U.S. Leaves Syria After 12 Years Israeli-Lebanon Fragile Truce

Middle East

On Thursday April 16, the final US convoy rolled out of Qasrak Air Base in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province, ending a military presence that began in 2014 when US forces entered the country to fight ISIS alongside Kurdish fighters. Trucks carrying armoured vehicles and equipment headed overland through Jordan rather than Iraq, a routing chosen specifically to avoid Iranian-backed armed groups operating along the Iraqi corridor. What was interesting to see was the amount of fresh Turkish armoured vehicles and equipment being used in the transfer – symbolic of the regional geopolitical shift? You tell me.

Qasrak was the last domino. Before it, the US had already pulled out of al-Tanf near the Jordan-Iraq border, al-Shaddadi south of Hasakah, the al-Omar oilfield in Deir Az Zor, and Rmeilan near the Iraqi border. Syria's army 60th Division moved into Qasrak within hours of the Americans leaving.

The withdrawal follows a January deal between Damascus and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, who had been Washington's main partner on the ground for a decade. Under the agreement, Kurdish fighters are being folded into the Syrian national army and border crossings have transferred to Damascus's control. Syria also joined the international coalition against ISIS in November, which fundamentally removed the core justification for a US ground presence. This is why the 60th Division was moved into Qasrak, as they’re primarily made up of Kurdish fighters which were recently integrated. Around 1,000 troops were involved in the final drawdown. Some equipment was destroyed on site before departure, standard procedure to keep sensitive material out of other hands.

The ISIS threat hasn't gone away though. Sleeper cells continue staging attacks across Syria and Iraq, and how that gets managed without US boots on the ground remains the open question.

Lebanon-Israel

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