Brett McGurk, the U.S. envoy to the global coalition fighting the Islamic State group, has resigned in protest to President Trump’s abrupt decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, joining Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in an administration exodus of experienced national security officials.
Only 11 days ago, McGurk had said it would be “reckless” to consider ISIS defeated and therefore would be unwise to bring American forces home.
McGurk said in his resignation letter that the militants were on the run, but not yet defeated, and that the premature pullout of American forces from Syria would create the conditions that gave rise to ISIS.
The special envoy was publicly left in the lurch by the president’s sudden declaration on Wednesday that he was pulling U.S. forces out of Syria, against the advice of his top national security advisers and without consulting U.S. allies.
As leader of the counter ISIS mission, McGurk had been in the region to meet with coalition partners including Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani last week when Trump made his sudden decision to pull U.S. support.
According to Barzani’s office, he had raised concern about the fate of Kurds in Syria including the Kurdish-led group of fighters known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
They have been the ground troops in the fight against ISIS and receive help from U.S. advisers, weapons and air strikes.
It is now unclear what will happen to those fighters after the U.S. troops withdraw, and whether the U.S. will continue to carry out air strikes in support of them.
Just days earlier, McGurk had stood at the State Department podium to guarantee an ongoing U.S. commitment to the fight. He told reporters that ISIS inhabited just one percent of the territory they once held thanks to the success of the U.S.-led campaign but still maintained a dangerous level of influence.
“I think it’s fair to say Americans will remain on the ground after the physical defeat of the caliphate, until we have the pieces in place to ensure that that defeat is enduring.”
McGurk went on to say, “it would be reckless if we were just to say, well, the physical caliphate is defeated, so we can just leave now. I think anyone who’s looked at a conflict like this would agree with that.”
At the time he made those remarks, the Trump administration’s policy was to remain in Syria to help stabilize areas under the control of U.S. allies and until Iran pulled out its militias.
American allies were shocked to learn via tweet that the U.S. was pulling out.
McGurk has led U.S. efforts to counter the influence of ISIS on the battlegrounds of Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond since 2015.
He was one of the few Obama appointees asked by the Trump team to remain in his post. Prior to that, he served in the Bush administration.
McGurk also led the successful and controversial secret negotiations with Iran that led to the 2016 release of American prisoners, including Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian.