Stefanik, Delgado decry troop removal
United in unusual bipartisan opposition, Republicans and Democrats blasted President Donald Trump’s decision Monday to pull troops out of northeastern Syria ahead of an expected attack by Turkey on Kurdish fighters allied with American forces.
In rare defiance, Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell, R- Ky., urged Trump to reverse the move to “prevent significant conflict between our NATO ally Turkey and our local Syrian counterterrorism partners.” He said a supermajority of senators opposed the removal of troops, which could mean a veto- proof action if lawmakers decide to use legislation to block the move.
The U. S. started withdrawing soldiers from a 30- mile Syrian border zone near Turkey early Monday, following a call between Trump and Turkey’s Presi
dent Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday night.
The removal of troops is “not part of a formal pull out” of American forces from the Middle East, a senior Trump administration official said Monday evening. Roughly 50 American soldiers are being removed from the area for their safety because Turkey seems intent on attacking Syria, the official said.
Trump defended the move on Twitter Monday, writing the U. S. “was supposed to be in Syria for 30 days” and “that was many years ago.” He said it was time for other actors in the region — “some very wealthy” — to defend the territory.
“As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey,” Trump wrote.
U. S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, Rschuylerville called the move “a misguided and catastrophic blow to our national security interests,” in a joint statement with four Democratic representatives.
“Not only will this decision further destabilize the region, it will make it more difficult for the United States to recruit allies and partners to defeat terrorist groups like ISIS,” the lawmakers said.
Kurdish fighters in Syria have helped the U. S. fight ISIS. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer called the Kurds a key U. S. friend and ally.
“To abandon them would make no sense at all when there’s strong bipartisan opposition to that abandonment, from Democrats and Republicans, and we’re going to push the Trump administration to reverse its decision,” Schumer said. “Actually, to abandon the Kurds and leave them at the mercy of the Turks ... will really weaken our ability to fight terrorism in the area.”
The attack may threaten camps where captured ISIS fighters are held, a senior Trump official said. Most of those fighters are Europeans, he said.
Trump said Monday he urged European leaders to “take back” captured ISIS fighters from Syria who hail from European countries.
“They can do the work,” Trump said.
But a senior administration official said if Turkey takes military action in Syria, “it will become responsible for maintaining the captivity of those ISIS fighters.”
The Trump administration’s removal of troops from the zone has aligned lawmakers across
the political spectrum in dismay.
U. S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R- S. C., a Trump ally, ripped the president for a decision he called “shortsighted and irresponsible,” claiming in an appearance on television show “Fox and Friends” Monday that it would undo “all the gains we’ve made.”
Likewise, U. S. Rep. Antonio Delgado, D- Rhinebeck, said the American troops’ removal was “deeply alarming.”
“Making this move without warning, at least without appearance of any coordination with our other allies in the region is reckless and dangerous,” Delgado told reporters.
Stefanik, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, visited Turkey, Afghanistan and the Syrian- Jordanian last week with four Democrats: U. S. Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado, Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania and Andy Kim of New Jersey. They met with foreign governments and U. S. security officials and diplomats on the trip.
“Over and over again we heard from U. S. and foreign leaders of the danger posed to the U. S. and our allies if Turkish forces moved into northern Syria, an area protected by our Kurdish allies, the Syrian Defense Forces,” the lawmakers said. “We call on the administration to work with the same U. S. leaders, diplomats, and intelligence officials we met with this past week to understand the grave consequences of this rash decision and to develop a longterm strategy for countering the terrorist threat in Syria.”