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Zutano's avatar

Trump wanted to bring the troops home from Syria last time, but he never succeeded. I'm sure there will be the same pressures this time to leave a "small" reserve force - controlling the hydrocarbons/agriculture in Syria just gives so much leverage.

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Selim Koru's avatar

Yeah it's really hard to tell where they'll land on this. I think Trump's instincts pull him towards a pullout, but the Pentagon wants to stay, and so does the political class on both sides. On the other hand, Turkey also has a lot of leverage and is pushing it hard.

I think it's inevitable that they'll leave, it's just a matter of when and under what conditions. Could be in a few months, could be in a decade.

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