The Trump administration has withdrawn all assistance from Northwest Syria, according to administration officials. This is the newest demonstration of the administration’s intent to briskly exit the country once ISIS is fully defeated.
After President Trump’s request to review all U.S. assistance to Syria, administration officials were tasked with looking at where the U.S. could save money and, in short, get more bang for their buck in the country. The U.S. assistance in the northwestern region is viewed as not having a great impact on Syria in the long-term. Some of the money that has been cut from the northwest is being reprogrammed, those decisions are ongoing.
The administration intends to narrow its focus onto the fight against ISIS and has recently halted funding to groups like the White Helmets, a famed rescue and civilian assistance operation in Syria. ISIS has been cleared from 95 percent of the territory it once occupied, but is clinging on to its last strongholds. Last month, when Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis was asked about withdrawing from Syria, he said there would be a “re-energized” fight in the Middle Euphrates River Valley against ISIS. Mattis did not say what would happen after that fight had concluded.
