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US military starts drawing down mission in Iraq, officials say
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Wednesday that the U.S. will scale back its military presence, reflecting “our combined success in fighting ISIS.”
US military struggles to find a strategy amid sudden policy changes in CENTCOM region
The future of the five-year fight against Islamic State militants is unclear, along with the entire strategy underpinning the U.S. troop presence in the U.S. Central Command region.
US military convoy withdrawing from Syria pelted with garbage by angry residents
Departing U.S. troops from Syria just cross the border into Iraq Monday.
By Shawn Snow
There was nothing fast or loose about US support for the Kurds
There was good reason for the U.S. to end its partnership with the Kurds in a more deliberate manner, says the author of this commentary.
By Andrew Milburn
Pentagon chief says American troops leaving Syria will conduct anti-ISIS operations from Iraq
While President Donald Trump insists he’s bringing home Americans from “endless wars” in the Mideast, his Pentagon chief says all U.S. troops leaving Syria will go to western Iraq and the American military will continue operations against the Islamic State group.
By Lolita C. Baldor, The Associated Press
Loss of US intelligence collection from Syria withdrawal threatens fight against ISIS
“Insurgencies are very much like mushrooms in that regard, they grow and proliferate in darkness,” said a former U.S. defense official.
By Shawn Snow
'ISIS will be back.’ Lawmakers voice Syria fears to Pentagon chiefs
House and Senate lawmakers on Thursday left Pentagon briefings on the crisis in Syria frustrated with the tangle of problems that came with President Donald Trump’s decision to pull troops from Syria and voicing new fears the Islamic State will regroup to wage terror.
By Joe Gould
What it means for American bases in Syria to be occupied by Syrian and Russian forces
As U.S. forces make a grab for the exit in a hurry, reports and video coming in suggest U.S. troops are dumping equipment and leaving bases in tact while stripping sensitive items.
By Shawn Snow
Trump says US troops are ‘totally safe’ amid growing chaos in Syria
The commander in chief said regional fighting there is not America's problem or responsibility.
US special operations secrets could fall into hands of Russians and Syrians in pullout
A former U.S. military intelligence operator who spent years working with special operations forces told Military Times that the potential spillover of sensitive tradecraft or information by the SDF was “super problematic," but also a symptom of the lack of a genuine strategy in the region.
By Shawn Snow
Russian and Syrian troops fill void as US pulls troops out of Syria
With the U.S. out of the picture, the stage is set for a potential bloody conflict between the major players in Syria’s civil war that has raged since 2011.
By Shawn Snow