After focusing last week on the US slowing down the Syrian withdrawal, John Bolton’s comments over the weekend about the pullout being conditional is adding questions. Many make it unclear if the pullout is happening at all.



The White House seems determined not to really clarify the matter at all. On Monday, their new statement claimed that Trump’s position is “unchanged.” Since Trump has repeatedly scoffed at media reports trying to guess what his position on Syria actually boils down to, that’s not very enlightening.



To the extent they elaborated at all, they again emphasized that the process is slow and will “take time” to make sure that the troops are safe. There is no timetable, and it is expected to take several months.



With the Syrian Kurdish plans resting heavily on what happens with the pullout, they are pushing the matter with the US, asking for clarifications on the exact intentions of the US going forward, noting that the US has not informed them of any changes yet.





Author: Jason Ditz Jason Ditz is news editor of Antiwar.com. View all posts by Jason Ditz