The previously scheduled conference, tentatively set for Feb. 7 in Washington, aims to gather ministers from many of the 79 nations in the Global Coalition To Defeat Islamic State and galvanize their fight against the militant group.
However, Trump’s shock Dec. 19 decision to withdraw and the mixed signals Washington has sent about when it may pull out the roughly 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria have left US allies and partners rethinking their own commitments.
In the latest ambiguous signal, a senior State Department official on Friday first told reporters the United States has no timeline for the withdrawal of troops from Syria and then said it does not plan to stay indefinitely.
Another senior State Department official, also briefing reporters before Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s trip to the Middle East next week, said one of his main messages would be that “the United States is not leaving the Middle East.”
“Despite reports to the contrary and false narratives surrounding the Syria decision, we are not going anywhere.”
However, three sources familiar with the matter said that the Trump administration is still working assiduously to contain the fallout from Trump’s troop decision.
A Pentagon adviser described the conference as part of a “damage control” effort necessitated by Trump’s abrupt decision and as designed to explain to the coalition members “that nothing has been put in place” with regard to the pullout.
“This (Trump’s withdrawal announcement) was a slap-dash, individual decision” that angered and frustrated US military commanders and blind-sided members of the anti-ISIS coalition, said the Pentagon adviser on condition of anonymity. “This is nothing more than damage limitation.”
Other people familiar with the administration’s discussions stressed that the meeting had been previously scheduled, but one said it had been given “extra urgency” by the troop decision.
A State Department spokeswoman who declined to be identified confirmed the conference was going ahead as scheduled and that “save the date” invitations had gone out but she declined comment on the agenda, saying it was still being worked out.
Based on Reuters
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