The US has a few hundred troops in Syria. Some are in north-eastern Syria, working with the Syrian Democratic Forces in the struggle against ISIS. Others are further south at al-Tanf near the Syria-Iraq border, on the main road between Baghdad and Damascus.
Cooperation between the US and the precursors of the SDF against ISIS began in late 2014. The US was alarmed when ISIS captured large areas of Iraq, including the city of Mosul. Meanwhile the Kurdish YPG/YPJ and their Arab allies were fighting against ISIS in Syria. They began working together against ISIS, their common enemy. But Turkey was threatening to invade the areas of northern Syria controlled by the SDF. This threatened to disrupt the anti-ISIS campaign. To deter a Turkish invasion, the US stationed some troops in north-eastern Syria close to the Turkish border. Turkey invaded Afrin (where no US troops were stationed) in January 2018. Then in 2019 Trump ordered the removal of US troops from the Turkish border in north-eastern Syria, giving Turkey a green light for the invasion of a strip of land along the border. However, Trump kept a few troops in other parts of SDF-controlled north-eastern Syria. He also kept the base at al-Tanf, which is not part of the SDF-controlled area. Why does the US still have some troops in Syria? There is debate within the US ruling class about whether they play any useful role. Those who want to keep them there cite the continued need to fight ISIS, which still has a presence in eastern Syria. They also say that the troop presence gives the US leverage in future negotiations. They talk of the need to combat Iranian influence in Syria. Louis Proyect says that the US bases "support the Kurds who were helping Assad gain control of his country". In reality, Assad views the Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria as an obstacle to his total control of the territory of Syria. The Autonomous Administration has tried to manoeuvre between different forces to keep its autonomy. When the US withdrew its troops from the Turkish border, they invited Russian troops to replace them. The Russians promised to oppose the further expansion of the Turkish-controlled zone, but have been fairly ineffectual in doing do. Chris Slee ________________________________ From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Louis Proyect <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, 17 February 2021 7:20 AM To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [marxmail] Kneel and Starve: Under the Watchful Eye of the Secret Police, Syrians Go Hungry - Newlines Institute On 2/16/21 3:04 PM, Roger Kulp wrote: How many bases does the US have in their country anyway? Fifteen or so if I recall correctly. Yeah, and most of them to support the Kurds who were helping Assad gain control of his country. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#6459): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/6459 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/80630195/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
