As the United States begins its troop drawdown/withdrawal from Syria, they have also informed the Syrian regime, through a mid-level US official during diplomatic meetings in Brussels.
The conditions are designed to test the intentions of President Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the self-appointed leader of Syria since the overthrow of the Bashar al-Assad government in December 2024. US officials are still very cautious about trusting his regime due to the injustices and attacks that have been carried out by government forces on minorities since he took power.
A US official, who maintained his anonymity, stated – “We’re looking at Iran not coming back and Daesh not coming back, as the crucial interest of the American people there.”
The US Demands
The US has put the following 8 demands forward to the Syrian regime
- Allow US counterterrorism operations inside Syria
- Publicly banning all Palestinian groups and political activities
- Deporting members of those groups to ease Israel’s security concerns
- Declaring formal support for Operation Inherent Resolve
- Removing foreign members considered terrorists by the US from government positions
- Demonstrating inclusion of Syria’s ethnic and religious minorities
- Renouncing all ties with remnants of al Qaeda (AQ)
- Issuing a constitutional framework aligned with international norms
Interestingly, many of these demands are very similar to the demands that were presented to Afghanistan in the Doha Accords, which were completely violated. Also, it is very interesting that while al Qaeda is directly named for renunciation, the same isn’t true for the Islamic State (Daesh/ISIS), who has not been named in the conditions.
US Troop Withdrawal
Even though the US does not plan to completely withdraw all troops from Syria, US Defence Department officials confirmed that steps are being taken to reduce and consolidate the current US deployment. Senior DoD officials have suggested that the military is considering closing three of the eight small operating bases and reducing troop levels from 2,000 to 1,400.
The same DoD officials confirmed that movement was already in progress, but no public announcement would be made until the Iran nuclear talks conclude. In his opinion, the US troops will be moved to one small location in the northeast.
The US troop withdrawal has raised concerns in neighboring countries, due to the over 9,000 ISIS fighters and 40,000 family members in northeast camps managed by the SDF terrorist group.
Regional Allies Concerns
US allies in Europe and the Middle East are divided over how to engage with the Jolani led regime. Some see it as an opportunity for regional stability, others are wary of legitimizing the new regime too quickly. This seems very odd with the over-active interactions of the European Union to help providing funding to the Jolani-led regime, even with its links to al Qaeda.
