Latest news with #USTroopWithdrawal
Russia Today
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Germany asking US for Europe troop withdrawal ‘roadmap'
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has repeatedly asked US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to provide a 'roadmap' for US troop withdrawal from Europe, Financial Times has said, citing three anonymous sources 'briefed on their discussions.' Since taking office in January, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly accused European NATO members of failing to equitably share the burden of defense spending. His administration has also suggested the US could reduce its military footprint on the continent in the coming years, as its geopolitical focus increasingly shifts toward the Asia-Pacific region. In a piece on Monday, FT reported that ahead of a NATO summit in The Hague slated for June 24, European leaders have been preoccupied with Washington's troop drawdown plans. The fact that the US has yet to provide details has contributed to the concerns, the publication reported, citing unnamed sources. According to the outlet, in recent months Pistorius 'has pushed Hegseth, his US counterpart, to provide a 'road map' for a US pullback from Europe.' FT quoted an anonymous senior German official as explaining that 'we all have trauma from Afghanistan,' referring to the botched withdrawal of US troops there in 2021. Germany's attempts have, however, reportedly come in for criticism from other members of NATO, supposedly wary that Berlin might unwittingly boost Trump's case for a withdrawal of US forces. Another source cited by the publication described the somewhat schizophrenic dilemma faced by European leaders as follows: 'Engage with the Americans like hell to keep them as close as possible, while at the same time preparing as fast as we can for them to walk away.' Giuseppe Spatafora, an analyst at the EU Institute for Security Studies, told FT that 'European allies in Nato may fear that they could set in motion the very outcome they seek to avoid.' The piece quoted an unnamed French diplomat as similarly insisting that 'we [must] do nothing that would encourage the Americans to leave, because that's not in our interest.' Carlo Masala, a professor of international politics at Bundeswehr University in Munich, concluded that at present 'all the Europeans are looking at the US like the rabbit looks at the snake… hoping that the snake won't bite them.'
Arab News
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
US pulls out of two more bases in Syria, worrying Kurdish forces
AL-SHADADI BASE: US forces have pulled out of two more bases in northeastern Syria, visiting reporters found, accelerating a troop drawdown that the commander of US-backed Syrian Kurdish forces said was allowing a resurgence of Daesh. The reporters who visited the two bases in the past week found them mostly deserted, both guarded by small contingents of the Syrian Democratic Forces — the Kurdish-led military group that Washington has backed in the fight against Daesh for a decade. Cameras used on bases occupied by the US-led military coalition had been taken down, and razor wire on the outer perimeters had begun to sag. A Kurdish politician who lives on one base said there were no longer US troops there. SDF guards at the second base said troops had left recently but refused to say when. • No US troops present at Al-Wazir and Tel Baydar bases. • Daesh threat 'has significantly increased', SDF commander says. The Pentagon refused to comment. It is the first confirmation on the ground by reporters that the US has withdrawn from Al-Wazir and Tel Baydar bases in Hasaka province. It brings to at least four the number of bases in Syria US troops have left since President Donald Trump took office. Trump's administration said this month it will scale down its military presence in Syria to one base from eight in parts of northeastern Syria that the SDF controls. The New York Times reported in April that troops might be reduced from 2,000 to 500 in the drawdown. The SDF did not respond to questions about the current number of troops and open US bases in northeastern Syria. But SDF commander Mazloum Abdi, who spoke at another US base, Al-Shadadi, said the presence of a few hundred troops on one base would be 'not enough' to contain the threat of Daesh. 'The threat of Daesh has significantly increased recently. But this is the US military's plan. We've known about it for a long time ... and we're working with them to make sure there are no gaps and we can maintain pressure on Daesh State,' he said. Abdi spoke on Friday, hours after Israel launched its air war on Iran. He refused to comment on how the new Israel-Iran war would affect Syria, saying simply that he hoped it would not spill over there and that he felt safe on a US base. Hours after the interview, three Iranian-made missiles targeted the Al-Shadadi base and were shot down by US defense systems, two SDF security sources said. Daesh ruled vast swathes of Iraq and Syria from 2014 to 2017 during Syria's civil war.
