{"id":55791,"date":"2019-10-16T21:20:47","date_gmt":"2019-10-16T21:20:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/10\/16\/what-it-means-for-us-bases-in-syria-to-be-occupied-by-syrian-and-russian-forces\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T09:07:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T09:07:47","slug":"what-it-means-for-us-bases-in-syria-to-be-occupied-by-syrian-and-russian-forces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/10\/16\/what-it-means-for-us-bases-in-syria-to-be-occupied-by-syrian-and-russian-forces\/","title":{"rendered":"What it means for American bases in Syria to be occupied by Syrian and Russian forces"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As U.S. forces make a grab for the exit from Syria in a hurry, reports and video coming in suggest they are dumping equipment and leaving bases intact while stripping sensitive items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And that could create a problem for any future efforts to fight the Islamic State, said one Marine veteran who went on to fight with the Syrian Democratic Forces after leaving the Corps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the U.S. abandons camps across Syria, it appears U.S. troops are removing sensitive equipment, but leaving fortifications that could present a later challenge for fighters in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/10\/15\/us-spec-ops-secrets-could-fall-into-hands-of-russians-and-syrians-in-pullout\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Picture1.jpg_347294.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">US special operations secrets could fall into hands of Russians and Syrians in pullout<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">A former U.S. military intelligence operator who spent years working with special operations forces told Military Times that the potential spillover of sensitive tradecraft or information by the SDF was \u201csuper problematic,&quot; but also a symptom of the lack of a genuine strategy in the region.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI see a big problem with it. And it shows just how unplanned and half-assed this \u201cwithdrawal\u201d is,\u201d said Marine veteran Anderson Bryant, who fought with the SDF as it liberated Manbij from ISIS fighters in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Should ISIS fighters capture one these bases, it could be costly for SDF fighters unaided by American air power and artillery to storm the outpost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt wouldn\u2019t be easy but it wouldn\u2019t be the worst attack in the world,\u201d Bryant said. \u201cThe SDF have been successfully taking territory and bases from ISIS for three years now. They\u2019ve gotten pretty good at it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Regardless of what you call it, the withdrawal makes for bad optics, Bryant said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThough ISIS doesn\u2019t have the infrastructure to take and hold territory or bases anymore, just leaving equipment to be taken after a retreat looks bad for sure,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A video posted to Twitter shows Russians entering what\u2019s described as a U.S. camp in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2019\/10\/15\/russian-and-syrian-troops-fill-void-as-us-pulls-troops-out-of-manbij-syria\/\" target=_blank>Manbij<\/a>, Syria. Col. Myles B. Caggins III, the spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, announced Tuesday that the U.S. had pulled its forces out of the Syrian city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The video shows an empty base with tents still setup and Hesco barrier fortifications surrounding the camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-syria-security-turkey-bases\/syrian-army-takes-control-of-military-bases-left-behind-by-u-s-forces-russian-state-tv-idUSKBN1WV17F?feedType=RSS&#038;feedName=worldNews\" target=_blank>Reuters<\/a> reported Wednesday, citing Russian state TV, that Syrian forces in northeast Syria have taken over abandoned U.S. camps in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some members of U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces claimed that U.S. forces have been blowing up vehicles as they vacated their bases. The Pentagon and OIR have yet to respond to media queries detailing what equipment, if any is being destroyed as U.S. forces scramble to leave Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/10\/15\/us-spec-ops-secrets-could-fall-into-hands-of-russians-and-syrians-in-pullout\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Picture1.jpg_347294.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">US special operations secrets could fall into hands of Russians and Syrians in pullout<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">A former U.S. military intelligence operator who spent years working with special operations forces told Military Times that the potential spillover of sensitive tradecraft or information by the SDF was \u201csuper problematic,&quot; but also a symptom of the lack of a genuine strategy in the region.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Emergency equipment destruction procedures often fall under various unit standard operating procedures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. is in the midst of rapidly withdrawing about 1,000 U.S. troops from northeastern Syria. Those forces are expected to redeploy within the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, according to military officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The last time U.S. forces may have made a \u201cdeliberate withdrawal\u201d from a warzone appears to be Iraq in 2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat we\u2019re executing is a deliberate plan to safely and responsibly withdraw from Iraq by Dec. 31,\u201d then Army Maj. Gen. Thomas Spoehr said in a 2011 CENTCOM news release. \u201cThis plan is flexible enough to account for change \u2013 no plan should be so rigid that it cannot account for adverse weather or enemy activity \u2013 but it\u2019s a methodical and measured plan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. pullout of Iraq in 2011 precipitated the rise of ISIS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A senior U.S. defense official told reporters Tuesday that U.S. forces would continue the defeat ISIS fight from Iraq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Turkey launched military operations Oct. 9 to rout U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters it believes are terrorists from northern Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Kyruer\/status\/1184018510835568641\">https:\/\/twitter.com\/Kyruer\/status\/1184018510835568641<\/a><\/blockquote><\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As U.S. forces make a grab for the exit in a hurry, reports and video coming in suggest U.S. troops are dumping equipment and leaving bases in tact while stripping sensitive items.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":84289,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,8,23,92,12,25,68,70],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3351],"class_list":["post-55791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-home","category-left-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-your-army"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"2D2NVZPACRHT5OX556ZWZFYZBQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/2019\/10\/16\/what-it-means-for-us-bases-in-syria-to-be-occupied-by-syrian-and-russian-forces\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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