Report: U.S. to pull troops out of Syria

The United States is planning to withdraw all its remaining troops from Syria, a U.S. official said Wednesday, as President Donald Trump declared victory against Islamic State (ISIS) there. The report came from a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity. On Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence met with top military leaders at the Pentagon, and the president tweeted, “We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency.”

About 2,000 troops remain on the ground in Syria. Some Republican senators criticized the decision, saying withdrawing would open the door for a resurgence of ISIS and for Iran to increase its influence in the region. “The biggest winners in this are ISIS and Iran,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said. James Stavridis, a former Navy admiral who served as top NATO commander, tweeted Wednesday that “pulling troops out of Syria in an ongoing fight is a big mistake. Like walking away from a forest fire that is still smoldering underfoot.”