The United States is considering a total withdrawal of US forces from Syria as it nears the end of its campaign to retake all of the territory once held by Islamic State, US officials told Reuters on Wednesday.
The decision would upend assumptions about a longer-term US military presence in Syria, which US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and other senior US officials had advocated to help ensure Islamic State cannot reemerge.
Planning is underway for a "full" and "rapid" withdrawal of the roughly 2,000 troops stationed in Syria, US officials told CNN Wednesday. The decision to withdraw was reportedly made by President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly expressed a desire to pull out of Syria.
We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2018
"I want to get out, I want to bring the troops back home," Trump said in August, adding that "our primary mission" of defeating ISIS is "almost completed."
US officials have, according to The Wall Street Journal, already began informing partners in northeastern Syria. US forces will remain in Iraq, where there are 5,000 US troops ready to launch strikes in Syria if necessary.