Why is the US gathering an anti-Daesh coalition as it withdraws from Syria?

A 74-nation coalition is discussing the complete defeat of Daesh in Iraq and Syria for the first time in four years, amid efforts from the US to pull its military out of Syria.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivers opening remarks at the Meeting of the Ministers of the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh at the Department of State in Washington, DC, on February 6, 2019.
AFP

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivers opening remarks at the Meeting of the Ministers of the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh at the Department of State in Washington, DC, on February 6, 2019.

The United States is bringing a 74-nation coalition together at the White House in the first major meeting in four years, despite the Trump administration’s decision the pull its military personnel out of Syria. Five international organisations will also attend the conference, the White House said.

Here’s everything you need to know about the coalition and the important issues likely to be discussed during the conference.

Why was the coalition founded?

The previous US president Barack Obama brought together an international coalition to fight against Daesh in September 2014, when Daesh captured wide swathes of Syria and Iraq.

The military mission of the coalition was described by Obama as stemming the flow of foreign fighters; working to cut off the group’s access to funding; working to combat its toxic messaging; and the provision of humanitarian assistance to the displaced.

In four years, the US carried out 31,406 airstrikes on Daesh positions with the support of coalition partners including the UK and France, largely leading to the defeat of the group in both Iraq and Syria. According to the coalition’s report in December 2018, the US-led air strikes also killed over 1,000 civilians in Syria and Iraq, although many experts believe the true number to be much higher.

Meanwhile, Russia also began carrying out airstrikes in the country against opposition-held areas in support of the Syrian regime. Moscow’s intervention saved the Assad regime from certain defeat.

On the ground, the US has begun supporting the PKK’s Syrian affiliate, the YPG, to fight against Daesh in the country.

Obama’s decision drew the ire of Syria’s neighbour and NATO ally Turkey, which joined the coalition to fight against Daesh. Turkey alongside the EU, NATO and the US, considers the PKK a terrorist organisation responsible for the more than 40,000 deaths.

In 2015, the US founded the YPG-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to fight against Daesh. As a defeated Daesh has been pushed into deserted areas in the country, the YPG took over.

Why is the coalition coming together again four years later?

There have been changes in US foreign policy in Syria, especially under the presidency of Donald Trump.

On December 19, the US disclosed its plans to withdraw its military from Syria, despite the Pentagon’s previous plans to keep its troops in the country.

Four years after starting to lead the coalition, now the US says it has done its part.

“It is time to begin bringing our troops in Syria home and for countries in the region to step up their commitments to destroy ISIS [Daesh] remnants and prevent their return,” a White House statement said on Tuesday.

Shortly before the Trump administration’s decision, Turkey revealed its plan to carry out an operation to the east of the Euphrates river in Syria against the PKK terrorist network.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would also “walk into” Manbij if the US didn’t remove the YPG from the northern city, which lies in a mainly Arab territory west of the Euphrates in Syria, and send them back to the eastern bank of the river.

According to newspaper reports, Trump’s decision was made during a telephone conversation with Erdogan in mid-December, in which Erdogan explained Turkey's long-standing concerns over Washington's support to the YPG. Erdogan and Trump agreed on the coordination of the US forces’ withdrawal in order to prevent a power vacuum. 

In contradicting statements, the Pentagon officials and Trump later said the US fight against Daesh would continue. 

Meanwhile, the Trump administration asked its European allies to help set up a buffer zone between Turkey and the US-backed YPG -- an offer that Turkey is suspicious of. 

“We cannot accept any proposal other than a safe-zone model under Turkey’s control, to which other countries only provide logistical support,” Erdogan said in a speech on his party’s website.

"We can provide the security in the area. We can manage the region together with you [the US coalition]," Erdogan reiterated Turkey's stance on Sunday in an interview with TRT Haber. 

"No problem there. But we can't leave the region for coalition forces."

The buffer zone issue is likely to be discussed during the meeting as well as the fate of Daesh foreign fighters captured by the PKK/SDF, who the State Department said should be returned to their own countries to go through the legal processes.

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