«We have American forces likely caught between two opposing, advancing armies and it’s a very untenable situation. I spoke with the President last night, after discussions with the rest of the national security team, and he directed that we begin a deliberate withdrawal of forces from northern Syria,» Esper said on CBS’ «Face the Nation.» «Which is where most of our forces are.»

In explaining the decision, Esper also said that «in the last 24 hours» the US had learned that America’s primary ally in the fight against ISIS, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, were «looking to cut a deal» with the Syrian regime and their Russian backers in order to «counter attack against the Turks in the north,» something the SDF leadership had told America it would do in the absence of US assistance in the face of Turkish attacks.