U.S. diplomat rules out American forces withdrawal from Syria
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – A senior U.S. diplomat ruled out on Friday any plans regarding any withdrawal of the American forces from Northeast Syria.
In an exclusive interview with Rudaw, an Erbil-based news website, Ethan Goldrich, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs said the U.S. has no plans to withdraw forces from Northeast Syria, a region run by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
“We are planning to continue and complete our mission,” Goldrich told Rudaw. “A pillar of our policy is to counter ISIS and prevent the resurgence of ISIS.”
Goldrich confirmed that his country’s forces “are not planning to withdraw from Syria,” adding, “We are planning to continue and complete our mission to prevent a resurgence of ISIS and to counter ISIS and to work with our partners.”
Regarding the recent steps of rapprochement by some countries, including U.S. allies, with the Syrian government, Goldrich reiterated his country’s refusal of normalization with the Syrian government.
“We don’t support normalization with the [Syrian] regime, and we certainly are not normalizing with the regime.”
As for the situation in the AANES-held areas, the U.S. diplomat expressed concerns regarding the upcoming local elections the AANES is planning to held saying, “we don’t think that the conditions are in place for a free, fair, transparent, and inclusive election.”
“[W]e don’t think that those conditions are in place. So, we don’t think an election should be taking place in northeast Syria,” Goldrich noted.