Official:

US withdrawal from Syria outcome of government, public steadfastness

A senior official in Damascus has attributed a recent decision by the United States to withdraw its military forces from Syria to the resistance and steadfastness that the Syrian nation and government have demonstrated throughout the foreign-sponsored militancy in the Arab country.

News ID: 442560

Date: 21 December 2018 - 23:54

RNA - “Washington’s decision to pull out its troops from Syria was not the result of a deal or negotiations between Syria and the United States or Europe; but rather it was because of the steadfastness of the Syrian people and government,” Secretary of the Syrian People's Assembly Khaled al-Abboud told the Arabic service of Russia’sSputnik news agency.

He added that the Damascus government’s perseverance and its ability to forge regional and international alliances, sacrifices made by people from all walks of society and the wise leadership of President Bashar al-Assad had all helped thwart the fiendish plots against Syria.

Abboud went on to say that Syria was now the key to stability in the Middle East region.

“The United States has suffered a major defeat at the regional level, particularly with regards to Syria. This is why it has started to change its stances realistically and objectively by means of regional tools,” the top Syrian official pointed out.

“The United States could not invest in the tools of chaos, and they all failed. It could not also come up with appropriate mechanisms to influence the decisions of the Syrian government and its allies,” Abboud concluded.

‘US withdrawal from Syria victory for Syrian people’

Meanwhile, French lawmaker Thierry Mariani has termed President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw all 2,000 US troops from Syria a victory for the Syrian people, army and their allies, including Russia and Iran.

My statement supporting decision by @realDonaldTrumpto withdraw US troops from Syria. It was wrong when the Obama Administration took part in unauthorized war actions in Syria without a strategy. It was wrong for the Trump Administration to continue it. https://t.co/K8zONxPKnw
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) December 19, 2018

Mariani said that it was still too early to talk about the consequences of the US measure, noting that the situation of the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib, which serves as the last militant stronghold in the crisis-hit Arab country, remained unresolved – for which a peaceful solution was highly needed.

‘US pullout from Syria complete fiasco for Turkey, Israel, allied militants’

Separately, Arab political analysts have described Washington's decision to withdraw its troops from Syria as a complete fiasco for Turkey, Israel and US-sponsored militants.

The pundits stressed that Washington’s withdrawal would pull the plug on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s expansionist policies in the Kurdish-populated areas of northern Syria and would force the Ankara government to cease its military operations there.

The pullout of American troops from the Syrian soil will also be a headache for the Tel Aviv regime as Israeli military officials tend to coordinate their aerial and ground offensives in Syria with their US counterparts.

This file picture shows US troops in an undisclosed location in Syria. (Photo by AP)

Last but not least, US-backed and anti-Damascus militant groups will have no bargaining chip during the forthcoming intra-Syrian peace talks.

On Wednesday, Trump declared that the US had defeated Daesh in Syria, adding that the Takfiri terrorist group was the only reason that American troops were fighting in the war-ravaged Arab country during his presidency.

The announcement caught America's Kurdish allies by surprise. When I was in Syria last month, I kept asking SDF officials what they planned to do when the US left. The answer was almost always something like: what makes you think they are going to leave? https://t.co/tkYVHKBDO4
— Richard Hall (@_RichardHall) December 20, 2018

US officials said many details of the troop withdrawal were yet to be finalized, but emphasized that American forces would be back home by mid-January.

The US and a number of its allies have been conducting airstrikes against what are said to be Daesh targets inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from the Damascus government or a UN mandate.

The US-led military alliance has repeatedly been accused of targeting and killing civilians. It has also been largely incapable of achieving its declared goal of destroying Daesh.

Get this, Trump's #Syria Withdrawal Decision in coordination with #Turkey came few Hours after $3.5 Billion US Patriot Missiles Deal with Ankara.

Many elements at play here, all point to thaw between Trump & Erdogan. https://t.co/qGws7Vauaa
— Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) December 19, 2018

In 2015, US ground troops were deployed to Syria to fight Daesh and train Takfiri militant outfits.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. The Syrian government says the Israeli regime and its Western and regional allies are aiding Takfiri terrorist groups wreaking havoc in the country.

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