US will neither support nor otherwise be involved in the looming Turkish military operation in northern Syria

‘No longer in the area’: US 

troops will neither help nor 

hamper Turkey’s cross-

border operation in Syria

RT,

6 October, 2019

The US will neither support nor otherwise be involved in the looming Turkish military operation in northern Syria, nor will it interfere, as American troops will no longer be in the “immediate area,” the White House has announced.

The US has apparently achieved its immediate goal in the region – no less than single-handedly defeating the Islamic State terrorist group and capturing hundreds of their fighters, obviously – and will now generously allow Turkey to take over, Donald Trump’s spokesperson announced following the US leader’s call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday.

The United States will not support or be involved in the operation, and United States forces, having defeated the ISIS territorial 'caliphate,' will no longer be in the immediate area,the White House statement read.

Micah Grimes

✔@MicahGrimes

Without warning, a US military move that would have been announced via a speech to the nation is announced in a 2-paragraph statement from the White House just before 11 p.m. ET on a Sunday night. https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1181043719497293824 …

NBC News

✔@NBCNews

BREAKING: In an extraordinary Sunday night statement, the White House announces that the US "will no longer be in the immediate area" of Northern Syria, allow Turkey to launch an invasion in the region and give Turkey responsibility for captured ISIS fighters in the area.

61

4:11 PM - Oct 7, 2019

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The apparent withdrawal of US troops from the strategic region that Washington has been clinging to for so long was framed as a huge victory for the American taxpayer.

Ben Watson

✔@natsecwatson

 · 3h

Replying to @natsecwatson

Also: This would seem to say the US is pulling out of "the immediate area" around "northern Syria"? Terribly unclear. Maybe the Pentagon will hold a presser on Monday about the details.

Ben Watson

✔@natsecwatson

BTW: This is the kind of show @aaronstein1 has assessed and predicted when earlier today he said the US might "head for the exits."https://twitter.com/aaronstein1/status/1180959710570254341 …

Aaron Stein@aaronstein1

The US options now are — and keeping this G rated — tell Erdogan to piss off and stay out, or get pissed because it’s last call, and head for the exits. Only time will tell how this call went.

5

4:14 PM - Oct 7, 2019

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“Turkey will now be responsible for all ISIS fighters in the area captured over the past two years… The US will not hold them for what could be many years and great cost to the United States taxpayer,” the two-paragraph statement said, for the second time reminding Americans that it was the US and only the US that defeated the spooky ‘caliphate.’

Nothing was said about the fate of Syrian Kurds, who are considered to be the US' closest allies on the ground, ever since the so-called ‘moderate rebels’ turned out to be a PR disaster. Turkey sees these Kurdish militias as a national security threat that needs to be ‘tackled.’

Kurdish protesters rallied in front of US-occupied military outposts over the weekend, pleading for protection from Turkey’s looming occupation. If anyone bothered to ask Damascus, though, it would probably say that both occupational forces are equally illegal and in violation of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

https://www.rt.com/news/470294-turkey-syriam-border-reinforcements/