Trump abruptly announced in mid-December that he was withdrawing 2,000 U. S. troops from Syria.<\/b>
\nWASHINGTON \u2014 Amid questions about the pace of his exit from Syria, President Donald Trump complained Monday that he\u2019s getting \u201cbad press\u201d for his decision to pull American troops out of the country and insisted he was simply making good on his campaign promise against U. S. involvement in \u201cnever ending wars.\u201d
Trump abruptly announced in mid-December that he was withdrawing 2,000 U. S. troops from Syria. The decision was roundly criticized by his national security advisers and Democratic and Republican lawmakers, several of whom asked him to reconsider. It prompted Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to step down, and the U. S. envoy to the coalition fighting Islamic State militants resigned in protest.
Trump fought back against the criticism.
\u201cI am the only person in America who could say that, \u2018I\u2019m bringing our great troops back home, with victory,\u2019 and get BAD press,\u201d Trump tweeted Monday. \u201cIt is Fake News and Pundits who have FAILED for years that are doing the complaining. If I stayed in Endless Wars forever, they would still be unhappy!\u201d
Critics not only warn of a resurgence of IS, but worry that the American exit is a betrayal of U. S.-backed Kurdish forces in Syria and leaves them vulnerable to an attack from Turkish forces. Turkey considers the U. S.-backed Kurdish People\u2019s Protection Units, which now controls nearly 30 percent of Syria, a terrorist group linked to an insurgency within its own borders.
Critics also contend that the U. S. withdrawal would embolden Iran and Russia, which have supported the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Trump\u2019s national security adviser, John Bolton, will be traveling to Israel and Turkey in early January to discuss what the White House says is the \u201cdeliberate and coordinated\u201d withdrawal of U. S. forces from Syria. Bolton also will be discussing increased cooperation with the Turkish military and other partners.
Bolton\u2019s spokesman, Garrett Marquis, said in a statement Monday that Bolton will be joined in Turkey by Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and James Jeffrey, the secretary of state\u2019s special representative for Syria engagement. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on New Year\u2019s Day at the inauguration of Brazil\u2019s new president in Brasilia.
Some critics also have expressed fear of a rapid withdrawal of U. S. troops.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S. C., a Trump backer and leading voice on national security and foreign affairs on Capitol Hill, had lunch with the president Sunday and emerged from the White House saying that Trump was slowing down the withdrawal from Syria.
\u201cI think we\u2019re in a pause situation where we\u2019re re-evaluating what\u2019s the best way to achieve the president\u2019s objective of having people pay more and do more,\u201d Graham said. \u201cThe pause is to assess the effects of the conditions on the ground.\u201d
\u201cI think we\u2019re slowing things down in a smart way,\u201d Graham said, adding that Trump was very aware of the plight of the Kurds.
Graham said his meeting with Trump was reassuring. \u201cThe president will make sure any withdrawal from Syria will be done in a fashion to ensure 1) ISIS is permanently destroyed, 2) Iran doesn\u2019t fill in the back end, and 3) our Kurdish allies are protected,\u201d Graham tweeted.
The National Security Council at the White House declined to answer questions about whether the president was re-evaluating or whether he was slowing his timetable for pulling troops out. The White House referred questions to the Pentagon.
When he announced he was pulling troops from Syria, Trump said the withdrawal would be rapid. On Monday, he said he was \u201cslowly\u201d pulling troops out. Initially, Trump said IS had been destroyed in Syria. Now he said the militant group is \u201cmostly done,\u201d although the network, with its hard-line extremist ideology, continues to inspire sympathizers and has affiliated groups in other parts of the world.
\u201cIf anybody but Donald Trump did what I did in Syria, which was an ISIS loaded mess when I became President, they would be a national hero. ISIS is mostly gone, we\u2019re slowly sending our troops back home to be with their families, while at the same time fighting ISIS remnants,\u201d Trump tweeted.
\u201cI campaigned on getting out of Syria and other places. Now when I start getting out the Fake News Media, or some failed Generals who were unable to do the job before I arrived, like to complain about me & my tactics, which are working. Just doing what I said I was going to do!\u201d
That tweet seemed aimed at rebutting comments by Stanley McChrystal, a retired U. S. Army four-star general who commanded the Joint Special Operations Command in the mid-2000s and formerly commanded U. S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan.
\u201cIf you pull American influence out, you\u2019re likely to have greater instability, and of course it\u2019ll be much more difficult for the United States to try to push events in any direction. There is an argument that says we just pull up our stuff, go home, let the region run itself. That has not done well for the last 50 or 60 years,\u201d McChrystal said Sunday on ABC\u2019s \u201cThis Week.\u201d<\/p>\n