After announcing the withdrawal of US troops from Syria, Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo has called for more commitment from the countries of the Arab world in the fight against terrorism. „We ask all peace-loving nations in the Middle East to take on new responsibilities to defeat Islamist extremism (…),“ Pompeo said in a keynote address today in Cairo on US policy in the region.
The US would not retreat before the fight against terror ended. „But as President Trump said, we want our allies to do more,“ said Pompeo in the Egyptian capital. Trump’s decision was not a change in the anti-terrorism mission against the jihadist militia Islamic State (IS).
Attacks against IS should continue
After leaving Syria, the airstrikes of the US-led military coalition would continue. In the future, too, the US would assist its allies in many ways. Other US officials had made much more cautious comments to Trump’s comments, given the looming threat to their allies.
The US-allied Kurds in northern Syria fear an attack by Turkey as a result of the withdrawal. Ankara sees the Kurdish fighters as terrorists and extended arm of the banned Kurdish workers‘ party PKK in Turkey.
Sharp attacks against Iran
After Trump’s announcement in December that the US would „quickly“ withdraw its troops from Syria, there is still uncertainty as to when exactly 2,000 US soldiers will leave civil war.
In addition to the terrorist groups, Pompeo shot mainly against Shiite Iran as a „common enemy“ of the US and the Arab states. The dangerous influence of Tehran in the region, including in Yemen and Lebanon, must be pushed back. The US would work „using diplomacy“ and „with our partners“ to „drive every last Iranian boot“ out of Syria, Pompeo said.
