The latest from the Middle East - 01/11/2019

Pentagon Moves Forward With Syria Withdrawal Plans Amid Confusion Over Timetable for Exit

Newsweek

10 January, 2019

The Pentagon is pushing ahead with plans to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria even as the Trump administration sends mixed signals about how quickly the drawdown is supposed to happen—or if it will even occur at all.

Ground troops are en route to Syria to help move out some of the roughly 2,000 American service members currently deployed there, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing defense officials.

Also heading to the region is a group of naval vessels led by the USS Kearsarge, an amphibious assault ship. The ships, which can carry Marines, helicopters and other aircraft, will be on standby to protect U.S. troops as they leave Syria.

The plans have been put in motion despite recent assurances from National Security Advisor John Bolton that U.S. forces would remain in Syria until Turkey agreed not to attack America’s Kurdish allies. Defense officials said they were acting pursuant to President Donald Trump’s December order to withdraw from Syria.

The timeline for leaving Syria has been extended multiple times since Trump declared the military defeat of ISIS and announced the rapid withdrawal of U.S. troops. Administration officials initially said the pullout could happen in a matter of weeks, but military leadrs requested six months in order to ensure an orderly withdrawal and prevent a sudden resurgence of the Islamic State militant group (ISIS).

The Trump administration now says the withdrawal timeline is open-ended to provide time to arrange an agreement between Turkey and U.S.-backed Kurdish militia groups. Ankara considers the presence of well-armed Kurdish forces near its southern border to be a national security threat.

Uncertainty over the pace of withdrawal aside, military officials are working on the assumption that Trump wants all U.S. troops to leave, CNN reported, citing an administration official with direct knowledge of the operation. If Trump wants troops to stay in eastern and southern Syria to fight the remnants of ISIS, he would have to approve those specific plans, according to the CNN report.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denied that the administration’s conditions-based approach to withdrawing from Syria undermined the intent of Trump’s original order.

“The U.S.’s decision, President Trump’s decision, to remove our troops has been made,” Pompeo said Thursday in Cairo, where he delivered a speech attempting to clarify the administration’s foreign policy in the region. “We will do that.”

Pompeo’s stop in Cairo is part of a Mideast tour aimed at reassuring regional governments that Washington remains committed to the fight against ISIS. Even if all American troops leave Syria, the U.S. will still be able to strike ISIS militants using assets based in neighboring countries, according to Pompeo.

“It is possible to hold in your head the thought that we would withdraw our uniformed forces from Syria and continue our crushing campaign,” he said.

An update - 

U.S. Moves Some Cargo From Syria but Pace of Withdrawal Still Uncertain

Syrian Air Defences Respond to Enemy Attack, Down Several Targets - Reports

Sputnik,

11 January, 2019

Syrian air defences have responded to an Israeli airstrike over Damascus and managed to shoot down several targets, local media reported.

According to Ikhbariya broadcaster, several targets have been shot down during an enemy attack over Damascus, Syria.

A military source told Syrian SANA news agency later that Israeli jets fired several missiles towards vicinity of Damascus, most of the missiles were downed.

According to the source, the airstrikes caused damage to a warehouse at Damascus International Airport.

A source in Syrian Ministry of Transport confirmed to SANA later that the Damascus International Airport traffic was not affected by the strikes.

Previously, a Sputnik correspondent reported that Sounds of explosions were heard in Syria's capital of Damascus, noting that it was yet unclear what caused them.

The sounds of blasts were first heard at 11:30 p.m. (21:30 GMT) on Friday and they continued into Saturday.

US to setup 4 new military bases along Syrian border

Hal Turner,

11 January, 2019

Just one month after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that his nation’s armed forces were withdrawing from Syria, sources now tell me that American forces are building four new bases in the western part of Iraq’s Al-Anbar Governorate.

“The U.S. intends to set up four permanent bases that are equipped with advanced military equipment in different cities across the Al-Anbar province.”

The source noted that the U.S. military bases will be established in the Ma’askar Tareq area of Fallujah, San al-Zeib base north of al-Baghdadi, al-Khafaseh in the town of Hadisa, and one base between the Ravah and Biji areas of al-Ramadi.

“The number of the U.S. military bases in Iraq’s al-Anbar province will increase to 9 after the four bases are set up,” the source added.

Iraq’s Al-Anbar Governorate border Syria’s Deir Ezzor province, which is where the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/IS/Daesh) maintains their last major pocket between the two historical lands.