US To “Evacuate” Remaining Troops From Syria [VIDEO]

CBS News reports:

The U.S. is “preparing to evacuate” about 1,000 U.S. troops from northern Syria “as safely and quickly as possible,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper told “Face the Nation” in an interview Sunday.

The move comes a week after President Trump announced the repositioning of several dozen American troops embedded with Kurdish forces in northern Syria, opening the door for a Turkish offensive against the Syrian Defense Forces (SDF), the main U.S. allies in the fight against ISIS.

“In the last 24 hours, we learned that [the Turks] likely intend to extend their attack further south than originally planned, and to the west,” Esper said. “We also have learned in the last 24 hours that the … SDF are looking to cut a deal, if you will, with the Syrians and the Russians to counterattack against the Turks in the north.”

BREAKING: Defense Sec. Esper: President Trump has directed “a deliberate withdrawal of forces from northern Syria,” as the US has learned that Turkey plans to “expand their attack further south than originally planned and to the west.”https://t.co/eoydgUbvjk

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) October 13, 2019

Defense Secretary Mark Esper: “The Turks now intend to go further south [in Syria] than originally expected and to go both west and east.” @FoxNewsSunday

— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) October 13, 2019

Trump has directed a deliberate withdrawal of U.S. troops from northern Syria in advance of an expected increase in military action in the region, U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper says https://t.co/YpfxIVujry

— Bloomberg (@business) October 13, 2019

Turkey’s membership in NATO on the hook?

US Secretary of Defense Esper:

“I warned [Turkey] that if they do this incursion … it will damage US relations with Turkey, their staying in NATO.”pic.twitter.com/iEcKisHfNa

— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) October 13, 2019

WATCH: Sec of Defense Mark Esper reacts to news that Trump has authorized a “deliberate withdraw” from Norther Syria. #FNS #FoxNews pic.twitter.com/4UJEgmPCz4

— FoxNewsSunday (@FoxNewsSunday) October 13, 2019

The president told reporters yesterday that “we have no soldiers in Syria.” This is probably news to the 1,000 soldiers in Syria. https://t.co/JfXXBWJA2v

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) October 11, 2019