Will a reduction in US forces in the area lead to a power vacuum? Is the new Syrian army prepared to assume the security responsibilities necessary in the desert area where Tanf is located?

In 2018, the head of US Central Command made a surprise visit to a lonely outpost of America’s war against ISIS. General Joseph Votel visited the Tanf garrison in southern Syria. This was a base where several hundred American troops were training Arab fighters against ISIS. At the time, many people hadn’t heard of Tanf and didn’t know what the US was doing there, or how US troops ended up in southern Syria in the first place.