US envoy says Syria strategy ‘will not be like the last 100 years’ as troops pull out.
The United States will shut down most of its military bases in Syria, consolidating operations to a single location, as part of a policy overhaul announced by its new special envoy.
Thomas Barrack, appointed by President Donald Trump last month as the US ambassador to Turkiye and special envoy for Syria, said the shift marks a rejection of Washington’s past century of failed approaches in Syria.
In an interview with the Turkish broadcaster NTV on Monday, Barrack said the troop drawdown and base closures reflect a strategic recalibration.
“What I can assure you is that our current Syria policy will not be close to the Syria policy of the last 100 years because none of these have worked,” he said.
US forces are expected to withdraw from seven of eight bases, including those in Deir Az Zor province in eastern Syria, with remaining operations centred in Hasakah in the northeast.
Two security sources told the Reuters news agency that US military hardware and personnel have already started relocating. “All troops are being pulled from Deir Az Zor,” one source told Reuters in April.
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A US Department of State official later said troop levels would be adjusted “if and when appropriate”, depending on operational demands.
Roughly 2,000 American soldiers remain in Syria, largely embedded with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a key partner in the US-led campaign against ISIL (ISIS).
The SDF, dominated by the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish militia, has been a longstanding point of contention with NATO ally Turkiye, which views it as linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The PKK, which recently announced its disbandment, fought a decades-long armed rebellion against the Turkish state.
Barrack called the SDF “a very important factor” for the US Congress, stressing that integrating the group into Syria’s national army is now a priority. “Everyone needs to be reasonable in their expectations,” he said.
Since the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December, international engagement with Damascus has resumed under new President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Barrack recently raised the US flag over the ambassador’s residence in Damascus for the first time since 2012.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticised the SDF last week, accusing it of “stalling tactics” despite its agreement to join the Syrian armed forces.