President Donald Trump91裸聊视频檚 national security adviser said Sunday that the American military withdrawal from northeastern Syria is conditioned on defeating the remnants of the Islamic State group and on Turkey assuring the safety of U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters.
John Bolton said there is no timetable for the pullout, but insisted the military presence is not an unlimited commitment.
91裸聊视频淭here are objectives that we want to accomplish that condition the withdrawal,91裸聊视频� Bolton told reporters in Jerusalem before heading to Turkey on Monday, where he will be joined by the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford. 91裸聊视频淭he timetable flows from the policy decisions that we need to implement.91裸聊视频�
Those conditions, he said, included defeating what91裸聊视频檚 left of IS in Syria and protecting Kurdish militias who have fought alongside U.S. troops against the extremist group.
Bolton91裸聊视频檚 comments were the first public confirmation that the drawdown has been slowed. Trump had faced widespread criticism from allies about his decision, announced in mid-December, that he was pulling all 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria. Officials said at the time that although many details of the withdrawal had not yet been finalized, they expected American forces to be out by mid-January.
91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檙e pulling out of Syria,91裸聊视频� Trump said Sunday at the White House. 91裸聊视频淏ut we91裸聊视频檙e doing it and we won91裸聊视频檛 be finally pulled out until ISIS is gone.91裸聊视频�
Trump91裸聊视频檚 move, which led to the resignation of U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, has raised fears over clearing the way for a Turkish assault on the Kurdish fighters. Turkey considers the Syrian Kurdish People91裸聊视频檚 Protection Units, or YPG, a terrorist group linked to an insurgency within its own borders.
Bolton said the U.S. is insisting that its Kurdish allies in Syria are protected from any planned Turkish offensive 91裸聊视频� a warning he was expected to deliver to Turkey91裸聊视频檚 president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, this week.
91裸聊视频淲e don91裸聊视频檛 think the Turks ought to undertake military action that91裸聊视频檚 not fully co-ordinated with and agreed to by the United States,91裸聊视频� Bolton said. He said that in upcoming meetings with Turkish officials he will seek 91裸聊视频渢o find out what their objectives and capabilities are and that remains uncertain.91裸聊视频�
Trump has made clear that he would not allow Turkey to kill the Kurds, Bolton said. 91裸聊视频淭hat91裸聊视频檚 what the president said, the ones that fought with us.91裸聊视频�
Bolton said the U.S. has asked the Kurds to 91裸聊视频渟tand fast now91裸聊视频� and refrain from seeking protection from Russia or Syrian President Bashar al-Assad91裸聊视频檚 government. 91裸聊视频淚 think they know who their friends are,91裸聊视频� he added, speaking of the Kurds.
Jim Jeffrey, the special representative for Syrian engagement and the newly named American special envoy for the anti-Islamic State coalition, is to travel to Syria this coming week in an effort to reassure the Kurdish fighters that they are not being abandoned, Bolton said.
Turkey91裸聊视频檚 presidential spokesman called allegations that his country planned to attack the U.S.-allied Kurds in Syria 91裸聊视频渋rrational91裸聊视频� and said Turkey was fighting terrorism for national security.
In comments carried by the official Anadolu news agency, Ibrahim Kalin said the Kurdish fighters oppressed Syrian Kurds and pursued a separatist agenda under the guise of fighting IS. 91裸聊视频淭hat a terror organization cannot be allied with the U.S. is self-evident,91裸聊视频� he said.
U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, the incoming chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, told ABC91裸聊视频檚 91裸聊视频淭his Week91裸聊视频� that the conditions raised by Bolton were 91裸聊视频渙bvious,91裸聊视频� and Smith criticized the conflicting messages from the Trump administration.
91裸聊视频淲e don91裸聊视频檛 want ISIS to rise again and be a transnational terrorist threat and we don91裸聊视频檛 want our allies, the Kurds, to be slaughtered by Erdogan in Turkey,91裸聊视频� said Smith, D-Wash.
Our GREAT MILITARY has delivered justice for the heroes lost and wounded in the cowardly attack on the USS Cole. We have just killed the leader of that attack, Jamal al-Badawi. Our work against al Qaeda continues. We will never stop in our fight against Radical Islamic Terrorism!
91裸聊视频� Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
Bolton said U.S. troops would remain at the critical area of al-Tanf, in southern Syria, to counter growing Iranian activity in the region. He defended the legal basis for the deployment, saying it91裸聊视频檚 justified by the president91裸聊视频檚 constitutional authority.
The U.S. is also seeking a 91裸聊视频渟atisfactory disposition91裸聊视频� for roughly 800 IS prisoners held by the U.S.-backed Syrian opposition, Bolton said, adding talks were ongoing with European and regional partners about the issue.
Bolton was to have dinner with Israel91裸聊视频檚 prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Sunday to discuss the pace of the U.S. drawdown, American troop levels in the region, and the U.S. commitment to push back on Iranian regional expansionism.
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Bolton was expected to explain that some U.S. troops based in Syria to fight IS will shift to Iraq with the same mission and that the al-Tanf base would remain.
Bolton also was to convey the message that the United States is 91裸聊视频渧ery supportive91裸聊视频� of Israeli strikes against Iranian targets in Syria, according to a senior administration official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss Bolton91裸聊视频檚 plans before the meetings and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Bolton on Sunday also toured the ancient tunnels beneath the Western Wall in Jerusalem91裸聊视频檚 Old City. He watched a virtual reality tour of the historic site and dined there with his Israeli equivalent, as well as U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and Israel91裸聊视频檚 ambassador to the U.S., Ron Dermer.
Visiting American officials typically avoid holding official meetings in parts of east Jerusalem, which is contested between Israelis and Palestinians. Trump, however, also toured the area in a previous visit.
Israel annexed east Jerusalem after capturing it from Jordan in the 1967 war, a move not recognized by most of the international community. Palestinians seek east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.
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Associated Press writers Zeynep Bilginsoy in Istanbul and Catherine Lucey in Washington contributed to this report.
Zeke Miller, The Associated Press
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