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US has no intention of withdrawing troops from Syria: Pundit

Friday, 04 January 2019 1:56 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 04 January 2019 3:28 PM ]

A picture taken on December 30, 2018, shows a line of US military vehicles in Syria's northern city of Manbij. (Photo by AFP)

The United States has no intention of withdrawing its troops from Syria, says an academic, adding that such a move would be a clear acknowledgment of the failure of its strategy in the Middle East.

“I never believed his [US President Donald Trump’s] sincerity that he will withdraw his troops from Syria. Actually I saw this as a sign of redeployment, as a first step towards escalating the situation in Syria but he wanted to disengage his troops from ground in order for them not to be sitting ducks for military operations against them,” Jamal Wakim, professor at Lebanese International University told Press TV in an interview on Friday.

“So that’s why I believe that withdrawing the troops was a first step towards military escalation and we will see further escalation in the region because it is impossible for the United States to withdraw from Syria because this would be a clear acknowledgment of the failure of its strategy in the Middle East and the failure of imposing its influence in the region,” he added.

The comments came after the US military increased its airstrikes in eastern Syria despite Trump’s decision to withdraw American troops from the Arab country.

Trump announced his decision to withdraw the US troops from Syria on December 19, asserting that Daesh had been defeated.

Trump’s unexpected announcement shocked top US officials and allies.

The announcement of the US troop withdrawal was followed by the resignation of Defense Secretary James Mattis and Brett McGurk, the US special envoy to the so-called anti-Daesh coalition in Syria and Iraq.

The US deployed troops and equipment to Syria in 2014 as part of what it claims to be the coalition to defeat Daesh (ISIL) terrorists, who are widely reported to be financed by Saudi Arabia and partially trained and protected by American forces in Syria to support the terror campaign against the Syrian government and ordinary citizens.