“We don’t think the Turks ought to undertake military action that’s not fully coordinated with and agreed to by the United States,” Bolton told reporters in Israel, ahead of a meeting this week in Turkey with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “So they don’t endanger our troops but also so that they meet the president’s requirement that the Syrian opposition forces that have fought with us are not endangered.”
Two weeks ago, after Trump announced the withdrawal plan, Turkey’s military began deploying hundreds of vehicles and troops in areas surrounding the northwestern Syrian town of Manbij that Ankara has long pushed the US to clear of Kurdish militant groups. Turkey has repeatedly vowed to capture Manbij and to extend its offensive against the Kurds eastwards, but US troops were a major obstacle.
Bolton’s clarification follows a backlash from US lawmakers and other nations that the Kurds’ fate was left in doubt by Trump’s surprise announcement last month that he would quickly withdraw. Trump has since indicated the withdrawal would be slower than initially suggested, although Bolton on Sunday rejected any specific timetable.
“This is a cause-and-effect mission,” Bolton said. “Timetables or the timing of the withdrawal occurs as a result of the fulfillment of the conditions and the establishment of the circumstances that we want to see. And once that’s done, then you talk about a timetable.”
Timetable Calculation
Bolton said the withdrawal from Syria would not involve setting a target date, as he said Barack Obama did in Afghanistan. “The primary point is we are going to withdraw from northeastern Syria,” he said.
Bolton asserted Trump’s broad authority to protect US interests “anywhere around the world.” Asked about the authority to maintain US forces at al-Tanf in Syria, Bolton said: “There’s plenty of legal justification about concern for the resurgence of Isis,” Bolton said.
‘Stand Fast’
Bolton on Sunday said the US guidance to the Kurds is “stand fast now.” While acknowledging meetings last week in Moscow with Russian and Turkish leaders, Bolton said, “My impression is those meetings in Moscow did not go well. I think they know who their friends are.”
Bolton spoke with reporters ahead of a day of meetings with Israeli political, intelligence and national security officials and a dinner with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Trump adviser began the morning with prayers at the Western Wall with US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer. The men also toured the tunnels that extend under and beyond the wall and the Old City. Palestinians are concerned that Israelis will use the excavations to further their claim to contested parts of Jerusalem.
Wall Tour
During a portion of the tour Bolton donned special goggles for a virtual-reality visualization of the Old City as it might have appeared centuries ago. Bolton also signed the guestbook for the Wall in a portion of the tunnels under the old Muslim Quarter, writing, “This is a great accomplishment to uncover all of this history, from the very start of our common Western Civilization. Best wishes for all your efforts!”
Meanwhile, Friedman acknowledged the Trump administration’s long-promised Mideast peace plan is “pretty much completed” but may not be released until after Israeli elections in April.
“I would say within the next several months,” Friedman said when asked about the release. “We want to release it a way that gives it the best chance of getting a good reception.”
Israel’s elections “are a factor, but not the only factor,” he said. “The challenge to a peace plan is making the case for a much more sober assessment of the realities in this region,” he said. “The last time there was a meaningful agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians was 1993. A lot has happened since 1993.”