“We will look at a change in our forces in Syria when IS has been defeated and security has been established for Syrian citizens. There’s still a lot of work to do. IS has not been defeated,” Pentagonspokesperson Eric Pahon said in an interview with daily Hurriyet on Sept. 11.
Pahon’s remarks were in response to questions over reports the U.S. had changed its policy towards Syria and decided not to pull back from the war-torn country soon. The reports were based on a statement by James Jeffrey, the State Department’s special representative for Syria, who had embarked on a regional tour last week that included Israel, Jordan and Turkey.
Jeffrey was quoted as saying that the U.S. troops stationed in the eastern Euphrates River will continue to stay in Syria, stressing, “The new policy is we’re no longer pulling out by the end of the year… That means we are not in a hurry.”
“I understand this claim that President [Donald] Trump has a new strategy... it is the same exact thing we are saying and what he has been saying all along. The president did not say ‘we are going to have our troops out by the end of the year.’ He said ‘very, very soon.’ That’s what we’re working toward, but again, we can’t rush this, or we’ll be right back fighting IS version 2,” Pahon stated.
“There is still a lot work to do. Absolutely nothing has changed. The president said that and we said it is conditions based. The president himself has said we will not be tied to a pre-determined or arbitrary timeline. We’ll make adjustments as we make progress,” he added, while elaborating when the troops would be withdrawn from Syria.
Reporter's code: 50101