How Trump’s announcement of a withdrawal reverberated across Syria
When President Trump turned to Twitter to announce the imminent withdrawal of American troops from Syria, he triggered the resignation of two top United States defense officials and surprised foreign allies and adversaries alike.
For many Syrian opposition fighters who had allied themselves with the US forces on the ground, the reaction was both swift, and emotional.
“People are petrified,” says one Syrian Arab rebel, who has been fighting with the Americans against the Islamic State (ISIS) near al-Tanf, a strategic crossroads in southeastern Syria.
“How is the United States dropping us like that?” asks the rebel, a local tribal leader who prefers to remain anonymous. “We stood with them, and we were basically under their protection. Now we are at the mercy of the regime and the Russians.”
For Kurds in
‘Syrians don’t want the regime’Kurds’ focus is on TurkeyResurgent ISIS
