In Israel, Bolton says Syria withdrawal conditioned on defeating IS remnants

US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, says the country’s military withdrawal from northeastern Syria is conditioned on defeating the remnants of the Islamic State group, and on Turkey assuring the safety of Kurdish fighters allied with the United States.

Bolton, on a trip to Israel to reassure it of the Trump-ordered withdrawal, says there is no timetable for the pullout of American forces in northeastern Syria, but insists it’s not an unlimited commitment.

“There are objectives that we want to accomplish that condition the withdrawal,” Bolton tells reporters in Jerusalem. “The timetable flows from the policy decisions that we need to implement.”

Those conditions, he says, include the defeat of remnants of IS in Syria, and protection for Kurdish militias who have fought alongside US troops against the extremist group.

Bolton’s comments mark the first public confirmation that the drawdown has been slowed, as Trump faced widespread criticism from allies and the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis for a policy that was to have been conducted within weeks.

Trump announced in mid-December that the US will withdraw all of its 2,000 forces in Syria. Trump’s move has raised fears over clearing the way for a Turkish assault on Kurdish fighters in Syria who fought alongside American troops against IS extremists. Turkey considers the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, a terrorist group linked to an insurgency within its own borders.

— AP