“I don’t think we’re going to be in Syria forever,” General McKenzie told a security conference organized virtually by the United States Institute of Peace. “At some point, we do want to get smaller there. I just don’t know when that’s going to be. While Mr. Trump’s motivations for withdrawing troops vary somewhat from country to country, together they underscore his overarching campaign pledge in 2016 to extract the United States from military commitments overseas. General McKenzie and other American officials say the United States can afford to consider withdrawing troops from Iraq and Syria because local forces are increasingly able to counter ISIS on their own, with some American technical, intelligence and logistical help.

Source: New York Times August 12, 2020 20:03 UTC