The leader of the Syrian Democratic Forces has said Washington has reassured him that it will not abandon them, following the US withdrawal from Afghanistan last month.
The Biden administration sent both Gen. Frank McKenzie, a senior military officer in charge of US Central Command, and Joey Hood, assistant secretary of state who heads up Middle East affairs at the State Department, to give reassurances to Mazloum Abdi that similar scenes will not be repeated in Syria.
He said locals under his protection have been shaken by what happened in Afghanistan. “Let’s be honest, after the American withdrawal from Afghanistan people were afraid. They were afraid they might face the same situation,” he told The Times.
Our departure from Syria is inevitable. Our cessation of support for the SDF is inevitable. Whether they are crushed by Russia-Syria-Turkey or phased out of existence in some sort of orderly manner, Washington will inevitably abandon them.