President Trump intends to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria

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President Trump intends to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria as soon as possible following the defeat of the Islamic State, senators said Tuesday following a classified briefing.
“I think the administration's plans are to complete the efforts to defeat ISIS and to not be involved,” Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., told reporters.


That update, following a classified briefing to the Senate by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, suggests that Trump’s determination to withdraw has hardened despite lobbying by French President Emmanuel Macron and other proponents of a longer commitment in the war-torn country. But a pair of top Republican senators said that the decision will enhance Russian influence in the country and set the stage for a conflict between Israel and Iran.

“Syria is going to be an armed camp of Hezbollah — Iranian military people — that will present a threat to Israel unlike any time in the last 20 or 30 years,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told reporters. “Syria will fall into the hands of the Russians, the Iranians, [and Syrian President Bashar] Assad, which will be a nightmare for Israel and the region as a whole.”

Corker concurred, but blamed the outcome on former President Barack Obama’s acceptance of Russia as a power-broker in a 2013 deal that was supposed to result in the elimination of Assad’s chemical weapons stockpiles. “Once that decision was made, candidly, the die was cast as far as the future of Syria went,” he said.

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