For a second time in a week, President Trump has said it's time for the US to withdraw from Syria; however, US UN envoy Nikki Haley and members of the president's own national security team are trying to talk him out of it.
Speaking at Duke University Thursday night, Haley said that the US does not have plans to withdraw its estimated 2,000 troops from Syria anytime in the near future, and would make a decision on the issue only after the Daesh (ISIS) terrorists were completely destroyed.
“I think we've probably eliminated 80% of [Daesh*] – destroyed the caliphate, and are continuing to move in a good direction,” Haley said. “What the president is saying is that that was always our priority – to defeat ISIS…When we defeat ISIS, he's not saying he's going to get out, he's saying we're going to work with our partners and our friends and decide ‘what next',” the ambassador added.
The president, according to Haley, “listens to his general completely” on the Syrian issue, “because they don't want ISIS to come back.”
The ambassador's words seemed to directly challenge President Trump, who said earlier this week that it was time for US troops to come home from Syria. “I want to get out. I want to bring our troops back home,” Trump said Tuesday at a press conference in Washington.
“I want to start rebuilding our nation,” Trump added, pointing out that the US has spent $7 trillion on wars in the Middle East over the past decade and a half, and…
