Trump is increasingly being seen as doing this as a payoff to Russia’s Putin and a prize to Iran…..
Donald Trump displays his lack to looking at the ‘long game’ in foreign policy….
The question is?
What will Congress actually do?
Or will the doubts expressed cause Trump to change directions on this?
President Trump on Wednesday defended his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, saying “we have won” the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
In a video posted to his Twitter account, the president invoked the memory of service members who died fighting in the Middle Eastern country while explaining his decision.
“They’re all coming back and they’re coming back now. We won, and that’s the way we want it and that’s the way they want it,” Trump said while looking up and pointing to the sky…
A bipartisan group of senators sent a letter to President Trump on Wednesday asking him to reconsider his decision to begin withdrawing troops from Syria.
In the letter, Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Angus King (I-Maine), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), expressed concern that withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria would “renew and embolden” ISIS’s efforts in the region.
“We write today to express our concern regarding your Administration’s consideration to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria,” the senators wrote. “We believe that such action at this time is a premature and costly mistake that not only threatens the safety and security of the United States, but also emboldens ISIS, Bashar al Assad, Iran, and Russia.”
“If you decide to follow through with your decision to pull our troops out of Syria, any remnants of ISIS in Syria will surely renew and embolden their efforts in the region,” they continued.
“However, ISIS is not the only threat. The brutal dictatorship of Bashar al Assad continues to weigh heavily upon the Syrian people, and we fear that a withdrawal of our troops may embolden Bashar al Assad to take further actions to solidify his power,” they added.
The senators also said they believed removing American presence from Syria would give a boost to “two other adversaries,” Iran and Russia…..
Defense Sec Mattis cautioned against Trump’s order…
“President Trump’s decision to abruptly withdraw troops from Syria is a clear rebuke to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, the last remaining member of a retinue of military men Trump once fondly called ‘my generals,’” the Washington Post reports.
“Mattis had argued that the counterterrorism mission in Syria is not over and that the small U.S. presence in Syria should remain… The Pentagon chief also had tried to explain to Trump that there would be more chaos in the region and future problems for the United States if the troops leave.”
A senior administration official told CNN that Trump’s decision to withdraw troops is “a mistake of colossal proportions and the President fails to see how it will endanger our country.”