Sasse on Syria withdrawal: ‘American allies will be slaughtered’

Source: The Hill | December 19, 2018 | Tal Axelrod

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) on Wednesday slammed the White House’s planned withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, saying the move puts U.S. allies at risk.

“Eight days ago the Administration called a hypothetical pullout ‘reckless.’ Today, we’re leaving. The President’s generals have no idea where this weak decision came from: They believe the high-fiving winners today are Iran, ISIS, and Hezbollah. The losers are Israel, humanitarian victims, and U.S. intelligence gathering,” Sasse said in a statement, referring to terror group the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

“A lot of American allies will be slaughtered if this retreat is implemented.”

Sasse, one of President Trump’s most vocal critics in the Senate, joined Trump ally and fellow GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) on Wednesday in blasting the Trump administration’s move to pull troops out of Syria.

In his statement, the Nebraska senator referred to comments made last week by Brett McGurk, the special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS at the State Department.

“So obviously, it would be reckless if we were just to say, well, the physical caliphate is defeated, so we can just leave now,” McGurk told reporters at the State Department then. “I think anyone who’s looked at a conflict like this would agree with that.”

U.S. troops in Syria are currently assisting a coalition of rebel groups known as the Free Syrian Army, which are one of several forces fighting ISIS in Syria.

Trump proclaimed Wednesday morning that ISIS had been defeated in Syria, accomplishing “my only reason for being there.”

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