U.S. military forces are building up their fortifications in Syria even as President Donald Trump expresses a desire to withdraw American troops from the war-torn country “very soon,” according to observers on the ground.
A team of Associated Press journalists on Wednesday saw American troops setting up front-line positions just outside of the Manbij, the Kurdish-controlled city in northern Syria. In just a week, a solitary hut flying an American flag has been transformed into a hardened position surrounded with sand barriers and barbed wire, along with a new watch tower and armored vehicles, the AP reported.
Sitting just west of the Euphrates River, Manbij has become a key front in the Syrian War, with Turkish forces facing off against U.S.-backed Kurdish militia. Turkey considers a well-armed Kurdish force along its southern border to be a grave national security threat and has vowed to push the Kurds out of Manbij and other areas in northern Syria under Kurdish control.
The growing presence of U.S. troops in the Manbij area is one reason why Turkey throttled back its offensive there. It also comes amid a contentious debate within Trump’s administration about the extent of future military intervention in the Syrian War, which after seven years has devolved into a farrago of proxy battles between regional adversaries.
At a meeting with national security staff at the White House Tuesday, Trump reluctantly agreed to keep U.S. forces in Syria until Islamic State militants are completely defeated. The president is looking to “allies and partners” in the region, including Saudi Arabia, to contribute more resources to post-ISIS stabilization in Syria, the White House said.
“The United States and our partners remain committed to eliminating the small ISIS presence in Syria that our forces have not already eradicated,” Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement Wednesday. “We will continue to consult with our allies and friends regarding future plans. We expect countries in the region and beyond, plus the United Nations, to work toward peace and ensure that ISIS never re-emerges.”
ALSO WATCH NYT says there were 1,600 mass shootings — we fact checked it:
Talk of a “rapid end” to the military mission in Syria has exposed stark differences between Trump and his top national security advisers over what role the U.S. should play after ISIS has been defeated. Trump is inclined to wind down U.S. commitments in Syria. Some kind of long-term presence is necessary to prevent ISIS from regrouping and Iran from deepening its influence there, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and other military officials said.
Further complicating the picture is the conflict between Turkey and Syrian Kurdish forces, which is drawing attention away from the core U.S. mission of defeating ISIS. As U.S.-backed Kurds have come under threat in Manbij, American troops have ramped up their operations in the area — partly to hunt down fleeing ISIS fighters and partly to protect their Kurdish allies.
The danger of the military’s multifaceted mission was made apparent last week, when an IED blast killed two soldiers in the U.S.-led coalition and wounded five others. Military officials have not said what group was responsible for the attack.
Critics of Trump’s desire to withdraw from Syria have argued doing so will cede ground to Russia and Iran and diminish U.S. standing in the region. Absent a U.S. military presence, ISIS will become a safe haven for Islamic militants, critics also said.
A minority of foreign policy thinkers in Washington offer a dissenting view. They argue Russia’s vital interests in Syria are more compelling than those of the U.S., and as a result, Moscow will maintain close ties to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad regardless of whether Washington stays or goes.
One such skeptic of continued intervention in Syria is Daniel Davis, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and senior fellow at Defense Priorities. A prolonged military presence increases the risk America will have to fight a war with little upside for its strategic interests, Davis argued.
“It is not in America’s interests to stay in Syria for objectives so disconnected from our security and prosperity,” Davis wrote Wednesday in a CNBC op-ed. “Contrary to conventional wisdom in Washington, the strategic benefit doesn’t come anywhere close to justifying the cost.”
Send tips to will@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.