Stars and Stripes: It’s time to withdraw US forces from Syria

The US military’s official newspaper, Stars and Stripes reported in a recent analytical report that the contours of US policy toward Syria have begun to crystallize more clearly since the collapse of Assad’s regime.

The newspaper noted that US President Donald Trump, during his visit to Riyadh, surprised observers by announcing his intention to lift sanctions imposed on Syria.

This was followed by a rare meeting with interim Syrian President Ahmed al Sharaa, the first such meeting between leaders from the two countries in decades.

According to the newspaper, these steps could open the door to the possibility of normalizing relations between Washington and Damascus, especially in light of the continued gradual withdrawal of US forces from Syrian territory and the US reassessing its role in the Middle East.

According to the analysis, the United States began reducing its military presence in Syria last April, amid an internal debate about the feasibility of continuing this deployment.

Trump believed that lifting sanctions would give Syria a new opportunity to “become great,” arguing that keeping US forces in a country that was no longer a strategic priority could expose them to unnecessary risks, especially in light of regional tensions, such as the escalation following the Hamas attack in October 2023, in which US forces were subjected to more than 400 attacks.

The report added that the presence of US troops in areas where Russian and Iranian influence intersect, alongside regime forces and extremist factions, presents Washington with ongoing security challenges, reinforcing the rationale for a complete withdrawal to avoid a slide into a new military confrontation that the United States doesn’t want.

The report notes that some within Washington justify the continued US military presence by citing the need to prevent a resurgence of ISIS.

However, the newspaper says that most actors in the region—including the Syrian transitional government, Türkiye, Iraq, Jordan, the Kurds, and even Iran—don’t want the extremist group to return to the scene, despite its recent surge in attacks following the fall of Assad.

The report described Trump’s potential decision to lift sanctions as a “strategic investment in regional stability without a direct financial cost”.

With eliminating the former Syrian regime, the newspaper believes that US sanctions, imposed in response to crimes committed against the Syrian people, have become a burden that hinders the political transition process and exacerbates the suffering of the population, with more than 90% of Syrians living below the poverty line, and approximately 12 million suffering from food insecurity, in addition to the deterioration of infrastructure and basic services.

On the other hand, the newspaper doesn’t overlook the concerns surrounding the transitional government headed by Ahmed al Sharaa, a former commander in Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, whose team includes controversial figures from armed factions.

However, it believes that giving the economy a chance to recover and opening the door to foreign investment could create a more stable environment that would help reduce extremist influence and prevent the state from collapsing again.

The report concluded by emphasizing that Washington no longer desires to embark on costly military adventures, as occurred after the September 11 attacks, and that Trump’s speech in Riyadh reflected a shift in US doctrine based on promoting diplomatic solutions, as evidenced by the nuclear negotiations with Iran and attempts to de-escalate the situation in Yemen and Gaza.

It appears that withdrawing US forces from Syria would be a fundamental step in this new path, which focuses on the United States’ true strategic interests rather than engaging in endless conflicts.