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Near collapse of U.S.’s Kurdish allies after fighting government forces has led Pentagon to question the benefits of stationing troops in Syria

Washington is considering a complete withdrawal of American troops from Syria, U.S. officials said, as Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa moved to wrest control of the northeastern part of the country from an American-backed Kurdish-led militia.

The move would end a decadelong American operation in Syria, which began in 2014 when former President Barack Obama intervened in the country’s civil war. It would come as Sharaa’s government has ordered the U.S. military’s longtime partner in the region, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, to disband after a lightning offensive over the weekend that led the militia group to all but collapse.

The U.S. has considered a drawdown in Syria before. In December 2018, President Trump abruptly announced a full pullout of roughly 2,000 U.S. troops, leading to the resignation of then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. Then-National Security Adviser John Bolton and other top aides managed to soft-pedal the decision, leaving a residual force in the country.

Roughly 1,000 American troops are in Syria, most scattered across facilities in the northeast, where they are co-located with the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF. A handful of the troops are stationed at Al Tanf Garrison in Syria’s south. The military’s primary mission is to prevent the resurgence of Islamic State, and the soldiers frequently conduct patrols and operations with the SDF. Up until last weekend’s offensive, SDF forces, which helped the U.S. defeat the ISIS caliphate in 2019, were responsible for guarding roughly 9,000 ISIS prisoners in detention facilities across the northeast.

The Pentagon declined to comment. The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The head-spinning events of the last week have led the Pentagon to question the viability of the American military’s mission in Syria after the SDF’s defeat, according to three U.S. officials.

Syrian forces took from the SDF a military base, oil facilities and a dam on the Euphrates River, weakening the Kurdish group’s negotiating hand over the future of its thousands of fighters. As part of the resulting cease-fire, the SDF handed over control of the cities of Raqqa and Deir Ezzour, and Sharaa’s government took over key border crossings and oil installations in northeast Syria.

Much of the assault’s success was the result of Arab tribal forces, who were once loyal to the SDF, switching sides to back the government, WSJ previously reported. The SDF still controls the cities Kobani and Hasakah, where there are large Kurdish populations, and where the militia group could dig in rather than disband.

If the SDF fully disbands, the U.S. officials see no reason for the American military to stay in Syria. One factor is the difficulties posed by working with Sharaa’s army. The force is riddled with jihadist sympathizers, including soldiers with ties to al Qaeda and ISIS and others who have been involved in alleged war crimes against the Kurds and Druze, two of the officials said.

The challenge was laid bare in December, when two U.S. soldiers and an American civilian interpreter were killed during an attack near the city of Palmyra. The attacker was a member of the Syrian security forces who was set to be fired for holding extremist views, WSJ reported.

Sharaa’s forces already have come dangerously close to U.S. troops during the operation against the Kurds. U.S. forces shot down at least one Syrian government drone near a facility where American troops are stationed, according to two of the U.S. officials. In that same 24-hour period, Sharaa’s forces attacked the SDF barracks at the base, one of the two officials said.

Another issue weighing into a potential withdrawal decision is the status of the thousands of ISIS prisoners in northeast Syria. On Wednesday, the U.S. began moving 7,000 out of a total 9,000 detainees to Iraq, according to one of the U.S. officials, amid growing concern that the former fighters and their family members could escape as Syrian government forces move to take over the installations. Last week, 200 prisoners escaped from Syria’s Shaddadi prison after SDF forces left their positions, but were recaptured by Sharaa’s forces as they took over the installation, the official said.

The movement of ISIS prisoners out of the country eliminates one reason for U.S. troops to stay, said Charles Lister, director of the Syria program at the Middle East Institute. “Frankly, the main thing that has been holding the U.S. force presence in Syria over the last year is the detention facilities and the camps,” Lister said. “We should be asking ourselves the question of the sustainability of the U.S. troop presence in Syria.”

But Lister argued that the U.S. military’s primary purpose in Syria is to defeat ISIS, which is still a significant threat in the country. There were 348 ISIS attacks in Syria last year alone, and 13 foiled mass-casualty attacks in government-held areas, he said.

For his part, Trump has made no secret of his admiration of Sharaa, who he invited to the White House in a historic visit last year.

“He is working very hard, the president of Syria,” Trump said Tuesday, defending Sharaa’s attempts to secure the prisons.

“I like the Kurds,” Trump said. “But just so you understand, the Kurds were paid tremendous amounts of money, given oil and other things, so they were doing it for themselves more than they were doing this for us. But we got along with the Kurds and we are trying to protect the Kurds.”