The United States’ recent decision to completely withdraw troops from Syria and reduce troops in Afghanistan should not be regarded as a simple issue, although the absence of American military forces is considered a victory for the region, a lawmaker said.
US President Donald Trump declared last week that US military forces have succeeded in their mission and were no longer needed in Syria and ordered a total withdrawal of American troops.
Soon after the decision that baffled not only US allies but also American government officials and congressmen, he announced plans to bring home more than 5,000 of the 14,000 US troops in Afghanistan as well.
Mohammad Javad Jamali, a member of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, warned against naive optimism about the US policy, noting that “Americans would try other strategies once they fail to achieve their objectives through straightforward measures”.
In a recent interview with ICANA, he put forward a number of theories suggesting possible reasons behind Trump’s surprise decision.
“It seems that by exiting Syria and Afghanistan, Americans are seeking to strengthen Daesh [the self-styled Islamic State terror group] and other US-backed terrorist groups to bring chaos to the region,” he said.
This would provide them sufficient justification for their renewed and stronger presence in the region, helping them represent themselves to the world as “champions of fighting IS”, he explained.
It is also possible, according to Jamali, that Trump, whose tools of trade are chiefly economic, aims to intervene in the affairs of these countries in an indirect way by means of proxies.
“Certain neighboring countries or other forces in the region could possibly replace American military forces in Syria and Afghanistan,” he suggested.
Targeting Anti-Terror Alliance
In the case of Syria, Jamali said the US is certainly looking to increase the costs of establishing and maintaining peace for Iran and Russia that are major contributors to anti-terror efforts.
Moscow and Tehran have played a key role and invested substantially in the battle against IS.
Another possible goal for Trump, he added, is to spark dispute among Iran, Russia and Turkey, which act as guarantors of peace in Syria.
“In the absence of a shared enemy like the US, the odds of a falling out between the three states over Syria will go up,” Jamali said.
Iran, Russia and Turkey have launched a joint initiative to bring peace to the war-torn country.
Given these various theories, Jamali called for cautious policies by taking all possibilities into account so that the American military drawdown would be an “absolute victory” for the regional people.
