President-elect Donald Trump plans to withdraw U.S. troops from northern Syria rather than leaving them as “cannon fodder” if a military confrontation occurs between Turkey and Kurdish militants, according to his ally Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as reported by the Iranian news outlet PressTV.
In a live broadcast, Kennedy shared details of a conversation he had with Trump during a plane trip, in which the incoming President outlined his intentions regarding the situation in northern Syria.
“We were talking about the Middle East, and he took a piece of paper and drew on it a map of the Middle East with all the nations on it, which most Americans couldn’t do. He was particularly looking at the border between Syria and Turkey, and he said, ‘We have 500 men on the border of Syria and Turkey and a little encampment that was bombed,’” PressTV quoted Kennedy as saying in the broadcast.
Trump referenced the presence of US troops (750,000) and militants (250,000) in Turkey and Syria, respectively, and noted that if they were to clash, “we’re in the middle,” as he told Kennedy.
The “generals” warned Trump that if fighting broke out between Turkey and the Kurdish forces, US troops could become “cannon fodder.”
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In response, Trump reportedly ordered, “Get them out!” according to Kennedy’s account shared with PressTV. The US military has long maintained a presence in northeastern Syria, with the Pentagon justifying the deployment as a means to protect the region’s oilfields from capture by Daesh terrorists.
However, Syria has repeatedly accused the US of exploiting its natural resources. Trump himself has admitted on multiple occasions that the US presence in Syria is driven by the country’s oil wealth.
Turkey, for its part, has also deployed troops in Syria, further violating the Arab nation’s territorial integrity.
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