200 U.S. Troops to Stay in Syria, White House Says
By Annie Karni and Thomas Gibbons-Neff
Feb. 21, 2019
WASHINGTON — The White House said on Thursday that it planned to leave about 200 American troops in Syria, signaling a partial retreat from President Trump’s announcement in December that he would withdraw all 2,000 forces after what he described as a victory over the Islamic State.
The move was a concession to allies and Pentagon officials who have argued that a complete American withdrawal risks returning key areas in Syria to the Islamic State. It came Thursday after a phone call between Mr. Trump and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, during which the two leaders agreed to continue working together to try to create a “safe zone,†the White House said.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/21/world/middleeast/us-troops-syria-.html
