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Mattis: US Withdrawal from Syria Strategic Blunder

Mattis: US Withdrawal from Syria Strategic Blunder
folder_openAmericas... access_time5 years ago
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Local Editor

US War Secretary Jim Mattis claims that a swift withdrawal of US troops from Syria will be a "strategic blunder" as Syrian Army comes closer to victory through sweeping gains against foreign-backed Takfiri terrorists.

Mattis: US Withdrawal from Syria Strategic Blunder

Speaking at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels on Friday, Mattis linked the US pullout from Syria to the fate of the UN-brokered Geneva peace talks.

"In Syria, leaving the field before the special envoy Staffan de Mistura achieves success in advancing the Geneva political process we all signed for under the UN security council resolution would be a strategic blunder, undercutting our diplomats and giving the terrorists the opportunity to recover," he said.

The Pentagon says there are roughly 2,000 US troops, mostly in northern Syria where they collaborate with Kurdish militants. French troops recently joined them amid reports that they planned to carve out a statelet outside the Syrian control.

This is while Washington and its allies have been bombarding what they call Daesh positions inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from the Damascus government or a UN mandate. The strikes have on many occasions resulted in civilian casualties and failed to fulfill their declared aim of countering terrorism.

In his remarks, Mattis cautioned against "leaving a vacuum" in Syria that the Damascus government and its allies could take advantage of.

"Our military campaign in Syria continues," he said. "As the operations ultimately draw to a close, we must avoid leaving a vacuum in Syria that can be exploited by the Assad regime or its supporters."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

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