Report: U.S. Withdrawal from Syria Could Take Several Months

ABC News reports: A week after President Trump’s surprising announcement that he was withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria, the U.S. military is drafting a withdrawal plan that could have U.S. troops leaving over several months, according to U.S. officials, who stressed that no final decisions have been made about the planned pace of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria.

Over the weekend, Defense Secretary James Mattis signed an order that tasked U.S. Central Command with developing a withdrawal plan, but there was no timetable associated with the order.

Shortly after President Trump’s announcement last Wednesday, U.S. officials had said it was likely that the 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria could all be pulled out in 30 days. But officials say that as plans have been developed over the last week, the pace of withdrawal could be much slower.