Saturday, December 22, 2018

Top US Envoy for Coalition against IS Resigns; Upset with Trump's Troop Withdrawal in Syria

Brett McGurk, the top U.S. envoy to the International coalition fighting the Islamic State (IS), has resigned in protest of President Trump's decision to abruptly withdraw all U.S. troops from Syria, the Washington Post website reports today (December 22, 2018).

His resignation comes on the heels of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis's announced departure this week because of differences with the White House over foreign policy, immediately following Trump's decision.

McGurk's departure is effective December 31.

Earlier this month, McGurk said that the Islamic State was far from defeated despite its loss of territory. "Nobody working on these issues day to day is complacent. Nobody is declaring a mission accomplished," McGurk said at a State Department briefing. "Defeating a physical caliphate is one phase of a much longer-term campaign."

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