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Trump wants US troops out of northern Syria, says ally

Thursday, 07 November 2024 2:09 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 07 November 2024 2:09 PM ]

In this file picture, US soldiers patrol the countryside of the oil-rich town of Rumeilan in Hasakah province, northeastern Syria. (Photo by AFP)

President-elect Donald Trump wants to withdraw US troops from northern Syria rather than leave them as “cannon fodder” if fighting breaks out between Turkey and Kurdish militants, his ally Robert F Kennedy Jr has said.

Kennedy, who is expected to play a major role in the new US government, said during a live broadcast that Trump had expressed his intentions for northern Syria during a plane journey.

“We were talking about the Middle East, and he took a piece of paper and drew on it a map of the Middle East with all the nations on it, which most Americans couldn't do.

“He was he was particularly looking at the border between Syria and Turkey, and he said, 'We have 500 men on the border of Syria and Turkey and a little encampment that was bombed,’” Kennedy said.

Trump had told him there were 750,000 troops in Turkey and 250,000 militants in Syria. "If they go up against each other, we're in the middle," Trump told him, according to Kennedy.

Trump was told by the "generals" that the US troops would be "cannon fodder" if Turkey and the Kurdish forces came to blows. "And he said, 'Get them out!'" Kennedy said.

Trump was re-elected president on Wednesday after easily beating his rival Kamala Harris.

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The Pentagon has announced that as many as eight American forces suffered traumatic brain injury (TBI) during a recent attack on their base in northeastern Syria.

The US military has for long stationed its forces and equipment in northeastern Syria, with the Pentagon claiming that the deployment is aimed at preventing the oilfields in the area from falling into the hands of Daesh terrorists.

Damascus maintains the deployment is meant to plunder the country’s natural resources. Trump admitted on several occasions that American forces were in the Arab country for its oil wealth.

Turkey has also deployed forces in Syria in violation of the Arab country's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Ankara views US-backed YPG Kurdish militants as a terrorist organization tied to the homegrown Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been seeking an autonomous region in Turkey since 1984.

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