Donald Trump must reverse his plan to withdraw US troops from Syria given the looming US military action against Damascus and the escalation of tensions with Russia.
Syria is fast becoming an ugly proxy war for between the US and the west against Syria’s allies Russia and Iran.
The threats by Russia to shoot down American missiles fired at Syria and Trump’s response that those missiles ”will be coming” regardless, has heightened tensions between Washington and Moscow to levels not seen since the Cold War.
While actual military conflict between the two nations remains unlikely, the chances of a miscalculation or a major incident, especially if US missiles kill Russian troops in Syria, are too high for comfort.
Trump’s planned withdrawal of the 2000 US troops in Syria in the coming months would send the wrong message at the wrong time to both Russia and Iran that they can extend their tentacles around that broken nation with impunity.
The Trump administration’s policy towards Syria is confused and conflicted. Trump’s gut instinct is to withdraw US troops because the Islamic State terror group is all but defeated on the battlefield and he has long promised to bring troops home from distant conflicts at the first opportunity.
But Defence secretary James Mattis has opposed the move behind closed doors, arguing that continued US troop presence sends a message to Russia and Iran while also guaranteeing that ISIS does not re-establish itself in that country.
Those US troops are in Syria to combat ISIS and would not become involved in the broader Syrian conflict against the Assad regime.
The planned missile strike against the Syrian government forces of dictator Bashar al-Assad in response to his cruel chemical weapons strike on civilians in eastern Damascus will send a strong message that there is a price to pay for such behavior.
But a stronger message would be the continued presence of US troops on the ground in the country that Assad wants to reclaim as his own with the help of his nefarious partners Iran and Russia. Trump needs to listen to his Defence minister and reverse his position.
Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia
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