US President Donald Trump on October 12 told the US media that he is an “island of one” for removing US forces from northeastern Syria. The move follows Trump's earlier statement on removing troops from the Middle East. This has brought upon widespread bipartisan criticism which states that he has endangered stability in the Middle East and risked the lives of Syrian Kurdish allies who helped the US bring down the Islamic State group in Syria. Yet Trump remains steadfast and defended his decision irrespective of everything. Turkey, on the other hand, considers the Kurdish forces as no less than terrorists and has recently launched military advancements against them. Trump earlier said that the US cannot fight endless wars, referring to US troops in the Middle East. 

“We have to bring our great heroes, our great soldiers, we have to bring them home. It’s time. It’s time,” Trump said at the Values Voter Summit.

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Trump advocates his decision

According to reports, after signing executive orders on the federal regulation at the White House, Trump released the statement that Kurds did not support and fight for the country in the Second World War. The statement used Normandy as an example. Trump referred to a “very, very powerful article”, published by conservative opinion writer Kurt Schlichter, on how the Kurds did not help the US in Normandy, supporting his action. He also added that the United States have spent an enormous amount of money helping the Kurds over the years, but the fact that though they are fighting with the US that they are still fighting for their own land, bothers him. For over five consecutive years, the United States military has been backing Kurds against the Islamic State, losing more than 11,000 Kurdish fighters.

Trump also added that if one looked at how much money the US has spent on NATO and how European countries were a bigger beneficiary of the results than the US. At the annual gathering of social conservative activists, he portrayed the Middle East as a hopeless cause, despite years of American military involvement and financial investment.

“It’s less safe now. It’s less secure, less stable and they fight,” he said. “That’s what they do. They fight.”

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Effects of removing US troops

Amongst his announcements, Trump said that he had directed $50 million in emergency aid for Syria to support Christians and other religious minorities there. Turkey launched an offensive into northeastern Syria against the US-backed Syrian Defense Forces (SDF), a Kurdish force that controls the region, after the US troops backed off. The Turkish offensive came just days after the call between President Trump and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after which Trump tweeted that US troops would withdraw from the region. On the other hand, critics said Turkey's current offensive could enable an ISIS resurgence and it raised fears that some of the thousand ISIS fighters captivated by the Kurdish forces might escape. 

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(With inputs from AP)