President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops from Syria risks shattering a cornerstone of Washington’s Middle East policy by allowing Iran to consolidate a “land bridge” to the Mediterranean. The much-bandied about scenario that sees Iran redrawing the regional map by entrenching a land corridor across Iraq, Syria and Lebanon is becoming a reality, analysts say. Critics of Trump’s decision argue that for all his fiercely anti-Iranian stance, he has just gifted Tehran a decades-old strategic goal.
