Trump eyes Syria pullout as advisers warn of hard work ahead

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he wants to “get out” of Syria, even as his advisers warned of the hard work left to defeat Islamic State and stabilize areas recaptured from the terrorist group in the war-torn country.

Trump told a news conference the United States would “not rest until ISIS is gone,” but also suggested that victory is imminent.

The Pentagon and State Department have held that a longer-term U.S. effort is needed to ensure that Islamic State’s defeat is a lasting one.

“It’s time,” Trump told reporters when asked if he was inclined to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria.

“We were very successful against ISIS. We’ll be successful against anybody militarily. But sometimes it’s time to come back home, and we’re thinking about that very seriously.”

The mission is “very costly for our country and it helps other countries a helluva lot more than it helps us,” Trump said.

“I want to get out. I want to bring our troops back home. I want to start rebuilding our nation.”

Later Tuesday, Trump met with his national security team to discuss Syria.

According to officials familiar with the preparations for the meeting, Trump’s entire national security team, including CIA chief Mike Pompeo, who has been nominated to be the next secretary of state, strongly advised against a hasty withdrawal from Syria. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal talks.

The United States is carrying out near-daily airstrikes in Syria and has about 2,000 troops on the ground, including special operations forces who have been assisting the Kurdish militia and other U.S.-backed fighters in capturing territory from Islamic State.

A senior Syrian Kurdish official said Trump’s comments on wanting to withdraw from Syria come at an “inappropriate time,” as Islamic State combatants re-emerge in eastern Syria and threats come from Turkey.

Ilham Ahmed, a senior Kurdish official in Syria’s Raqqa province, said a U.S. withdrawal would clear the way for “total chaos in Syria,” endangering areas newly liberated from ISIS and empowering Turkey to move in on towns controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, backed by the U.S.-led coalition.

U.S. Army Gen. Joseph Votel, who oversees U.S. troops in the Middle East as the head of Central Command, said on Tuesday that more than 90% of Islamic State’s territory in Syria had been taken back since 2014.

Trump estimated the percentage of territory recaptured in Iraq and Syria at “almost 100 percent,” a figure that U.S. officials say is correct – it is about 98% – but does not highlight the work still left to do in Syria.

The big hurdle, according to the U.S. military, is seizing Islamic State-held territory around the town of Abu Kamal.

That effort has been slowed as U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters shift their focus away from Islamic State toward a Turkish offensive against Kurdish allies elsewhere in Syria.

Speaking alongside Votel in Washington on Tuesday, Brett McGurk, the special U.S. envoy for the global coalition against Islamic State, said the U.S. fight against Islamic State is not over.

“We are in Syria to fight ISIS. That is our mission and our mission isn’t over and we are going to complete that mission,” McGurk said.

Experts were divided about the significance of Trump’s simultaneous musings about withdrawal and his assurance that the United States will not depart until Islamic State is defeated.

The terrorist group is widely expected to revert to guerrilla tactics once the last remnants of its once self-styled “caliphate” are captured by U.S.-backed forces.

Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank said a precipitous U.S. withdrawal would undermine U.S. leverage in talks to end Syria’s civil war.

“The principal consequence is the United States surrenders the little influence it has over the future of Syria,” he said.

Experts warn that an abrupt U.S. withdrawal could benefit Russia and Iran, U.S. rivals who could extend their influence in Syria.

Trump said U.S. ally Saudi Arabia, Iran’s arch-rival, is interested in his decision, adding, “Well, you know, you want us to stay, maybe you’re going to have to pay.”

According to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity, Trump recently asked Saudi Arabia to contribute $4 billion for reconstruction in Syria as part of his effort to get other countries to pay for stabilizing the country so the U.S. will not be on the hook. The United States is awaiting a response from the Saudis, the official said.

Trump has previously lambasted his predecessor, President Barack Obama, for his withdrawal from Iraq, which preceded the unraveling of the Iraqi armed forces and their eventual collapse in the face of Islamic State’s advance into the country in 2014.

It was unclear what Trump’s vision of a post-war U.S. role in Syria would look like. But his recent decision to freeze more than $200 million in funds for recovery efforts in Syria suggests resistance to a broad U.S. ground effort.

McGurk acknowledged that a review was underway to ensure U.S. taxpayer dollars were well-spent.

Votel said he sees a U.S. military role in stabilization efforts in Syria.

“The hard part, I think, is in front of us, and that is stabilizing these areas, consolidating our gains, getting people back into their homes,” Votel said. “There is a military role in this.”