The Pentagon has claimed that reports suggesting it may withdraw troops from the Middle Eastern country are \u201cerroneous\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The US Department of Defense has dismissed media reports suggesting that Washington may end its occupation of part of Syria, calling them \u201cerroneous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Responding to a query from Russia\u2019s RIA Novosti on Wednesday, a Pentagon spokesman denied reports this week by Foreign Policy magazine and Middle East news outlet Al-Monitor. Foreign Policy claimed on Wednesday that US government officials were having \u201cactive internal discussions\u201d regarding how and when to withdraw troops from Syria, while Al-Monitor reported on Monday that the Pentagon had proposed a plan for its Kurdish allies in Syria to partner with the Syrian government in their conflict with the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
US officials have repeatedly justified their deployment of about 900 troops in oil-rich areas of northeastern Syria, in violation of Damascus\u2019 sovereignty, as necessary to ensure the \u201cenduring defeat\u201d of IS. US lawmakers voted down a bill last year that called for an end to the illegal US presence, which has dragged on for nearly a decade and outlived Washington\u2019s failed regime-change campaign against Syrian President Bashar Assad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Foreign Policy magazine writer Charles Lister<\/a>, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, argued that US President Joe Biden\u2019s administration might give a \u201cgift on a golden platter\u201d to the resurgent IS if it pulls troops out of Syria. He said the administration was reconsidering its military priorities in the Middle East as the Israel-Hamas war ratchets up tensions in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The White House National Security Council convened a meeting earlier this month \u2013 at the Pentagon\u2019s request \u2013 with representatives of the CIA, the US State Department and \u201cother relevant stakeholders\u201d to discuss a plan to encourage the Kurds to collaborate with Damascus against IS, Al-Monitor said. The outlet cited unidentified people familiar with the deliberations and said they had declined to comment on whether the proposal would involve ending the US occupation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Pentagon official reportedly told CNN on Tuesday that Washington has \u201cabsolutely no intention\u201d of supporting a partnership between its Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) allies and the Syrian government. Amerin Zaman<\/a>, the T\u00fcrkiye-based correspondent who authored the Al-Monitor report, responded by insisting that a US interagency policy meeting on the plan was held on January 18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zaman reported that Turkish officials had input on the US proposal. Washington and Ankara, which are NATO allies, have clashed over US-SDF operations in Syria. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused the US of training and arming Kurdish \u201cterrorists\u201d in Syria. After US forces shot down a Turkish drone over Syria in October, he vowed to take \u201cnecessary action when the time comes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n