Bolton contradicts Trump, says Syria withdrawal hinges on safety of Kurds

The United States will pull out of Syria only with assurances Turkey will not attack Kurdish allies there, national security adviser John Bolton told journalists on Sunday, according to reports.
The added condition to the US’ withdrawal of troops from Syria contradicts President Donald Trump’s announcement via Twitter last month that US troops would withdraw from the country “now” as he declared that ISIS had been defeated.

“So our boys, our young women, our men, they’re all coming back and they’re coming back now. We won, and that’s the way we want it,” Trump said in a video posted to Twitter.

Since his initial announcement, Trump has extended his original 30 day time line to withdraw the troops to four months and on Sunday he told reporters, “I never said we’re doing it quickly, but we’re decimating ISIS.”

On Monday Trump tweeted, “The Failing New York Times has knowingly written a very inaccurate story on my intentions on Syria. No different from my original statements, we will be leaving at a proper pace while at the same time continuing to fight ISIS and doing all else that is prudent and necessary!”

Bolton made the remarks in Jerusalem on a four-day trip to Israel and Turkey. The White House announced last month that ISIS had been defeated in Syria and the United States would withdraw 2,000 troops from the war-stricken nation.

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