Analysts warn that US President Donald Trump’s recent decision to pull US troops out of northeastern Syria, could play into the hands of major US adversaries including President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, Russia, Iran and the Islamic State. Dareen Khalifa of International Crisis Group said that with the move, Washington “threw away the last leverage it had” over adversaries in the region.
The US decision was slammed as a “stab in the back” by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US ally that was instrumental in defeating Islamic State in Syria earlier this year. Experts immediately said that Turkey was likely to take advantage of the US withdrawal by launching strikes on the SDF. Indeed, on Wednesday a Turkish official stated that Turkish troops would be advancing into northeastern Syria “shortly.”
Read more: Pulling of US Troops in Syria Could Aid Assad and ISIS
