Mattis Resignation Intensifies Information War To Reverse US Syria Exit - Ex-CIA Officer

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd December, 2018) President Donald Trump's decision to pull all US troops out of northern Syria, where they have supported Kurdish rebels, has already set off a political crusade to force him to reverse the move, retired CIA case officer Phil Giraldi told Sputnik.

"It means that the intense pressure from the establishment to reverse the Trump decision on Syria has begun," Giraldi, who also served in US Army counter-intelligence, said.

Trump announced plans this week to pull 2,000 US troops out of northern Syria, where they have been backing Kurdish rebels in the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). He has also ordered the withdrawal of about half of the 14,000 US forces in Afghanistan, according to media reports.

The planned withdrawals - which are opposed by many Republicans and Democrats in Congress - prompted the resignation of Secretary of Defense James Mattis on Thursday.

The US mainstream media too is united in opposing Trump's efforts to reduce middle East tensions, Giraldi, a member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity that comprises former employees of the CIA, NSA, FBI, military intelligence and other US agencies, observed.

"The media today was all hostile as was the chattering class and the punditry. The neocons are all already on board witness the op-eds appearing already," Giraldi said.

Over the coming weeks, pressure on the president to reverse his pull out decision will continue to intensify, Giraldi predicted.

"There will be much, much more to come from all directions to include much of the Republican Party and all the friends of Israel," he said.

Trump lacked the political experience and skill to withstand the pressures he was about to face on the issue, Giraldi cautioned.

"Trump's ability to persevere has to be in question as he does not have the political skill to pull together all the elements who believe, as I do, that it was the right decision," he said.

Philip Giraldi is executive director of the Council for the National Interest, a group that advocates more even-handed US government policies in the Middle East.