Leah Millis/Reuters
The U.S. will reportedly ask European leaders to contribute troops to northeastern Syria in order to create a “buffer zone” as U.S. troops withdraw from the region, The Washington Post reported. “I’m hoping that President Trump will be coming to some of you and asking for your help and you will say yes,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said in remarks to the Munich Security Conference. “And in return, the capability that we have that is unique to the United States will still be in the fight in Syria.”
He reportedly told the audience that Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will also make troop requests from European leaders during the conference. Officials told the Post that the Pentagon ideally wants European countries to contribute a total of 1,500 soldiers. If that number is reached, Trump will reportedly be willing to keep about 200 soldiers in the region to provide intelligence, command, and control support. “We need a safe zone to deal with that problem. The troops in that safe zone need to watch for the reemergence of ISIS,” Graham reportedly said. “You can do this with a fraction of the forces that you had in the past.”