Middle East

With US leaving, rival powers seek to move into Syria's east

Associated Press
Published | Updated

FILE -- In this April 4, 2018 file photo, a U.S. soldier stands in a newly installed position near the front line between the U.S-backed Syrian Manbij Military Council and the Turkish-backed fighters, in Manbij, north Syria. The planned U.S. troop withdrawal opens a void in the north and east of Syria, and the conflicts and rivalries among all the powers in the Middle East are converging to fill it. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

FILE - This Wednesday, April 4, 2018, file photo shows a U.S. position, installed near the tense front line between the U.S-backed Syrian Manbij Military Council and the Turkish-backed fighters, in Manbij, north Syria. The planned U.S. troop withdrawal opens a void in the north and east of Syria, and the conflicts and rivalries among all the powers in the Middle East are converging to fill it. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

The planned U.S. troop withdrawal opens up a void in the north and east of Syria, and the conflicts and rivalries among all the powers in the Middle East are converging to fill it.

The sudden American decision to pull out its 2,000 troops has forced a reassessment of old alliances and partnerships. The Syrian government, the Kurds, Russia, Iran, Israel and Turkey have all had a hand in the country's nearly eight-year war — each in a way, fighting its own war for its own reasons within Syria.

Now all of those conflicts play out in the strategically important territory that was once the Islamic State group's foothold in Syria but is now being abandoned by the Americans, creating new tensions, potential chaos and bloodshed.