Cornyn taking heat for words on pullout of troops in Syria
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has come under fire for saying that President Donald Trump was right in pulling troops out of Syria if Turkey was “trying to ethnically cleanse the Kurds.”
“I wish there had been more consultation with Congress and others — our allies in the region,” Cornyn told reporters Wednesday. “But I don’t know, if Turkey was planning on coming into northern Syria and trying to ethnically cleanse the Kurds and U.S. troops were caught in the middle, I’m not completely convinced that it was a bad idea to get them out of harm’s way.
Trump pulled U.S. troops out of northern Syria on Oct. 13 as Turkish forces launched an assault on Kurds who helped American fight the Islamic State group.
Cornyn on Thursday acknowledged he “wasn’t very clear” in his initial comments, explaining he believes that “if the U.S. isn’t committed to staying in Syria, getting our troops out of harm’s way where they might be injured or killed during the inevitable conflict between the Turks and the Kurds was something I was concerned about.”
Nonetheless, Democrats hoping 2020 is their year to unseat the longtime Texas Republican pounced on what they called his “disgusting comments.”
“Those of us in the armed forces did not put on the uniform to ‘get out of the way’ of ethnic cleansing,” said former Air Force pilot MJ Hegar, one of nearly a dozen Democrats vying to challenge Cornyn. “If John Cornyn doesn’t have the stomach for national security, then he’s the one who should get out of the way and let those of us who do understand what it means to lead the free world take it from here.”
Manny Garcia, Texas Democratic Party executive director, said that with Cornyn’s comments, the senator “has proven once again that he will stop at absolutely nothing to defend his partisan political allies in Washington, even if it means jeopardizing our national security.”
Cornyn has remained mostly supportive of the president’s move — saying he believes that Trump was “doing the best he can to protect American lives” — even as many of his Republican colleagues have slammed the decision.
Most Texas Republicans in the House joined Democrats this month in passing a resolution rebuking Trump’s move.
“Simply put, the catastrophe that’s unfolded in Syria over the past 10 days is almost beyond words,” Rep. Michael McCaul of Austin, the top Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee, said at the time. “I am concerned about the extreme long-term damage this has caused the United States’ interests in the Middle East and to the Syrian people, including the Kurds.”