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foreignpolicy.com
Russia Runs U.S. Troops Off the Road in Syria
Jack Detsch, Robbie Gramer
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Russian forces run U.S. troops off the road in Syria, leaving several injured, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper heads to the Pacific, and the United States appears to be iced out of Arctic power battles.
U.S. Troops in Syria Remain in Precarious Position
The Trump administration hoped that it would make progress on ending the conflict in Syria this week. The committee drafting Syria’s new constitution is headed to the United Nations in New York, while U.S. Special Representative for Syria Engagement James Jeffrey went to Turkey to help smooth over longstanding differences over Pentagon support to Syrian Kurdish fighters.
Instead, Russian forces laid bare the precarious position of the 600 U.S. troops left in Syria in a viral incident. On Tuesday, video shared on Russian Instagram feeds showed Russian and U.S. mine-resistant vehicles colliding on a road in the middle of the Syrian countryside. The Pentagon did not immediately respond, even after Politico reported that four U.S. troops were injured.
The National Security Council responded hours later, calling the move a “breach of de-confliction protocols”—but offering little direct condemnation of Russia. Russia’s defense ministry insisted that its forces were responding to the U.S. military attempting to block a Russian patrol group. The administration has hoped for Russia to focus on supporting the U.N.-led peace talks rather than targeting U.S. service members.
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