EXCLUSIVE: Bolton’s hawkish Syria plan backfired, pushing Trump to get out. @attackerman and @KimDozier report: trib.al/Y3pavcj
@attackerman @KimDozier A fateful decision by John Bolton to expand the U.S.’s goals in Syria backfired, and is a key reason why Trump ordered a total withdrawal of U.S. troops, two senior administration officials told The Daily Beast trib.al/Y3pavcj
@attackerman @KimDozier Bolton in September added a second mission to the the already open-ended operation in Syria. In addition to destroying the so-called Islamic State, U.S. troops would stay in Syria indefinitely, forcing Iranian forces there to eventually withdraw trib.al/Y3pavcj
@attackerman @KimDozier Trump was willing to tolerate fighting ISIS, but was already uncomfortable with the duration of the war for that purpose trib.al/Y3pavcj
@attackerman @KimDozier Yet in September, Bolton effectively reshaped the war, with a new goal. “We're not going to leave as long as Iranian troops are outside Iranian borders and that includes Iranian proxies and militias,” he told reporters during the UN General Assembly trib.al/Y3pavcj
@attackerman @KimDozier “Bolton and [State Department’s envoy on Syria] Jeffrey repeatedly said U.S. forces are in Syria to counter Iran, but the president never signed off on that mission,” said one senior administration official thedailybeast.com/boltons-hawkis…
@attackerman @KimDozier Officials said the open-ended mission was provocative to Turkey, who saw confirmation of their suspicions that the U.S. was presiding over the de facto creation of a northeastern Syrian Kurdish mini-state on its border, a prospect it considered intolerable trib.al/Y3pavcj
