Trump Upset with Advisors over Syria Withdrawal
BLITZER: Right now, U.S. troops will remain in Syria, but President Trump isn't very happy about that. Sources tell CNN that the president got irritated with his top military brass and national security team after they laid out the risks of an immediate withdrawal of some 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria. Joining us now, CNN military and diplomatic analyst, retired Rear Admiral John Kirby, and from Damascus in Syria, CNN senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen. Fred, earlier this week, President Trump announced it was time to bring home those U.S. troops from Syria. He said very soon. At the same time, officials say the U.S. would remained until the defeat of ISIS was complete. How are those mixed messages being received in Damascus?</s>FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's really interesting to see, because if you speak with folks within the Syrian army, they are not even factoring the U.S. in the future of Syria. I talked to some very senior soldiers and they were telling me they want to win back all of Syria, they want to get back all of their territory. They didn't seem as though they were concerned about the U.S. being there for an extended period of time. So it looks as though the Syrian government, which is of course backed by the Russians and the Iranians, it looks to them like Syria wants to pull out sooner than later, anyway, and that is something, Wolf, we said in the past couple days and it really strengthens the hands of the Russians and the Iranian in this part of Syria and other parts of Syria as well -- Wolf?</s>BLITZER: Good point. John, what are the risks of pulling out those 2,000 U.S. troops? Because 2,000 doesn't seem, isn't 100,000 or 50,000. What is the risk of pulling them out quickly?</s>REAR ADM. JOHN KIRBY, CNN MILITARY & DIPLOMATIC ANALYST: Hopefully, we've averted this outcome of this latest decision. But if we pull them out before we could stabilize areas that ISIS has been kicked out of, you run the risk of ISIS reconstituting. You run the risk of the counter-ISIS coalition, which the U.S. leads and includes 75 other partners, potentially falling apart, which won't be good for the entire region. And, as Fred pointed out, you give more oxygen to Russia and Iran, and frankly, Turkey, who would like nothing better than the United States to lead so they can begin to pursue a Syria that is in their interests and not necessarily the interests of the international community.</s>BLITZER: Listen to Lieutenant General Frank McKenzie, the director of the Joint Staff over at the Pentagon. This is what he just said. Listen to this.</s>LT. GEN. FRANK MCKENZIE, DIRECTOR, PENTAGON JOINT STAFF: A lot of great work has been done in Syria, very close to reaching an in-state against the caliphate. We think as we go forward one of the things we haven't been given is a timeline. That's actually very effective. And that might have been a problem we saw before in Afghanistan where we acted against the timeline that was known to the enemy. The president has actually been very good at not giving us a specific timeline. That's a tool we can use to our effect as we move forward. I would tell you, looking in the long term, obviously entities in the region, nations in the region have to have as much --</s>BLITZER: He's making the case why the military thinks giving the enemy, the adversaries advance warning about a timeline would be bad.</s>KIRBY: It would be, and that was something the military bristled at with Iraq and Afghanistan under President Obama, was we were telegraphing too much of our timeline. That said, Wolf, and I agree with the general that it's good there hasn't been a specific timeline laid out yet. But the president has already telegraphed his intent. By doing that, he's given oxygen to partners on the ground, Syrian Democratic Forces in particular, who know they can't rely on the U.S. long term. They don't know exactly how long, but they know for not long. So they'll begin to start casting about for other allies and partners that they can rely on going forward. And most assuredly, not all the allies and partners on the ground they find will be sharing our interests in the future of a stable Syria.</s>BLITZER: Very quickly, Fred, what are you hearing over there? You're on the ground, you're in Syria. You're there in Damascus, which is under control of the Bashar al Assad regime, which is backed by the Iranians, backed by the Russians, backed by Hezbollah. What are you hearing from the U.S. allies, whether the Syrians opposed to the regime or the Kurds?</s>PLEITGEN: Yes, especially the Kurds -- I wouldn't say they are losing faith in the U.S. but they are getting there. For them, it's a difficult situation. Keep in mind, the Kurds hold a large part of Syria. There are only 2,000 U.S. forces there, but as long as the U.S. forces are there, it deters other nations from trying to infringe on their territory, and that's something obviously they think they'll lose if and when the United States pulls out. Then you have to put yourself in the shoes of these folks who have been fighting alongside the U.S., what options do they have? Certainly some of the moderate rebels that were on the ground here, they strive to cut a deal with the Kurds. But the Kurds are left with the option to try and deal with the Russians. We know there's already some talks going on, so it certainly makes it difficult for them and you can see them losing faith in the United States -- Wolf?</s>BLITZER: Those Kurds have certainly lost a lot of faith. Fred Pleitgen, in Damascus, John Kirby, in Washington, thank you. Coming up, the U.K. has pinpointed the source of a nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy and his daughter, and it all leads back to Russia.