U.S. Begins Partial Troop Withdrawal from Syria

The United States began a withdrawal of its forces from Syria on Thursday. President Donald Trump has ordered that 600 of the 2,000 troops currently stationed in Syria be withdrawn, and 3 of the 8 outposts established by the U.S.—most of which are located in northern Syria—are to be closed.

Video that emerged on social media Thursday showed American convoys leaving their base at the Conoco Gas Field in the Deir ez-Zor region, heading toward the Hasakah region in the north of the country.

According to The New York Times, the Trump administration will review the need for a further troop withdrawal in 60 days, with some commanders recommending that 500 troops remain in the country.

Donald Trump has long been skeptical of a U.S. troop presence in Syria. During his 2016 campaign, he frequently argued for withdrawing American troops, claiming the mission was a waste of resources and not in America’s interests.

In December 2018, during his first term, Trump initially ordered the full withdrawal of American troops. However, he faced resistance from within his administration and was ultimately convinced to leave a residual force behind to, in Trump's own words, “have the oil.”

Trump again ordered a full withdrawal in October 2019, but internal resistance and what he described as sabotage within the military prevented the plan from being fully implemented. On January 20, 2021, when Joe Biden assumed office, one of his first executive orders was to redeploy the previously withdrawn troops back into Syria.

The potential full withdrawal of the U.S. from the region is also causing concern in Israel. Rising tensions with Turkey—highlighted by a recent meeting between Israeli and Turkish delegations in Baku—have raised fears in Tel Aviv that a U.S. departure could create a vacuum Turkey might exploit to expand its influence in Syria.

Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government in December, the two former major players in the Syrian conflict—the United States and Russia—have largely stepped back. Russia recently announced it would repurpose its air base on the Syrian coast for humanitarian aid operations, while the U.S. has remained largely uninvolved in Syria’s internal politics following the rise of Ahmed al-Sharra.