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AFP Delil Souleiman / via Getty Images
A convoy of US forces arrives in Syria from Iraq (October 26, 2019).
Before leaving office, the US administration’s special envoy in Syria, James Jeffrey, admitted to hiding from his team the true level of US military presence in Syria from the White House.
Jeffrey said in an interview published by Defense One: “We have always played a game of cups and a ball (a game of cheating) so it is not clear to our leadership how many forces we have there.”
The diplomat admitted that the actual number of US forces in northeast Syria is “much higher” than the 200 military that President Donald Trump agreed to keep there in 2019.
Jeffrey described Trump’s decision to withdraw most of the US forces from northeastern Syria as “the most controversial issue” during his continued service for fifty years in government, noting that his team was able to persuade the US president in 2018 and then in October 2019 of the need to keep part of those forces in the country.
He mentioned: “What withdrawal from Syria are you talking about? There was no withdrawal from Syria. The situation in northeast Syria has largely stabilized after we (ISIS) were defeated and (Trump) tended to come out, but every Once we presented five best tests on the need for survival and we succeeded in both cases.
At the same time, Jeffrey voiced support for Trump’s approach to the Middle East and especially Syria, despite his signature in 2016 in an open letter warning that Trump is pursuing “reckless” policies.
The diplomat made it clear that he does not abandon his previous position, but the approach that Trump took as a businessman towards issues in the region allowed him to achieve greater results than previous US administrations.
Jeffrey advised the future administration of Democratic candidate Joe Biden, who is the winner of the presidential election, not to abandon Trump’s approach and refrain from trying to make drastic changes.
He continued: “First of all, don’t try to turn Syria into Denmark. A stalemate means stability.”
Although Trump’s announcement in 2019 to reduce the level of US military presence to 200-400 troops, the actual number of US forces in the country is believed to be no less than 900, and Jeffrey did not reveal the actual number in the interview.
Source: Defense One
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