The Trump administration has dispatched Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton to the Middle East to walk back the announcement of a rapid withdrawal of US forces in Syria and a claim that the Islamic State terror group (banned in Russia) has been defeated, according to a report by the Soufan Center on Monday.
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th January, 2019) The Trump administration has dispatched Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton to the middle East to walk back the announcement of a rapid withdrawal of US forces in Syria and a claim that the Islamic State terror group (banned in Russia) has been defeated, according to a report by the Soufan Center on Monday."During a stopover in Israel, National Security Adviser Bolton qualified the President's reversal; he said the timing of the US withdrawal from Syria was 'conditions based' and depended on the defeat of the Islamic State and guarantees from Turkey that Ankara will refrain from attacking the Syrian Kurds once the US withdraws," the report stated. "Secretary Pompeo will also stress that the US isn't leaving Syria anytime soon."
Pompeo leaves on Tuesday for visits to Jordan, Kuwait, Egypt, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, and will also travel to Saudi Arabia, while Bolton spoke during a weekend visit to Israel. Bolton is also slated to visit Turkey.
In December, Trump declared victory over the Islamic State and announced that American forces would be coming home quickly as a result - apparently without first informing the Defense Department. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis resigned as a result.
The latest report from US Central Command indicated that the US-led coalition continued to bomb Islamic State targets in Syria at a rate of nearly 1,000 strikes per month in January.
