Muhannad al-Talla told BuzzFeed that the US troops, who had been training and fighting alongside Al-Tanf's militants, would withdraw from the base, specifying that he was helping to remove equipment. An anonymous US official confirmed the information, emphasizing that this move came as part of US President Donald Trump's decision to pull US troops out of Syria.
Trump announced this decision on 19 December, claiming that the Daesh terrorist group had been defeated, and since the US troops were present in Syria exclusively for the fight against Daesh, they now had no reason to remain there.
Comment: Everyone knows it wasn't the U.S. who defeated ISIS in Syria, but that doesn't matter. Trump has put his critics in an awkward position. To contradict him would mean praising Russia, Iran and Syria (the real forces responsible for ISIS's defeat) - and exposing the fact that the U.S. was NOT in Syria to defeat ISIS. They have to maintain the fiction that defeating ISIS was the U.S.'s primary objective - and that they succeeding to some degree in fulfilling it.
For years, Trump has been saying that the only reason to be in Syria is to defeat ISIS - because that is the only semi-legitimate reason for being there. He has constantly been contradicted by military officers and cabinet members.
His critics can't see it, but this decision shows that Trump actually has some integrity.
While concerns that the withdrawal of the US troops would jeopardize the security situation in the region have been voiced, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, believes that the US military presence in Syria does not contribute to a political and diplomatic settlement of the crisis.
On December 5, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the Russian General Staff, said that Russia had suggested to the United States to eliminate the military base in Al-Tanf and to establish joint Russian-US control over the zone instead. According to Gerasimov, Washington has not provided an answer. The general also stressed that the United States justified its presence in Al-Tanf by the necessity to counter Iran, which it alleges is transporting weapons and military equipment to Syria.
Comment: Meanwhile, a desperate Lindsey Graham is doing everything he can to keep Americans in Syria for no good reason. Graham is fine starting wars without Congressional approval, but leaving wars? That's another matter entirely.