The New York Times confirmed Thursday that the Pentagon has begun withdrawing hundreds of troops from Syria but will leave over 1,000 in the country for the time being, following prior reports from earlier in the week

This means the occupation will be significantly reduced, but will still be fundamentally in place, in the vicinity of Syria's only oil and gas production sites which historically met the population's domestic needs. "The United States has started drawing down hundreds of troops from northeastern Syria, a reflection of the shifting security environment in the country since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad in December, but also a move that carries risks," says the NY Times.

US officials told the Times that three of eight American bases will bring shut down, and that troop levels will be brought down to 1,400 from around 2,000. The Pentagon had for years misled the public on the true numbers of troops there.

The next phase is planned for 60 days out - that's when US military commanders and Trump admin officials will newly assess the situation and possibly order another draw down.

The bases which are being shuttered have been identified as the Mission Support Site Green Village, the MSS Euphrates and a third much smaller facility, according to the Times report. Congress has never voted on sending troops to Syria, or the enduring occupation.

New video footage has confirmed the fresh draw down from northern Syria...

Syria analyst Charles Lister: "This video from today shows a huge U.S. military disengagement from Deir ez Zour is underway — with bases at Conoco, Green Village/Omar being withdrawn to the northeast."

President Trump during his first administration wanted to see US forces pulled out of Syria, and the situation has drastically changed since then, with the ouster of Assad on December 8 and the Kurdish-Damascus deal for integration. Washington was a prime driver in covert operations pushing for regime change, which began all the way back in 2011 and 2012.

We reported earlier that the US-backed Kurdish-led SDF in eastern and northern Syria recently began handing over control of some areas in the northern Aleppo province to government forces led al-Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, under an integration agreement with Damascus.