Pompeo's Words, Trump's Withdrawal
Pompeo's Words, Trump's Withdrawal
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gives a speech at the American University in Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 10.
Photo:
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Reuters
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a fine speech in Cairo on Thursday trying to reassure allies that the U.S. is determined to remain a player in the Middle East and contain Iran in particular. The problem is that this ambition clashes with the reality of his boss’s contradictory message about American intentions.
“In Syria, the United States will use diplomacy and work with our partners to expel every last Iranian boot, and work through the U.N.-led process to bring peace and stability to the long-suffering Syrian people,” Mr. Pompeo said.
But how? With what leverage? Even as Mr. Pompeo offered those remarks, the Pentagon was telling reporters that it has begun withdrawing the 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria. The timeline for the withdrawal, ordered and announced by Mr. Trump on an impulse after a conversation with Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is 60 to 90 days. This withdrawal echoes louder in the Middle East than Mr. Pompeo’s words.
We saw that this week when Mr. Erdoğan refused to even meet with White House national security adviser John Bolton, who was also traveling in the Middle East. Mr. Bolton had said the U.S. troops would stay in Syria until the U.S. is confident Mr. Erdoğan won’t punish the Kurds who provided the ground troops (and casualties) to defeat Islamic State. Mr. Erdoğan dismissed Mr. Bolton’s concerns, and the Pentagon announced the start of the troop withdrawal in any case.
Mr. Trump says he’s fulfilling a campaign promise to get out of Syria and stop “endless wars,” but the wars won’t end because America leaves. Iran is slowly turning Syria into another Lebanon, a forward base for its Shiite militias and armaments with which to attack Israel when the opportunity presents itself.
The presence of the U.S. troops was a low-cost way to reassure allies like Israel, the Kurds in Syria and Iraq, and Sunni Arabs in Jordan and the Gulf, that America is serious about raising the cost of Iranian imperialism. Iranian weapons and intelligence were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American soldiers in Iraq. By leaving Syria, the U.S. is missing a chance to return the favor to Iran’s Quds Force that stokes terrorism abroad.
Mr. Pompeo announced Friday that the U.S. will host an international summit next month focusing on Iran’s regional influence. Presumably he wants to form a diplomatic united front and encourage the enforcement of sanctions against Iran. We wish him luck, but the mixed American messages aren’t likely to impress Qasem Soleimani, the Iranian general who has so much American blood on his hands.
Appeared in the January 12, 2019, print edition.
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