President Trump contends that his withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Syria will serve American interests without compromising the critical interests of close allies. One Syrian town is about to test that thesis.
Namely, the situation in the northern-central city of Manbij. If Trump fails to exert U.S. leverage in relation to Manbij, that city will become a marker for his version of former President Barack Obama’s red-line chemical weapons debacle in Syria. Located just west of the Euphrates river and about 50 miles northeast of Aleppo, Manbij is currently controlled by U.S.-allied Kurdish forces. But now that Trump has ordered a withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria, other forces are moving in on Manbij. These elements know that controlling the city means controlling the access routes to Aleppo, to Turkey, and across the Euphrates to Ain Issa and the Kurdish strongholds farther east. In short, Manbij is a strategic gemstone.
