WASHINGTON: BrettMcGurk, the US special envoy to the anti-Islamic State group coalition, hasresigned, a State Department official said Saturday, capping a chaotic weekthat saw the departure of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Donald Trump'sstunning decision to pull troops from Syria. McGurk's resignation, effectiveDecember 31, comes on the heels of Mattis's decision to quit the Trumpadministration over key disagreements with the US president, notably the Syriawithdrawal. Just last week McGurk, a Barack Obama appointee whom Trump kept on,said "nobody is declaring a mission accomplished" in the battleagainst IS-just days before the president blindsided politicians and allies withhis announcement of victory against the jihadist movement.
Trump on Saturdaysaid that the jihadist group "is largely defeated." "When Ibecame President, ISIS was going wild," the president tweeted. "NowISIS is largely defeated and other local countries, including Turkey, should beable to easily take care of whatever remains. We're coming home!" Trumplater took aim at McGurk on Twitter, referring to him as a"grandstander" who was quitting just before his time was up. McGurk,45, was set to leave his position in February, but reportedly felt he could nolonger continue in the job after Trump's declaration and on Friday eveninginformed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of his intention to wrap up at year'send.
His conclusionmirrored that of Mattis, who was seen as a voice of moderation in the mercurialTrump White House and quit after telling the president he could not go alongwith the Syria decision. McGurk has served as the US envoy to the GlobalCoalition to Defeat ISIS, an acronym for the jihadist group, since 2015. Healso served as the deputy assistant secretary of state for Iraq and Iran, andworked under Republican George W Bush as a senior official on Iraq andAfghanistan. Discussing the US role in Syria this month, he had toldjournalists that "it would be reckless if we were just to say, 'Well, thephysical caliphate is defeated, so we can just leave now.'" "I thinkanyone who's looked at a conflict like this would agree with that."
'Completereversal of policy'
McGurk calledTrump's move to leave Syria "a shock" and "a complete reversalof policy that was articulated to us," in an email announcing his decisionto colleagues that was obtained by The New York Times. "It left ourcoalition partners confused and our fighting partners bewildered," hesaid, according to the newspaper.
"I workedthis week to help manage some of the fallout but-as many of you heard in mymeetings and phone calls-I ultimately concluded that I could not carry outthese new instructions and maintain my integrity." Just after announcinghis Syria decision, Trump again confounded international partners with plans toslash troop numbers in Afghanistan. The momentous reversal of years of USforeign policy will leave the war-torn regions at risk of continued andpotentially heightened bloodshed. In typical fashion, Trump said Saturday thatthe media was treating him unfairly over the Syria withdrawal decision.
"If anybodybut your favorite President, Donald J. Trump, announced that, after decimatingISIS in Syria, we were going to bring our troops back home (happy &healthy), that person would be the most popular hero in America," hetweeted. "With me, hit hard instead by the Fake News Media. Crazy!"The troop pullout will leave thousands of Kurdish fighters-which the Pentagonspent years training and arming against IS-vulnerable to Turkish attack. OnSaturday, a senior Kurdish official called on the United States to prevent apotential Turkish offensive against areas in northern Syria inhabited by Kurds,calling it America's "duty to prevent any attack and to put an end toTurkish threats."
The US has foryears supported the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the fightagainst IS in Syria. Aldar Khalil, a key player in establishing Syria'ssemi-autonomous Kurdish region in 2013, said the US and its partners "musthonor their commitments." Heavyweight adviser Mattis-a decorated Marinegeneral who was often referred to as "the last adult in theroom"-made clear in his resignation letter that pulling out of Syria crossedthe line. The departures of Mattis and now McGurk follow those of nationalsecurity advisor HR McMaster and White House chief of staff John Kelly-leavingTrump, who has no political, diplomatic or military experience, increasinglyalone.
Israeli concerns
Meanwhile,Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought yesterday to calm domesticconcerns over US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from Syria,saying his country will still act against Iran there. Netanyahu will alsoreportedly meet US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo when he travels to Brazil forthe January 1 inauguration of new president Jair Bolsonaro. The primeminister's office has not confirmed the meeting reported by Israeli media.Trump last week said the Islamic State group had been defeated and he waswithdrawing the United States' 2,000 troops from Syria. Israel has seen the USpresence in neighboring Syria as a bulwark against its main enemy Iran and acounterweight to Russia.
Both Russia andIran support Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad's regime in the country's civilwar. "The decision to remove the 2,000 US soldiers from Syria won't changeour consistent policy," Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting."We will continue to act against Iran's attempt to establish a militarypresence in Syria, and if the need arises, we will even expand our activitiesthere." He added that he wanted to "calm those concerned"."Our cooperation with the United States continues full-force, and takes placein many fields-the operational field, the intelligence field, and many othersecurity fields."
Separately,Israel's military chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot told a conference yesterday thatthe US decision was "a significant event but it should not beoverstated". "For decades we've been handling this front alone,"Eisenkot said. Trump's decision to withdraw from Syria-as well as reduce forcesin Afghanistan-led US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to quit in disagreement. -Agencies