The United States’ strategy in Syria has “failed” and allied troops are not capable of defending themselves despite the $2.6 billion Washington has spent there.
Robert S. Ford made the comments in an article released by Foreign Affairs on Monday.
He noted that after six years and roughly $2.6 billion, northeastern Syria is “America’s baby, raised under US military protection and shielded from hostile neighbors.”
“Unable to support itself, the autonomous zone will remain dependent on US resources for the foreseeable future,” the article alleged.
He further suggested that President Joe Biden should withdraw forces from war-ravaged Syria.
“Biden would do well to change tack—withdrawing the hundreds of U.S. soldiers currently deployed to Syria and relying on Russia and Turkey to contain ISIS [Daesh],” read the article.
The US Kurdish allies in Syria have intensified the conflict while enjoying support fro the United States, it further suggested.
“The United States’ Syrian Kurdish allies have exacerbated long-standing regional tensions between Arabs and Kurds. Among Arab communities in particular, there is widespread frustration over Kurdish political dominance—enabled by the United States—and Kurdish control of local oil fields.”
The US and its allies have been bombarding what they call Daesh positions inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from the Damascus government or a UN mandate.
Daesh has been almost purged from entire territories it used to control in Syria and neighboring Iraq. However, sporadic attacks by the group are still reported in the two countries, where the US maintains a military presence.