FILE - In this June 7, 2017 file photo, Brett McGurk, the U.S. envoy for the global coalition against IS, speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Embassy Baghdad, Iraq. McGurk has resigned in protest to President Donald 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. AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

FILE - In this June 7, 2017 file photo, Brett McGurk, the U.S. envoy for the global coalition against IS, speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Embassy Baghdad, Iraq. McGurk has resigned in protest to President Donald 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. AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Brett McGurk, the U.S. envoy to the global coalition fighting the Islamic State group, has resigned in protest over President Donald Trump’s abrupt decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, joining Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in an administration exodus of experienced national security figures. McGurk described Trump’s decision as a “shock.”

Only 11 days ago, McGurk had said it would be “reckless” to consider IS defeated and therefore would be unwise to bring American forces home. McGurk decided to speed up his original plan to leave his post in mid-February.

“The recent decision by the president came as a shock and was a complete reversal of policy,” he said in an email to his staff viewed by The Associated Press. “It left our coalition partners confused and our fighting partners bewildered with no plan in place or even considered thought as to consequences.”

McGurk, who was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2015 and retained by Trump, said in his resignation letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that the militants were on the run, but not yet defeated, and that the premature pullout of U.S. forces from Syria would create the conditions that gave rise to IS.

The letter was submitted Friday and described to the AP on Saturday by an official familiar with its contents. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly before the letter was released and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Trump played down the development, tweeting Saturday night that “I do not know” the envoy and it’s a “nothing event.” He noted McGurk planned to leave soon anyway and added: “Grandstander?”

“I have no idea who that person is. Never heard of him ... until yesterday,” Trump’s acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.

Shortly after news of McGurk’s resignation broke, Trump again defended his decision to pull all of the roughly 2,000 U.S. forces from Syria in the coming weeks.

“We were originally going to be there for three months, and that was seven years ago - we never left,” Trump tweeted. “When I became President, ISIS was going wild. Now ISIS is largely defeated and other local countries, including Turkey, should be able to easily take care of whatever remains. We’re coming home!”

Although the civil war in Syria has gone on since 2011, the U.S. did not begin launching airstrikes against IS until September 2014, and American troops did not go into Syria until 2015.

McGurk, whose resignation is effective Dec. 31, was planning to leave the job in mid-February after a U.S.-hosted meeting of foreign ministers from the coalition countries, but he felt he could continue no longer after Trump’s decision to withdraw from Syria and Mattis’ resignation.

In his email to his staff, McGurk said: “I worked this week to help manage some of the fallout, but — as many of you heard in my many meetings and phone calls — I ultimately concluded that I could not carry out these new instructions and maintain my integrity at the same time.”

Trump’s declaration of a victory over IS has been roundly contradicted by his own experts’ assessments, and his decision to pull troops out was widely denounced by members of Congress, who called his action rash.

Mattis, perhaps the most respected foreign policy official in the administration, announced on Thursday that he will leave by the end of February. He told Trump in a letter that he was departing because “you have a right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours.”

The withdrawal decision will fulfill Trump’s goal of bringing troops home from Syria, but military leaders have pushed back for months, arguing that the IS group remains a threat and could regroup in Syria’s long-running civil war. U.S. policy has been to keep troops in place until the extremists are eradicated.

Among officials’ key concerns is that a U.S. pullout will leave U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces vulnerable to attacks by Turkey, the Syrian government and remaining IS fighters. The SDF, a Kurdish-led force, is America’s only military partner in Syria

McGurk said at a State Department briefing on Dec. 11 that “it would be reckless if we were just to say, ‘Well, the physical caliphate is defeated, so we can just leave now.’”

McGurk, 45, previously served as a deputy assistant secretary of state for Iraq and Iran. During the negotiations for the Iran nuclear deal by the Obama administration, he led secret side talks with Tehran on the release of Americans imprisoned there.

McGurk was briefly considered for the post of ambassador to Iraq after having served as a senior official covering Iraq and Afghanistan during President George W. Bush’s administration.

A former Supreme Court law clerk to the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist, McGurk worked as a lawyer for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and joined Bush’s National Security Council staff, where in 2007 and 2008, he was the lead U.S. negotiator on security agreements with Iraq.

Taking over for now for McGurk will be his deputy, retired Lt. Gen. Terry Wolff, who served three tours of active duty in Iraq.

IS militants still hold a string of villages and towns along the Euphrates River in eastern Syria, where they have resisted weeks of attacks by the U.S.-supported Syrian Democratic Forces to drive them out. The pocket is home to about 15,000 people, among them 2,000 IS fighters, according to U.S. military estimates.

But that figure could be as high as 8,000 militants, if fighters hiding out in the deserts south of the Euphrates River are also counted, according to according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict through networks of local informants.</s>Image copyright AFP Image caption Mr McGurk (L) had previously said the US should retain a presence in Syria

A top US official in the fight against so-called Islamic State group has quit over President Donald Trump's decision to pull troops from Syria.

Brett McGurk, the US special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat IS, brought his departure forward from February.

Before Mr Trump's announcement he had insisted that the US would continue working against IS in Syria.

Mr Trump described Mr McGurk's resignation as a "nothing event".

Mr McGurk's decision to quit follows the resignation of Defence Secretary Jim Mattis on Thursday.

Gen Mattis had also opposed withdrawing troops from Syria as well as reducing the US presence in Afghanistan.

Mr McGurk, 45, is an experienced diplomat who was appointed to his current role in 2015 under the Obama administration.

In early December he told reporters: "We want to stay on the ground and make sure that stability can be maintained in these areas."

He 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."

What did McGurk say about his resignation?

In his resignation letter, seen by AP news agency, Mr McGurk said that IS militants in Syria were on the run but not yet defeated. He said that withdrawing US forces from Syria would create the conditions that gave rise to IS.

In an email to staff quoted by the New York Times, he said Mr Trump's decision to pull out troops "came as a shock and was a complete reversal of policy". It "left our coalition partners confused and our fighting partners bewildered", he said.

"I ultimately concluded I could not carry out these new instructions and maintain my integrity," he went on to say.

What does Trump say?

Mr Trump announced his decision to withdraw some 2,000 US troops from Syria on Wednesday, asserting that IS had been defeated.

On Saturday, he continued to insist that the decision to pull out was the right one and that, now that IS was defeated on the ground, other players could take care of the situation.

However, important allies including senior Republicans and foreign powers have disputed the claim and say the move could lead to a resurgence of IS.

A Kurdish-led alliance, the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) has also warned that IS could recover.

US troops have helped rid much of Syria's north-east of the jihadist group, but pockets of fighters remain.

A recent US report said there were still as many as 14,000 IS militants in Syria and even more in neighbouring Iraq.

What is the US presence in Syria?

US ground troops first became involved in Syria in autumn 2015 when then-President Barack Obama sent in a small number of special forces to train and advise local Kurdish fighters who were fighting IS.

The US did this reluctantly after several attempts at arming anti-IS groups had descended into chaos.

Over the intervening years the numbers of US troops in Syria increased, standing today at some 2,000, though some estimates place the number perhaps even higher.

A network of bases and airstrips has been established in an arc across the north-eastern part of the country.

The US has also been part of an international coalition conducting air strikes against IS and other militants.</s>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Brett McGurk, the special envoy for the global coalition to defeat Islamic State, submitted his resignation on Friday, effective Dec. 31, a U.S. State Department official said on Saturday.

A person familiar with the matter said McGurk has quit because he objected to President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out U.S. troops from Syria, a decision followed by the resignation of U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis a day later. CBS reported McGurk’s resignation earlier on Saturday.</s>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Brett McGurk, U.S. special envoy for the global coalition to defeat ISIS, submitted his resignation on Friday, CBS reported on Saturday citing sources, ahead of his departure planned in February.

McGurk’s resignation came as a result of “strong disagreement” with President Donald Trump’s decision to pull U.S. troops out of Syria, CBS reported, and a day after Trump’s Defense Secretary Jim Mattis quit on the back of same decision.</s>Brett McGurk, U.S. special envoy for the global coalition to defeat Daesh, submitted his resignation on Friday, CBS reported on Saturday citing sources, ahead of his departure planned in February.

McGurk's resignation came as a result of "strong disagreement" with President Donald Trump's decision to pull U.S. troops out of Syria, CBS reported, and a day after Trump's Defense Secretary Jim Mattis quit on the back of same decision.

A U.S. State Department official later confirmed McGurk's resignation and said it will take effect from December 31.

McGurk worked under the past three administrations, becoming one of the few persons appointed by former President Barack Obama to keep his post under U.S. President Donald Trump. He also served under the Bush administration.

The envoy had originally planned to leave his post in 2019 but decided to accelerate his resignation over strong disagreements with Trump over the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, the news channel reported quoting anonymous sources.

McGurk's resignation comes as a surprise because the envoy had told reporters at the State Department that the U.S. was going to remain committed to the fight against Daesh terrorist forces last week.

"Nobody is declaring a mission accomplished. Defeating a physical caliphate is one phase of a much longer-term campaign," McGurk told reporters.

McGurk sent in his resignation on Friday, a day after Secretary of Defense James Mattis quit saying his views were not aligned with the president. Mattis will end his post in February.

On Wednesday, Washington announced it will be withdrawing all of its troops from Syria, following a conversation between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and U.S. counterpart Trump over an imminent Turkish cross-border operation to eliminate PKK-affiliated People's Protection Units (YPG) from northern Syria.

It has been reported that the U.S. still has about 2,000 troops in Syria, many of whom are working in close cooperation with Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Almost all the territory in the east of the Euphrates River comprising some one-third of the territory of Syria, except for the Assad regime-controlled area near Deir el-Zour and the Daesh-held area near the Iraqi border, is controlled by the SDF. The SDF also controls the districts of Manbij and Tabqah on the right bank of the river.

Due to the group's links with the PKK, Ankara has called the YPG-held areas a "terror corridor" and said repeatedly it will not allow the region to turn into an autonomous region administered by the terrorist group.</s>WASHINGTON — Brett McGurk, the special presidential envoy for the global coalition to counter ISIS, submitted his resignation Friday because of President Donald Trump’s decision to pull US forces out of Syria, according to a senior administration official.

McGurk had previously said privately that he was going to leave the administration in February of next year.

A State Department official told CNN that McGurk had informed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday that he was resigning effective December 31.

CBS News was the first to report the news of McGurk’s resignation, which came one day after Defense Secretary James Mattis resigned, also in part due to the Syria decision.

Going against the advice of his military and national security advisers, Trump on Wednesday announced the “full” and “rapid” withdrawal of US military from Syria, declaring that the US has defeated ISIS.

Sources familiar with the matter said McGurk was frustrated over Trump’s sudden announcement, which was the opposite of the strategy he had just been briefing coalition partners on while in the region: to stay in Syria, fight ISIS and counter Iran.

According to the sources, McGurk viewed the Syria decision as reckless and couldn’t defend it, let alone execute it. The sources said Mattis’s resignation also played a part in the timing of McGurk’s resignation.

Earlier this month, McGurk said US forces would remain in Syria even after ISIS was defeated.

“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,” he said during a State Department briefing on December 11.

He added, “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.”

McGurk was one of the few Obama administration holdovers to serve in the current administration. He also served under President George W. Bush.

When McGurk was initially going to leave theTrump administration in February, he was planning a move to a position at Stanford University, sources said.</s>The US envoy to forces fighting to defeat Islamic State has resigned over Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw American troops from Syria.

Brett McGurk’s resignation follows that of Trump’s defense secretary, James Mattis, who announced his departure this week. The special presidential envoy for the global coalition to defeat Isis since 2015 was one of few Obama appointees to stay on under Trump.

CBS News first reported McGurk’s move. Citing anonymous sources, it said he had planned to leave his post in February but had brought it forward due to a “strong disagreement” with the president’s decision. He will now quit at the end of this month. The Associated Press said McGurk’s resignation letter to the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, had been described to its reporters.

Mattis resigned on Thursday, issuing a letter of resignation that was implicitly strongly critical of Trump, and reportedly angered the president. It was reported on Friday that the defense secretary quit after Trump made the decision to withdraw from Syria during a conversation with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

CBS said McGurk was in the region for talks with US Kurdish allies when Trump announced his decision. The Kurds fear attack by Turkey if around 2,000 US troops stationed in Syria are withdrawn.

On 11 December, McGurk told reporters at the state department he thought it was “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”.

He said then it would be “reckless” to consider Isis to have been defeated, a claim repeatedly made by Trump.

On Saturday, Trump defended his decision on Twitter, writing that US troops had meant to be in Syria “for three months, and that was seven years ago – we never left”.

He continued: “When I became president, Isis was going wild. Now Isis is largely defeated and other local countries, including Turkey, should be able to easily take care of whatever remains. We’re coming home!”</s>President Donald Trump on Saturday defended his decision to withdraw US forces from Syria after his envoy to the coalition fighting the Islamic State terror organization resigned in protest.

"When I became President, ISIS was going wild. Now ISIS is largely defeated and other local countries, including Turkey, should be able to easily take care of whatever remains. We're coming home!" the US president tweeted.

Trump's remarks came just hours after CBS and the Washington Post reported that the special US envoy to the anti-Islamic State (IS) coalition, Brett McGurk, presented his resignation in protest against the White House decision.

McGurk had planned to leave his post in February 2019, but on Friday told the State Department he wanted to leave the administration earlier, a move that will take effect next Dec. 31 according to the WaPo, which cited a US diplomatic official.

Considered the architect of US strategy against the IS, McGurk has worked for former Presidents George W. Bush, whom he advised on Iraq and Afghanistan, and Barack Obama, who named him special envoy to the anti-Jihadism coalition.

McGurk's decision follows the resignation this week of Gen. James Mattis as defense secretary and comes after US President Donald Trump proclaimed the defeat of the IS in Syria and announced the withdrawal of the 2,000 US troops deployed in that country as part of an international coalition.</s>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. envoy leading a global coalition fighting Islamic State has quit over President Donald Trump’s decision this week to pull U.S. troops out of Syria, a source familiar with the matter said on Saturday.

Brett McGurk, U.S. special presidential envoy for the global coalition to defeat Islamic State, submitted his resignation effective Dec. 31 to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday, a State Department official said.

Trump announced on Wednesday that Washington would withdraw the roughly 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria, upending a pillar of American policy in the Middle East and alarming U.S. allies. The decision was followed on Thursday by the surprise departure of U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis.

McGurk, who was slated to leave his post in February 2019, objected to Trump’s flash Syria decision, a person familiar with the matter said, and Mattis’ departure also helped prompt McGurk’s early resignation.</s>Brett McGurk, U.S. special envoy for the global coalition to defeat Daesh, submitted his resignation on Friday, CBS reported on Saturday citing sources, ahead of his departure planned in February.

McGurk's resignation came as a result of "strong disagreement" with President Donald Trump's decision to pull U.S. troops out of Syria, CBS reported, and a day after Trump's Defense Secretary Jim Mattis quit on the back of same decision.

A U.S. State Department official later confirmed McGurk's resignation and said it will take effect from December 31.

On Wednesday, Washington announced it will be withdrawing all of its troops from Syria, following a conversation between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and U.S. counterpart Trump over an imminent Turkish cross-border operation to eliminate PKK-affiliated People's Protection Units (YPG) from northern Syria.

It has been reported that the U.S. still has about 2,000 troops in Syria, many of whom are working in close cooperation with Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Almost all the territory in the east of the Euphrates River comprising some one-third of the territory of Syria, except for the Assad regime-controlled area near Deir el-Zour and the Daesh-held area near the Iraqi border, is controlled by the SDF. The SDF also controls the districts of Manbij and Tabqah on the right bank of the river.

Due to the group's links with the PKK, Ankara has called the YPG-held areas a "terror corridor" and said repeatedly it will not allow the region to turn into an autonomous region administered by the terrorist group.
The United States Department of State confirms Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL Brett McGurk's resignation, effective December 31. President Trump describes the resignation as a "nothing event".