Trump's Syria Withdrawal Aided ISIS
Turkey’s military offensive in northern Syria following Donald Trump’s order for U.S. forces to pull back aided Islamic State and damaged ties with Kurdish-led militias, according to a new assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency.
The DIA assessment, part of a quarterly report disclosed Tuesday by the Pentagon’s inspector general, concluded that Islamic State “exploited the Turkish incursion and subsequent draw down of U.S. troops to reconstitute capabilities and resources within Syria and strengthen its ability to plan attacks abroad,” according to a summary.
Trump’s abrupt decision to begin withdrawing forces, following an early October phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, drew bipartisan criticism for abandoning Kurdish allies the U.S. has counted on to fight Islamic State and for giving an implicit approval of Turkey’s offensive into the region. Turkey views the Kurdish-led forces in Syria as terrorists.
U.S. commanders told the Pentagon inspector general that Islamic State continued last quarter “to solidify and expand its command and control structures ...
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-19/pentagon-spy-agency-finds-trump-s-syria-withdrawal-aided-isis?srnd=politics-vp
