The US national security team's campaign to sell the White Houses's exit plan as regards the Syrian conflict came to a grinding halt on Tuesday, when Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan refused to meet with John Bolton on behalf of the US to discuss its terms.

Explaining his decision not to meet with Bolton, President Erdogan criticized the conditions laid out by the White House as necessary for US withdrawal of roughly 2,000 troops, among which was the protection of US-allied Kurdish fighters.

Though the US intent to withdraw troops from Syria was announced by President Trump in December, the terms of doing do were not outlined until Monday. Speaking in Jerusalem, Bolton cemented US stance as Kurdish fighters in Syria are concerned, prompting Erdogan to criticize the protective precondition as "unacceptable" and a "serious mistake."

The protection of US-allied Kurds is but one of the preconditions sold as "pre-withdrawal objectives" on Monday.

Notable amongst these objectives is the final defeat of the Islamic State. Though this demand is certainly characteristic of the Trumpian agenda, Aaron Stein of the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia points to it as a source of administrative dissonance. Stein notes that President Trump has made his desire for immediate withdrawal from Syria clear; rather than enabling rapid exit, the national security team has made it contingent on a list of unlikely and implausible terms.

While Bolton was only slated to meet with Israeli and Turkish representatives, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will continue to proselytize the US stance in the Middle East as he meets with officials from 8 Arab states through January 15.