Defense Secretary Mark Esper
Mark EsperBiden, Trump battle over who's to blame for Afghanistan Overnight Defense: Pentagon chief defends Milley after Trump book criticism | Addresses critical race theory | Top general says Taliban has 'strategic momentum' in war The Biden administration and Tunisia: Off to a good start MORE confirmed Sunday that President Trump
Donald TrumpDemocrats defeat GOP effort to declare 'lost confidence' in Biden after Afghanistan withdrawal Prosecutors say Jan. 6 rioters committed roughly 1,000 assaults on federal officers Texas emerges as new battleground in abortion fight MORE has ordered a larger withdrawal of U.S. forces from northeastern Syria than was previously indicated.
During an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Esper said the U.S. has withdrawn about 1,000 U.S. troops from northern Syria since an initial smaller withdrawal of troops.
Trump made the decision to increase the withdrawal amid reports that Turkey will expand its offensive “further south than originally planned and to the west,” Esper told CBS’s Margaret Brennan on Sunday.
Esper also referenced reports that the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish group allied with the U.S. in the battle against ISIS, are seeking an agreement with the Syrian and Russian governments.
“And so we find ourselves as we have American forces likely caught between two opposing advancing armies, and it's a very untenable situation,” Esper told Brennan.
“So I spoke with the president last night after discussions with the rest of the national security team, and he directed that we begin a deliberate withdrawal of forces from northern Syria,” he said.
Pressed by Brennan on whether Turkish forces would be advancing if U.S. forces remained, Esper said that in talks with other officials, “it became very clear to me that the Turks were fully committed to conducting this incursion” regardless of the U.S. presence.
Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from northeastern Syria and to turn over operations to Turkey has been met with sharp bipartisan criticism, with staunch Trump backers such as Sen. Lindsey Graham
Lindsey Olin GrahamMcConnell: Biden 'is not going to be removed from office' Biden's Afghanistan exit: A decision for the long term Heavy fighting reported in last Afghanistan province not under Taliban control MORE (R-S.C.) accusing him of abandoning an ally and creating an opening for ISIS forces to return to their former strength.
