MESOPOTAMIA NEWS :  U.S. won’t send more troops to northern Syria for joint Turkish patrols

BAGHDAD,— 14 Sept 2019 – MESOP  – The U.S. military will not increase troop levels in Syria to carry out joint patrols with Turkish forces, a top general said on Friday, adding that his goal was to eventually reduce the number of U.S. forces in the country.

U.S. troop levels in Syria, which number around 1,000, have been under intense scrutiny since President Donald Trump last year ordered their complete withdrawal – only to later be convinced to leave some forces behind to ensure that Islamic State militants cannot stage a comeback.

In March 2019 U.S. President Donald Trump agreed “100%” with keeping a military presence in Syria. U.S. said in February to leave some 400 U.S. troops in Syria over the longer run. 200 troops to remain in the Syrian Kurdistan in the Kurdish northeast as part of a multinational force and 200 to remain at an outpost in al-Tanf in southern Syria.

The New York Times reported on Thursday that the Pentagon was preparing to send about 150 troops to conduct ground patrols with Turkish forces.But Marine General Kenneth McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said the new mission would not require additional forces in the country.

“We’re not going to increase our footprint on the ground in order to conduct those patrols,” McKenzie said during a trip to Baghdad, while acknowledging that troop levels can fluctuate as forces rotate into and out of Syria.

“We’re going to do patrolling with the Turks (and) we’ll manage that within the current number while actively seeking opportunities to get smaller over time.”

Turkey wants to clear its border of Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which it labels as a terrorist organization. But the YPG has been a main U.S. ally in the fight against Islamic State in Syria, infuriating Turkey and straining ties with Washington.

The Kurdish PYD party and its powerful military wing YPG/YPJ, considered the most effective fighting force against IS in Syria and U.S. has provided them with arms.The Kurdish forces expelled the Islamic State from its last patch of territory in the eastern Syrian village of Baghouz in March 2019.

As a way to address Turkish concerns, the United States has started carrying out the joint patrols with Ankara, with the first land patrol on Sunday and the fourth joint overflight of the area on Thursday.

But, at least so far, the joint patrols appear to have failed to satisfy demands from Ankara, which wants the operations to expand rapidly as far as 20 miles (32 km) from its border to create a safe zone controlled by Turkish troops.On Tuesday, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused Washington of stalling and taking only “cosmetic steps.”