Troop withdrawal: Why are US troops being withdrawn from Syria?

The White House on Sunday announced that it would be moving U.S. forces out of northern Syria, in effect, abandoning Kurdish fighters who helped them defeat the Islamic State caliphate there.

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The decision to withdraw the U.S. forces came after a phone call between President Donald Trump and Turkey's leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in which the White House said the U.S. would not interfere in a "long-planned" Turkish military operation.

U.S. troops began withdrawing from positions in northern Syria almost immediately, leaving open the path for a Turkish offensive against Kurdish fighters in the border area.

The Kurdish-led militia forces have been a U.S. ally in Syria in the defeat of the Islamic State group. Leaders of the Kurdish group said the move was a "stab in the back."

Here's a look at what led up to Sunday's decision.

What happened Sunday?

The United States announced it would pull troops that had been fighting with Kurdish militia against Islamic State forces on the border between Syria and Turkey.

Why are the troops being pulled?

According to a tweet by Trump, it was time "to get out of these ridiculous Endless Wars."

Why was the U.S. there anyway?

The U.S. began sending resources and working behind the scenes in Syria in 2011 to aid the rebels who were trying to overthrow the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

In June 2013, U.S. officials discover that Assad's forces used chemical weapons in several attacks against the rebels and civilians. On that news, President Barack Obama authorized direct support for the rebels, including weapons and training. As Assad's attacks escalated in the following years in Syria, so did the U.S. support for the rebels in the area.

By 2014, the Obama administration began surveillance missions on IS positions in Syria. By September 2014, the U.S., along with Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates began to attack Isis forces within Syria.

A series of IS attacks on Kurdish enclaves in northern Syria prompted the United States to step up its efforts in the fight against IS in Syria.

After two more years of IS attacks, the Kurds joined with Arab militias and the U.S.-led coalition to drive IS forces out of every major foothold they had in Syria.

The U.S. and the Kurds were allies. Turkey and the Kurds were not.

The attacks with an escalation of troops and other actions continued until December of 2018 when Trump ordered the withdrawal of the 2,000–2-2,500 American ground troops in Syria. The drawdown was to take place in a 90-day period and to be completed in 2019.

What is the relationship between Turkey and the Kurds?

In addition to backing Turkish rebels who are challenging the rule of Turkey's government, the Kurds, themselves have been fighting the government for decades.

In 1978, a Kurdish leader, Abdullah Ocalan, also known as Apo (Kurdish for "uncle"), helped found the Kurdistan Workers' Party. Known as PKK, the organization would soon rise to become a militant foe of a fractured Turkish government.

The PKK fought to establish an independent Kurdish state under Ocalan, who was widely believed to have ordered thousands killed.

The more than 40-year conflict has resulted in nearly 40,000 deaths.

Ocalan led the resistance against Turkey's government until 1999 when he was arrested and sentenced to death. Eventually, through four years of negotiations for a cease-fire with the PKK, the Turkish government commuted his sentence to life in prison.

A year later, in 2004, the PKK called off its cease-fire and resumed attacks. The conflict continued until March 2013 when Ocalan called a cease-fire and PKK guerrilla forces began to withdraw from Turkey.

But, as in the past, that cease-fire ended, and in July 2015 Ocalan would try again to negotiate an agreement for Kurds to receive autonomy within Turkey.

Why is Turkey going to launch an assault?

Despite the fact the U.S. has been trying for months to broker a new cease-fire between Turkey and the Kurds after the defeat of IS, Turkish leaders say they will launch an attack along its border with Syria to establish a "safe zone" that is free of Kurdish fighters.

Turkey accuses those Kurdish fighters, members of the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, of being in league with the PKK, the organization whose aim it was to overthrow the Turkish government.

Who is the SDF?

The SDF is a coalition of militias from different parts of the Middle East led by Syrian Kurdish fighters. The group came together specifically to fight and defeat the Islamic State. The organization was trained and back by the United States.

The SDF is militarily led by the Kurdish People's Protection Units or YPG. The YPG has strong ties to the PKK. Turkey believes that the YPG and the PKK are terrorists organizations.

What do the Kurd fighters with SDF say about the move?

The SDF says it has been "stabbed in the back" by the decision. It has vowed to defend north-eastern Syria "at all costs."

"The United States forces have not fulfilled their obligations and withdrew their forces from the border area with Turkey," the statement from SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali said. "This Turkish military operation in north and east Syria will have a big negative impact on our war against Daesh and will destroy all stability that was reached in the last few years." Daesh is a derogatory Arabic acronym for the Islamic State.

According to SDF leaders, a Turkish offensive along that border will create a "permanent warzone" and allow IS to grow into a power again.

The White House also said Turkey will take responsibility for captured IS militants. According to the BBC, the SDF is holding 12,000 men suspected of being connected to Isis, plus 70,000 women and children believed to be related to Isis fighters.

What is Trump saying about it?

Trump tweeted a warning on Monday, writing, "As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off-limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I've done before.)"

What have others said?

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, usually a strong supporter of the president said he feared, "This impulsive decision by the president has undone all the gains we've made — thrown the region into further chaos. Iran is licking their chops. And if I'm an ISIS fighter, I've got a second lease on life. So to those who think ISIS has been defeated, you will soon see."

Nikki Haley, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations tweeted, "We must always have the backs of our allies if we expect them to have our back. The Kurds were instrumental in our successful fight against ISIS in Syria. Leaving them to die is a big mistake."

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, tweeted, "If reports about US retreat in Syria are accurate, the Trump administration has made a grave mistake that will have implications far beyond Syria."

When will Turkey invade the area?

A U.S. official confirmed to The Washington Post that American troops left observation posts in the border villages of Tel Abyad and Ras al-Ayn at 6:30 a.m. Monday local time.

Cox Media Group