US envoy to anti-ISIS coalition quits over Trump’s Syria move

Brett McGurk, the US envoy to the global coalition fighting ISIS, has resigned in protest to President Donald Trump’s abrupt decision to withdraw US troops from Syria.

McGurk joins Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in an exodus of experienced national security officials.

Only 11 days ago, McGurk had said it’d be “reckless” to consider IS defeated and therefore would be unwise to bring American forces home. He decided to speed up his plan to leave in mid-February.

His resignation letter, submitted Friday to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, was described to The Associated Press on Saturday by an official familiar with its contents. The official was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter before the letter was released and spoke on condition of anonymity.