Small Wars Journal

Countries May Begin Backfilling U.S. Troops in Syria Within Weeks, Envoy Says

Fri, 06/28/2019 - 3:56pm

Countries May Begin Backfilling U.S. Troops in Syria Within Weeks, Envoy Says by Kevin Baron – Defense One

Several member states of the counter-ISIS coalition are expected to announce within weeks that they will backfill U.S. ground troops withdrawing from Syria, in what would be a major development for President Trump’s desire to limit American military involvement in the conflict. 

There’s something pending to look forward to. Very pending,” said Amb. Jim Jeffrey, top U.S. envoy to Syria and the counter-ISIS coalition, in an exclusive interview with Defense One on Friday. The envoy declined to reveal which countries he expected to provide the troops, leaving it to individual governments to make their own announcements. 

“I would say in the next weeks it is likely we would be more open” to announcements, he said, adding that  some countries may elect to participate “quietly, and that’s fine by us.”...

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