Trump Defends Syria Withdrawal, US Senators Call on Administration to Reconsider Decision

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 US troops from Syria would "renew and embolden" Daesh's efforts in the region, The Hill reported.

"We write today to express our concern regarding your Administration’s consideration to withdraw US 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 (Daesh or ISIL), Bashar al Assad, Iran, and Russia," they said.

“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 stated that they believed removing American presence from Syria would give a boost to "two other adversaries", Iran and Russia.

"As you are aware, both Iran and Russia have used the Syrian conflict as a stage to magnify their influence in the region," the senators wrote, noting that "any sign of weakness perceived by Iran or Russia will only result in their increased presence in the region and a decrease in the trust of our partners and allies".

The senators urged the American president not to "repeat the same mistakes" made by administrations before his.

"Your administration must not repeat the same mistakes that previous administrations have made and concede to these bad actors,” they wrote.

President Donald Trump declared victory against ISIS in Syria on Wednesday morning in a tweet after The Wall Street Journal, followed by The Washington Post, reported that he was preparing an immediate withdrawal of US troops from Syria.

“We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency,” Trump tweeted.

The White House confirmed in a statement Wednesday that the administration has “started returning United States troops home” but emphasized that coalition efforts in Syria would continue. It also doubled down on Trump's claim that “the United States has defeated the territorial caliphate”.

"The United States and our allies stand ready to re-engage at all levels to defend American interests whenever necessary, and we will continue to work together to deny radical Islamist terrorists territory, funding, support, and any means of infiltrating our borders,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.

Senate Republicans, in a rare move, lashed out at Trump over the decision, with several lawmakers saying Congress received no warning of Trump’s announcement.

“It’s a terrible decision,” Rubio said earlier Wednesday, adding that “I hope it can be entirely or at least partially reversed, or we’re going to pay a big price for it in the years to come”.

“I don’t know what they’ve done, but this is chaos,” Graham (R-S.C.), a staunch Trump ally and Armed Services Committee member, told reporters earlier that day.

Trump on Wednesday defended his decision to withdraw US troops from Syria, saying “we have won” the fight against Daesh.

In a video posted to his Twitter account, the US 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.

Administration officials struggled to explain how many of the 2,000 US troops in Syria would be coming home, when they would return and the reasoning for the decision.

Top US national security officials had previously stated that the military was committed to maintaining a presence in Syria until ISIL was completely eradicated.

“It was the president's decision to make, and he made it,” one senior administration official, who requested anonymity to discuss the withdrawal, stated.

Trump has long spoken about his desire to pull US troops out of Syria, dating back to the 2016 presidential campaign.

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