The Islamic State terrorists used a partial withdrawal of US troops from Syria, as well as a Turkish military operation against Kurdish armed forces, to regroup and prepare for new actions, including terrorist attacks in Western countries. This is stated in the report of the Office of the Pentagon Inspector General, devoted to the situation in Syria.

The report claims that the Turkish Armed Forces operation, "Source of Peace", which began on October 9, influenced US actions to deter ISIS and engagement with Washington's main ally, the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDS).

The Islamic State took advantage of the Turkish invasion and subsequent partial withdrawal of American troops to restore its capabilities and resources in Syria, as well as to strengthen its ability to plan attacks in other countries, ”the document says.

The report also notes that the removal of the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, will not affect the “continuity of activity” and “overall cohesion” of the terrorist organization.

"An analysis of data from open sources also shows that although the death of al-Baghdadi was a serious blow to ISIS, it is unlikely to completely destroy the threat from a terrorist organization," Pentagon analysts say.

The authors of the document argue that without a significant presence of US forces in Syria, providing "counter-terrorism pressure", the Islamic State will actively help terrorist cells in Western countries.

The appearance of this report is explained by the fact that Washington is dissatisfied with the actions of Turkish troops in Syria and the existing negotiation process between Moscow, Ankara and Tehran, which is aimed at stabilizing the situation in Syria, Vladimir Batyuk, head of the Center for Military-Political Studies of the ISK RAS, explained in a conversation with RT.

  • Turkish military in Syria
  • Reuters
  • © Khalil Ashawi

“In fact, terrorist groups existed and continue to exist in this region, including through direct support from the United States,” the analyst said.

Military political scientist, head of the department of political science and sociology G.V. Plekhanova Andrei Koshkin, in an interview with RT, recalled that the report appeared against the backdrop of an aggravation of relations between Washington and Ankara and difficult negotiations between the leaders of the United States and Turkey.

“Now the Pentagon needs to support its president in a very difficult situation, when he has to fend off the impeachment procedure that has begun and prove that the US foreign policy path in the Middle East is expedient and Washington is not inferior to anyone, in particular Russia and Turkey. Based on this, Washington needs to blame Ankara for the fact that the "Source of Peace" is an operation that allowed ISIS to gather strength and continue to be a threat to the global community, "the expert explained.

Attention to the Kurds

The report notes that Russian, Turkish and Syrian government forces allegedly will not give priority attention to the fight against ISIS, which is why the burdens of the fight against terrorists will fall on the shoulders of the Kurdish SDS formations, which the United States considers its main allies in the region.

Thus, Pentagon analysts argue that SDS, having lost the support of the US military, may face attempts by Islamic State militants to free terrorists from Kurdish-controlled prisons

"Referring to information from open sources, intelligence reports on the activation of the" sleeping cells "of the IG in order to increase attacks on the SDS. In the short term, without the pressure caused by anti-terrorist activities, IS is likely to become more free to operate in northeastern Syria, developing secret networks, and will try to release its members held in SDS-controlled prisons, ”the report said.

The document also notes that the Pentagon continues to supply the SDS with weapons, but has stopped direct training and education under the guidance of American instructors. The drafters of the report indicate that as of the third quarter of 2019, the number of armed units of the SDS reached 100 thousand people.

Vladimir Batyuk noted that the SDS made a certain contribution to the fight against IS in the north of Syria. However, they were not the only force fighting the terrorists in the region.

“Of course, the Kurds made a certain contribution to the fight against ISIS. But their main advantage from the point of view of Washington is that the Kurdish Syrian democratic forces are pro-American. The Pentagon, with their help, wants to maintain not only control over oil, but also its strategic positions in a vital region, ”the expert noted.

It’s beneficial for the United States to demonstrate to the world that they and their allies defeated ISIS, and not Russia and the government army of the SAR, said Andrei Koshkin. This report produces an “audit of the history of the Syrian conflict,” as well as the roles of its participants, the political scientist noted.

“The report indirectly claims that the Kurdish Syrian democratic forces were the only ISIS holding back in the region because they are supported by the United States. Of course, the US needs to present the situation in such a way that it was precisely these forces that were able to curb and stop the actions of ISIS and help defeat the “caliphate” in Syria, ”the expert concluded.

Recall that during the negotiations between Turkey and the United States on October 17, an agreement was reached on a ceasefire in the area of ​​the operation, the condition for which was the withdrawal of Kurdish forces from the operation zone. After that, negotiations between the Presidents of Russia and Turkey Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan took place in Sochi on October 22, following which a memorandum of understanding was signed.

  • Joint Russian-Turkish military patrol in northeast Syria
  • AFP
  • © Delil Souleiman

The memorandum enshrined the limitation of the area of ​​the Turkish operation between the cities of Tel Abyad and Ras al-Ain. In turn, Moscow promised to facilitate the withdrawal of Kurdish formations from the border with Turkey to a depth of 30 km.

Disagreements over the presence of SDS in the north and northeast of Syria (in the border regions with Turkey) have led to tensions between Washington and Ankara. On October 30, the US Congress approved a bill on sanctions against Turkey for a military operation against the Kurds.

If approved, the highest Turkish officials involved in the operation “Source of Peace”, including Minister of Defense Hulusi Akar, will be sanctioned. The bill also provides for the blocking of assets of Turkish officials and the introduction of restrictive measures against the Turkish state bank Halkbank.

Preservation of Presence

Despite repeated statements by Donald Trump about the return of American troops home from Syria, the United States retained a military presence in the north-east of the country.

So, on November 12, General Mark Milli, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, announced that a battalion of the American army (500-600 troops) would remain in Syria.

Andrei Koshkin noted that the withdrawal of the US military from Syria occurred only in words - the strength of the US army in the Middle East, on the contrary, increased.

“There was an incomprehensible transfer. One thousand people were transported to Iraq, another 3 thousand will be thrown into Saudi Arabia, respectively, the number of American soldiers increased in the Middle East, did not decrease. The Americans simply relocated them, not brought them out, ”the expert recalled.

The head of the US defense department, Mark Esper, said that the goal of the remaining US troops in Syria is to "protect" oil fields.

At the same time, the Pentagon noted that the profits from Syrian oil, the production sites of which are controlled by the US military, go to the Kurdish "local authorities", as well as the SDS.

The US wants to cut off the Syrian government’s access to these sources of oil in order to create difficulties for the restoration of the Syrian economy, Konstantin Blokhin, an expert at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said in a conversation with RT. He added that Washington is actively trying to destabilize the region with its actions.

“Washington will constantly feed the Kurds with this oil in order to push Ankara to resolve the Kurdish issue on Syrian territory, thus confronting Turkey with Syria and sabotaging the country's post-war structure. In addition, the United States wants to confuse all the maps of Russia, which is the guarantor of Syria’s security and a kind of moderator, since it is trying to smooth out the problem angles between the Kurds, Syria and Turkey. Obviously, Syrian oil is a hotbed of tension that allows destabilizing the situation, ”the expert explained.

* Islamic State ”(ISIS, ISIS) - the organization was recognized as terrorist by decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of December 29, 2014.