Pentagon defends Syria withdrawal

The Defense Department is defending President Trump's decision to pull 2,000 US troops out of Syria, tweeting on Friday (Dec. 28) that the withdrawal is "deliberate, well thought-out, mutually supportive, and controlled," ABC News reported.

The department also called the withdrawal the "next phase" of US support to the US-led coalition's operations in Syria, but did not provide further detail about what that support looks like.

The tweet was a markedly firm defense of the president's announcement last week that he would pull all US troops out, shocking top US officials, allies, and partners. The decision to withdraw ran counter to State Department and Defense Department messaging on US policy in Syria, and led to the resignation of Secretary of Defense James Mattis and the top US envoy in the fight against ISIS.

The tweet did not specify which parties were "mutually supportive" of the decision to withdraw US troops, but critics of the decision have raised concerns about the abandonment of the US-backed Kurdish militias who were integral to the coalition's fight against ISIS but who Turkey considers to be an element of an insurgent group.

Trump's decision to withdraw US troops originated from a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Dec. 14 in which Erdogan reportedly promised to finish off the fight against ISIS in Syria if the US pulled out its forces.