ISIS* did not notice the victory of the United States

Discussing Trump's statement on the withdrawal of American troops from Syria, the world missed the main news: a new offensive by terrorists

Once again, the world was holding his breath when US President Donald Trump and his White House made a fiery statement about the withdrawal of American troops from Syria.

“As a candidate, Donald Trump made two solemn promises: that America and its allies will defeat ISIS and that our troops will never be dangerous longer than necessary to protect the American people,” the White House Twice says. “Today the president is fulfilling this obligation.”

This statement followed the two tweets of President Trump, in the first of which he stated: "We defeated ISIS in Syria, and this is my only reason to be there during the presidency." The second tweet was accompanied by a short video about what came "time to return home."

To understand how much we are talking about victory, it is important to figure out what are the positions of Americans in Syria. Today, the United States retains a small military presence in the south of the country, on the border with Jordan. (Previously, these territories were under the free Syrian army, then under the formations of ISIS, now the government forces have regained control over them.) However, the main accumulation of US military personnel is observed in the north-east of Syria, on the border with Iraq, and north of the central regions-from Palmyra to the northeastern province of Deir Ez-Zor. This is a deserted area with the richest oil fields, which were possessed by almost all participants in the armed conflict. It was in the area of ​​the actions of the Americans on February 7, 2018 that Russian “military advisers” were killed.

Representatives of the US Ministry of Defense reported then:

“The American military and scouts confirmed that the murdered Russian fighters represented private militarized services - and, most likely, were associated with the Wagner group, a company often used by the Kremlin to fulfill tasks that officials do not want to associate with the Russian government.”

The withdrawal of American troops from Syria is a long -standing promise that Trump made to his supporters, and the step that the entire outgoing year was significantly prevented by the generals present in the war zone. Thus, American generals were going to strengthen the position of the Kurdish army SDF in the hope of strengthening the position of the Kurdish army. It was the Kurds who were the key allies of the United States in military operations in the Province of Deir ez-Zor, where the presence of ISIS is maintained, and it is the Americans who are now sacrificing the Kurds.

The Turkish government openly made it clear that its main goal in Syria is the armed groups of the Kurdish opposition.

According to Reuters, "the decision [on the allocation of American forces] was achieved on Friday after a telephone conversation between US President Donald Trump and his Turkish colleague, Recep Tayyip Erdogan." Now the Kurds are facing a difficult choice: to be left without US support and try to independently protect the territory from the Syrian regime, on the one hand, and from the Turkish troops on the other. Or make a deal with Assad: the Syrian government promises the Kurds the actual autonomy in exchange for a public return to the Bosho of the Syrian regime. This new alliance can theoretically become a significant force that can eliminate the latest foci of ISIS in the region. Not to mention the fact that the compromise with the Kurds will allow the Syrian leadership to return to control a significant piece of Syrian territory, restoring dominance in almost all regions, with the exception of the Syrian North, which Turkey considers the strategic buffer zone against the Kurdish forces.

This buffer zone - the Idlib and Aleppo areas - with the blessing of the Kremlin in the foreseeable future will remain under Turkey's control.

Another likely scenario launched by the withdrawal of American troops: strengthening in the liberated area of ​​government forces with the support of Iran and Russia. Specifically, we are talking about the fifth corps of the Syrian government army, equipped with Lebanese and Syrian volunteers. The corps, located under the joint Syrian-Russian command, participated in many iconic battles of the Syrian war, in particular, in the battle for the liberation of Palmyra from ISIS in 2016. Since then, its number and experience have only increased.

The Syrians themselves seem to be not surprised by the decision of the US President. According to the senior commander of the Syrian fifth corps,

“Trump considered Syria as a useless desert before his election by the president. At the same time, Russia considers Syria as a strategically important point for Russian influence. Trump considers Syria as an empty waste of time and money, and Russia as a bridgehead on the Mediterranean Sea. Trump considers allied alliances in Syria temporary and optional, and Russia strives for strong relations with its allies in the region. ”

In general, this assessment is shared by many observers in the Middle East: Trump transfers Syria to President Putin, but at the same time retains the regime of sanctions against Russia; In addition, returning the soldier home, the US president looks good on the “home front”.

In the noise of the discussion around the “victorious return” of the Americans, the whole world seems to have not heard the really main news. On Thursday morning,

As soon as the news of the withdrawal of American troops was a public fact, ISIS began a massive offensive in the area of ​​the city of Hazhin (Deyr-Ez-Zor Province).

Hazhin is a town on the Euphrates River with a population of 28 thousand people. From the beginning of 2017 to mid-2018, he was de facto considered the capital of the Islamic caliphate, and the capture of this city should significantly strengthen the morale of the surviving ISIS terrorists. The fate of the civilian population, as usual, worries few, but local activists have no doubt: reprisals will follow.

*The organization is recognized as terrorist and prohibited in the Russian Federation - ed.