The 2011 U.S. Withdrawal from Iraq: Relevance for Syria Today ? THAN & NOW !

MESOPOTAMIA NEWS TODAYS RELEVANT  DEBATE : THE QUESTION NOW !

ISIS in Iraq and the U.S. “zone” in northeastern Syria is nearly destroyed, and President Trump has called for U.S. troops to pull out from Syria — a move which many administration officials, pundits and foreign leaders have voiced opposition to.One analogy made to analyze this policy decision — including by Secretary of Defense James Mattis — is to the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq in 2011, and the subsequent collapse of the country’s political system, followed by the rise of ISIS in the Sunni areas.

But is this comparison fair?

James Jeffrey, former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and Turkey, adds context to this comparison:

• “In considering the “Syria today” analogy, it is important to note that a post-2011 U.S. Iraq presence could not, as some imagined, have had the same impact on Iraqi internal governance and security as did 100,000 plus American combat troops 2003-9. Post 2011, troops would have been guests in a sovereign country with no combat role— yet however few, they could have helped cope with ISIS’s rise by signaling U.S. commitment.”
• “Any U.S. presence changes the calculations of other actors, hostile or friendly. Had a small U.S. force been accepted by Baghdad, Iraq would have been welcomed more by other Arab states fearing its vulnerability to Iran (and thus Iran’s brutal effort to block such a presence). Even ISIS might have opted for a more cautious assault on Iraq in 2014.”
• “But while ‘presence’ per se provides certain abstract political cards such as commitment and focus, to have a real role any U.S. military presence in—or air cover over—northeastern Syria after final defeat of ISIS must have specific military and political missions. This is doubly important because unlike in Iraq where the U.S. now is trying again to keep a residual military presence, the U.S. will never be “invited” to stay in Syria by the Assad regime.”

Read Amb. Jeffrey’s column.  READ ALL https://www.thecipherbrief.com/column/expert-view/2011-u-s-withdrawal-iraq-relevance-syria-today?utm_source=Join+the+Community+Subscribers&utm_campaign=e768f8610a-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_05_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_02cbee778d-e768f8610a-122492169&mc_cid=e768f8610a&mc_eid=7382055310