US authorities are establishing new bases in Iraq to alleviate the message its decision to withdraw US troops from neighboring Syria sends to its partners in the Middle East, politicians and experts told Sputnik.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th December, 2018) US authorities are establishing new bases in Iraq to alleviate the message its decision to withdraw US troops from neighboring Syria sends to its partners in the middle East, politicians and experts told Sputnik.On December 19, the White House announced the United States would withdraw all 2,000 troops from Syria within 60 to 100 days given that the Islamic State terror group (outlawed in Russia) had been defeated. Secretary of Defense James Mattis resigned the following day, citing the fact his views were no longer aligned with Trump's ones.
On Wednesday, media reported citing Iraqi officials that the US Army has set up two new military bases in Iraq's western province of Anbar. Same night, US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania made an unannounced Christmas visit to Al Asad Air Base in Iraq to thank US personnel for their service, according to the White House.
Trump said he did not plan pulling forces - estimated at 5,000 - from the country adding that the country could be used as a base if the United States wanted to act in Syria in the future. US troops have been on the ground in Iraq since the invasion of 2003.
IRAQ AS BASE FOR FUTURE MILITARY OPERATIONS
Moshe Maoz, professor of Islamic and Middle Eastern studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, considers the United States will be capable to carry out military operations in Syria using facilities in Iraq, if it is necessary.
"Airstrikes and else, they can do it from Iraq. Now they also have new bases near the Iraqi border in the Anbar province. I think he [Trump] wants to compromise or mitigate the message of withdrawing from Syria by pointing out that there are some bases in Iraq which is very important, but not totally. It is still limited," Maoz told Sputnik.
Wa'el Alzayat, CEO of Emgage Foundation and senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said that the latest steps of the US administration show Washington's commitment to help maintaining security in Iraq.
"This indicates recognition of the need to maintain support for Iraqi security forces or to respond directly to emerging security challenges," Alzayat told Sputnik.
During a Christmas visit to Iraq, Trump said that US forces there would be able to respond to any increase in the Islamic State strength on the other side of the Syrian border.
SIGNIFICANCE OF US SYRIA PULLOUT
Syria's Assyrian Democratic Party President Ninos Isho believes that the US intervention in Syria did not contribute to terrorists's defeat in the country, because fighting terrorism was just a pretext for Washington to place troops in Syria.
"The intervention of US forces has hindered the elimination of terrorism and the fact that the last breather breathes, there is no need for the existence of US forces under the pretext of fighting terrorism, which in one way or another was the reason for entering the Syrian territory and support in various forms through a network of interests with neighboring countries," Isho told Sputnik.
The politician added that US presence in Syria will only complicate the process of solving the existing problems in the Arab country.
"From the very beginning, we considered the American presence to be an illegal presence in Syria, an occupation of Syrian territory, and it would not contribute to the peaceful resolution of the Syrian issue, but would make it more complicated and promote the idea of dividing Syria. So we are for the American withdrawal in all its military and political forms from Syria, so that the Syrians can resolve all their affairs without interference," Isho said.
Hassan Sakr, the head of foreign affairs at the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), told Sputnik that the decision on US troop pullout is a result of arrangements reached with Russia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
"The US did not decide to leave [Syria] ... as this is the result of a regional deal with Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia. This deal shows in his tweets concerning rebuilding Syria. They [The United States] never fought against ISIS ... but they strategically allied with ISIS. What is needed now is having the Turks and the Americans moving away from the battle field and the rest will be done by the Syrian army and the allies," Sakr said.
AFTERMATH OF US TROOP WITHDRAWAL
Maoz considers that the US withdrawal from Syria means that local Kurds will now have to forget about their aspiration to have an autonomy in northern Syria.
"Another question is the Kurds in Syria who are going to be under the mercy of [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, and Erdogan does not have a sense of humor when it comes to the Kurds, especially since they are linked to the PKK. Other alternative is to be embraced by [Syrian President] Bashar Assad, be part of Syria. Between the plague and the cholera. They have to forget about their demands for autonomy in Northern Syria," Maoz said.
Alzayat believes that after the pullout, the level of US involvement in Syria's affairs will significantly decrease.
The US-led coalition of more than 70 countries is conducting military operations against the IS in Syria and Iraq. The coalition's operations in Iraq are conducted in cooperation with the Iraqi government, but those in Syria are not authorized by the Syrian government or the UN Security Council.
