President Trump defended his surprise decision to declare victory over Islamic State militants in Syria and completely withdraw U. S. troops.
WASHINGTON, Dec 20 (Reuters) – U. S. President Donald Trump on Thursday defended his surprise decision to declare victory over Islamic State militants in Syria and completely withdraw U. S. troops from the country, amid criticism from some Republicans and concern from allies and some U. S. military commanders.
In early morning tweets, Trump said he was fulfilling a promise from his 2016 presidential campaign to leave Syria. Echoing a central plank of his foreign policy – that he seeks to stop the United States being taken advantage of – he said the United States was doing the work of other countries, including Russia and Iran, with little in return.
« Does the USA want to be the Policeman of the Middle East, getting NOTHING but spending precious lives and trillions of dollars protecting others who, in almost all cases, do not appreciate what we are doing? Do we want to be there forever? Time for others to finally fight, » he tweeted.
The United States is also ending its air campaign against the militants in Syria, U. S. officials told Reuters on Thursday.
Trump had pledged to withdraw from Syria if elected, but the abrupt announcement on Wednesday to withdraw the roughly 2,000 U.
