an immediate withdrawal of troops from that war-torn nation. watch this. we re going to be removing our troops. i never said we re doing it that quickly. we won t be finally pulled out until isis is gone. how long is the pullout period? going quickly. so the administration appearing to pump the brakes. national security adviser telling reporters in israel earlier today that the u.s. won t pull out of syria with a pledge from turkey not to attack the kurds in the region. for more i welcome nbc terrorism analyst malcolm nantz. we are a long way way from december 19th when the president announced he would pull forces out of syria and now walking that back. what do you think happened here behind the scenes? well, you never know what happens behind the scenes with donald trump, because any strategic planning which could have occurred at the joint chiefs level or political discussions that have occurred throughout nato and nato allies
could be superseded by one phone call from president erdogan a private call from vladimir putin. you never know. even netanyahu could have him reverse his own policies. but one thing that s very dangerous here is to understand that a pledge from the president erdogan of turkey is built on air. he can have wait until the very day u.s. forces leave. wait 24 hours and not commit and then carry out a massive incursion against the kurds. so you know, president trump is going on these private relationships to make these deals, and it s just going to end in bloodshed and death. talk to me about bolton s announcement, malcolm, that the u.s. will lead a koconditional withdrawal based on the syrians not being attacked by the turks? based on a phone call we really don t know what was