The Biden administration is actively considering a complete military withdrawal from Syria, a move originally championed by former President Trump, as shifting alliances and security realities reshape American strategy in the region.
According to a Wall Street Journal report citing unnamed officials, Washington’s calculus has changed significantly due to the Syrian government’s ongoing offensive against the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria. President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s campaign to disarm wartime militias and integrate fighters into the national army has fundamentally altered the battlefield dynamics.
The potential collapse of the Kurdish-led SDF, once America’s most effective ground partner against Islamic State militants, would eliminate the primary rationale for maintaining the current deployment of 800-1,000 US troops. However, officials emphasized that cooperation with the Syrian army remains unviable due to its significant number of jihadist sympathizers and personnel implicated in mass killings of Kurdish and Druze minorities.
The deteriorating situation has created multiple security crises. Fighting between SDF and Syrian forces has already placed American personnel in direct danger, culminating in a December incident where a Syrian army member with suspected IS affiliations killed three US service members.
Perhaps most alarmingly, the SDF’s diminishing control threatens security at detention facilities housing approximately 7,000 IS-linked detainees, including women and children from at least 50 countries. These individuals remain in legal limbo without formal charges or judicial processing as their home governments resist repatriation efforts.
In response to the growing instability, US Central Command has initiated transfers of detainees to facilities in Iraq, with plans to eventually relocate all prisoners from Syrian camps. Secretary of State Marco Rubio endorsed this measure, stating, “The United States welcomes the Government of Iraq’s initiative to detain ISIS terrorists in secure facilities following recent instability in northeast Syria.”
The policy shift has drawn criticism from veteran diplomats like Brett McGurk, who served as counter-IS coordinator under both Obama and Trump administrations. McGurk warned that any security breakdown at detention sites “risks international consequences” and emphasized that Kurdish forces “are steadfast partners and should be treated as such.”
The unfolding situation has reignited debates about America’s consistency in foreign partnerships, with many observers characterizing the potential abandonment of the SDF as another in a series of Washington’s betrayals of allied forces worldwide.