US troop withdrawal from Syria will destabilize the region
The vacuum will most likely be filled by the army of Turkey, as a NATO member that is also an ideological champion of the Muslim Brotherhood.
By Joseph Puder
JNS
Feb 7, 2026
While all eyes are focused on U.S. President Donald Trump as he weighs when or if the United States will attack the Islamic Republic of Iran, Washington is reducing U.S. forces in the Middle East. In fact, it is leaving a vacuum in Syria that will most likely be filled by the army of Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and his former Al-Qaeda terrorist proxy, Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Such an eventuality would threaten Israel’s aerial freedom in its operations against Iran and might destabilize the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, which would, in itself, be a strategic threat to Israel. Worse yet, it will bring the region closer to a regional war, as hostile entities such as pro-Iranian Shi’ite militias, as well as Turkish and Syrian forces, converge on Israel’s eastern and northern borders.
The Trump administration has mercilessly turned its back on the Kurds in northeastern Syria and has given the jihadist army of Ahmed al-Sharaa, the unelected president of Syria, a green light to invade the Kurdish territory and butcher its population to the delight of al-Sharaa’s sponsor, Erdoğan. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a strong ally of America in the war against the Islamic State, has been sacrificed to please Erdoğan, with the U.S. envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, executing this shameful betrayal.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), in late January 2026, announced he would introduce the “Save the Kurds Act,” legislation aimed at imposing “crippling sanctions” on any government or group involved in hostile actions against the Kurds.
During his first term in the White House, Trump announced that he planned to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria. Israel was able to influence Trump to reconsider that decision, and currently, about 900 U.S. service personnel are stationed in Syria. This time, however, Trump is determined to withdraw them.
Graham responded on Jan. 23, posting on X: “If true, ISIS would love that. A small footprint of Americans working with locals is an insurance policy against the reemergence of ISIS (Islamic State) and an attack on our homeland. I believe it’s time for a new approach and new eyes on Syria. I am confident that many senators on both sides of the aisle share my concerns about the implications of withdrawal when Syria is so unstable.”
In his recent meeting with Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, raised the issue of the U.S. withdrawal of forces from Syria. Apparently, the Pentagon’s new official National Defense Strategy calls for the reduction of American troops in the Middle East. The question is, which country benefits from this position—the United States, or Iran and Turkey? The ayatollah’s regime has long sought the removal of U.S. forces from the region. And Erdoğan, who Trump has called a “good friend,” is similarly interested in such a withdrawal.
The business ties that Trump’s Middle Eastern envoys (his friend Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner) have with Qatar and Turkey increased the influence of these two Muslim Brotherhood ideological champions on U.S. policies in Syria and Gaza. Apparently, Trump’s understanding of history is not on par with his business acumen.
Otherwise, he would understand that Erdoğan seeks to triumph where his Ottoman predecessors failed. The Ottomans were at the gates of Vienna in 1683, on a quest to secure Europe for Islam. Erdoğan is an arch-Islamist and a vicious antisemite who harbors hatred for the Jewish state and the West. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the ruler of Qatar, is subverting the American education system by pouring billions into America’s prestigious campuses, and now, elementary education, to promote Islam; downgrade Western culture; and insert anti-Israel and anti-Jewish content into the curricula.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Jan. 28 that the U.S. Department of Education’s recent launch of a portal containing foreign-funding disclosures by universities was even greater than officials likely realized. Newly disclosed evidence, unsealed earlier this month in federal court, reveals that foreign funders may be exerting the kind of outsized, hidden and nefarious influence on university programs critics have long feared. The details demand congressional action to protect Americans’ rights.
On Jan. 6, a federal district court in Pennsylvania unsealed a court order in Yael Canaan’s suit against Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University. She alleges that the university harbors a culture of antisemitism and discrimination, in part due to the influence of more than $1 billion from Qatar and its affiliates. Carnegie Mellon denies Canaan’s allegations, including that it is influenced by Qatar, which hosts its Doha campus. But based on eye-opening university documents, the court on Dec. 5 rejected the school’s argument and ordered CMU to produce many of the documents Canaan requested.
Israel faces a strategic dilemma. Turkey under Erdoğan is trying to establish itself in Syria with multiple bases throughout the country, which would inevitably bring about a clash between the Israeli and Turkish militaries. Turkey is still a NATO member, with close ties to the Trump administration.
Should Israel refrain from operating over Syria, especially if attacked by Iran—or in need to protect the Druze and other minority populations near its border—it would be seen as weak and lose its deterrence. Yet a clash with Turkey may have far-reaching consequences for the region. Hence, an American force remaining in Syria is crucial in preventing a possible war between Israel and Turkey.
1 comment:
I am very much afraid that the Kurds will learn the hard way that depending on the US to cover your ass is not necessarily a safe thing to do.
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