After U.S. Troops Leave Syria, What Happens Next?
The limited U.S. force has had a large impact on Syria's war, beating back ISIS and bringing relative calm to one corner of the country. President Trump's critics fear those gains could be lost.
A limited U.S. military role in Syria has had an outsize impact over the past four years.
With airstrikes and ground forces, the Americans and their Kurdish partners systematically pushed the Islamic State from almost all its territory. The U.S. helped stabilize the northeast region of the country, where civilians are returning to areas now controlled by the Kurds. While the larger war grinds on, with no end in sight, the American presence is seen as placing at least some restraints on the Syrian military.
But President Trump says
