Robert S. Ford, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Syria (2011-2014) during the Obama administration and as U.S. Ambassador to Algeria (2006-2008) during the George W. Bush administration, supported President Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria in 2018.
Note: In a December 2018 Washington Post op-ed, Ford wrote that the withdrawal was “essentially correct,” and noted that “U.S. troops can’t destroy the Islamic State ideology…Only Syrians, not U.S. troops and stabilization teams, can reverse that.”
Ford added: “We would do well to be humbler about our abilities, especially in the face of sustained, widespread regional hostility.”
With Trump back in the White House, the retired diplomat wrote last week in Foreign Affairs: “President Donald Trump has long bemoaned American entanglements in overseas conflicts, especially in the Middle East. Partnering with the new transitional government in Damascus would let the United States leave Syria on its own terms.”
“President Donald Trump has long bemoaned American entanglements in overseas conflicts, especially in the Middle East. Partnering with the new transitional government in Damascus would let the United States leave Syria on its own terms.” https://t.co/udMh2PpgKS
— Foreign Affairs (@ForeignAffairs) March 12, 2025
Ford advised the U.S. to withdraw its troops and “engage with the government and pull away from the SDF.”
[Note: In December 2024, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said that the U.S. has roughly 2,000 troops deployed in Syria, a larger number than had been previously reported.]
While the U.S. spent approximately $186 million in 2024 to support SDF — the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces — and support the fight against ISIS, the New York Times reported this week that President Trump “has not yet committed to continuing to support the group.”
On Monday, it was announced that Damascus and SDF reached a deal and that SDF “will integrate ‘all civil and military institutions’ into the new Syrian state by the end of the year, including its prized oil and gas fields.”
