President Trump orders a full withdrawal from SyriaAll 2,000 U.S. ground troops were ordered out of Syria, suddenly ending a military campaign that largely vanquished the Islamic State but ceding a strategically vital country to Russia and Iran. “We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency,” the president said in a Twitter post. The White House did not provide a timetable or other specifics for the pullout. Lawmakers and Pentagon officials argued that the move would betray Kurdish allies who have fought alongside American troops in Syria, and who could now be vulnerable to an attack by Turkey. Analysis: Mr. Trump believes that U.S. forces cannot alter the strategic balance in the Middle East and should not be there — a view that Barack Obama fundamentally shared, our national security correspondent writes.

Source: New York Times December 20, 2018 04:01 UTC