Endless wars" American, "Without dropping their Kurdish partners and without undermining the gains achieved against the Islamic State". The "Residual strength" 1,000 special-purpose troops in northeastern Syria have fizzled. And Mr Trump has opened a new crisis in the politico-military relationship.
