Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Trump Defends Syria Move, Doesn't Want US Troops in Mideast
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
October 9, 2019

Share

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday over sharp criticism of his decision to pull back U.S. troops from northeastern Syria, insisting he is focused on the “BIG PICTURE” that doesn’t include American involvement in “stupid endless wars” in the Middle East.
“Fighting between various groups that has been going on for hundreds of years. USA should never have been in Middle East,” Trump said in a series of morning tweets. “The stupid endless wars, for us, are ending!”


Turkey launched its offensive Wednesday against Kurdish fighters in Syria, who have helped the U.S. against the Islamic State. Turkey views the Syrian Kurdish fighters as terrorists, and Trump’s decision to pull back U.S. troops leaves them vulnerable to the military onslaught.
Trump’s words are at odds with longstanding U.S. policy of keeping thousands of American troops in the strategically important region, and his decision is being condemned by some of his staunchest Republican allies.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a close Trump ally, stepped up his criticism of the president Wednesday, telling “Fox & Friends” that if Trump “follows through with this, it would be the biggest mistake of his presidency.”
In tweets, Graham urged prayers for “our Kurdish allies who have been shamelessly abandoned by the Trump Administration,” adding, “This move ensures the reemergence of ISIS.” He also said he would lead an effort in Congress to “make Erdogan pay a heavy price,” referring to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who announced the offensive into northern Syria.

The U.S. Has More Than 10,000 Troops Based Across the Middle East

Another Trump ally, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, a member of the GOP leadership, said she was sickened by the prospect of a Turkish incursion. “Impossible to understand,” she tweeted, why Trump “is leaving America’s allies to be slaughtered and enabling the return of ISIS.”
Trump argued on Twitter that “GOING INTO THE MIDDLE EAST IS THE WORST DECISION EVER MADE IN THE HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY!” He said the U.S. went to war under a “false & now disproven premise, WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION. There were NONE!”
Trump said he is “slowly & carefully” bringing home “our great soldiers & military,” in line with his campaign promise to do so.
He added: “Our focus is on the BIG PICTURE! THE USA IS GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE!”
Trump’s call for ending U.S. military involvement in the Middle East and bringing the troops home was a feature of his presidential campaign, but it flies in the face of many decades of bipartisan American policy, even as the Trump administration and its immediate predecessor have tried to give additional attention to what they see as long-term security threats elsewhere, including from China and Russia.
The U.S. has more than 10,000 troops based across the Middle East, including about 5,200 in Iraq, 1,000 in Syria and several thousand others at bases in Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Also, the U.S. Navy’s Mideast headquarters is at Bahrain in the Persian Gulf.
Just a couple of months ago the Pentagon reestablished a troop presence in Saudi Arabia after a lengthy absence, and in May it added air and naval forces in the region in response to what it views as worrying threats from Iran.

Trump Is Using an Inflated Estimate on the Cost of Wars

As a further sign that the military does not share Trump’s view that the fight against the extremists is over, a press release Wednesday by the U.S.-led military coalition combating IS highlighted recent battlefield gains. It concluded by saying that “removing” IS fighters, weapons and bomb materials “remains a top priority” as the group “continues to plot attacks against innocent civilians and our partners throughout Iraq and northeast Syria.”
Trump has long criticized President George W. Bush’s decision to invade Iraq in 2003, but the subsequent rise of extremist groups like the Islamic State has convinced many national security officials, and lawmakers such as Graham, that a precipitous U.S. troop withdrawal from the region would leave the U.S. and its allies even more vulnerable to extremism.

“We’re not giving Turkey a green light in Congress and we’re not going to abandon the Kurds. If the President does so, we won’t.” Sen. Lindsey Graham
Trump also claimed the U.S. has spent $8 trillion “fighting and policing” in the Middle East, up from the $7 trillion figure he has cited numerous times.
Trump is using an inflated estimate on the cost of wars and referring in part to predicted costs going decades into the future, not money actually spent. Some of the spending also reflects his policy decisions he made since taking office nearly three years ago.
Graham said Congress “will push back” against Turkey. He had said earlier this week that he was working on a bipartisan bill to sanction Turkey if they invade Syria, but he did not mention the proposal during Wednesday’s interview.
“We’re not giving Turkey a green light in Congress and we’re not going to abandon the Kurds,” he said. “If the President does so, we won’t.”
Trump announced Tuesday that he and Erdogan will meet at the White House on Nov. 13.

DON'T MISS

Braves’ Jurickson Profar Hit With 80-Game PED Ban

DON'T MISS

Watch: City Demolishes Historic Chinatown Building to Make Way for Housing

DON'T MISS

The Mystery of Melania Trump’s Wedding Dress and an eBay Sale

DON'T MISS

Heading to Sierra? Prepare for Heavy Snow

DON'T MISS

Mexican National Caught in Fresno County Pleads Guilty to Fentanyl Trafficking

DON'T MISS

CA Snowpack Is Near-Average. What Does This Mean for Water Supplies?

DON'T MISS

Shohei Ohtani Adds Another No. 1 to His Resume: MLB’s Best-Selling Jersey

DON'T MISS

Tush Push Is the Hottest Topic at the NFL League Meetings

DON'T MISS

U.S. Bank Executive Terry Dolan Dies in Plane Crash Near Minneapolis

DON'T MISS

Trump Administration Will Review Billions in Funding for Harvard

UP NEXT

French Far-Right Leader Marine Le Pen Barred From Seeking Office for 5 Years

UP NEXT

Israeli Military Orders the Evacuation of Gaza’s Southern City of Rafah

UP NEXT

Earthquake Compounds Humanitarian Crisis in Myanmar as Death Toll Passes 1,700

UP NEXT

Myanmar’s Earthquake Death Toll Jumps to 1,644 as More Bodies Are Recovered From the Rubble

UP NEXT

Top Vaccine Official Resigns From FDA, Criticizes RFK Jr. for Promoting Misinformation, Lies

UP NEXT

Trump Pledges US Aid for Asia Quake Despite Former Official Saying System in ‘Shambles’

UP NEXT

Israel Strikes Beirut for the First Time Since a Ceasefire Ended the Latest Israel-Hezbollah War

UP NEXT

Utah Becomes the First State to Ban Fluoride in Public Drinking Water

UP NEXT

At Least 20 Dead in Myanmar After Strong Earthquake

UP NEXT

Wilmer Flores’ 3-Run Homer in the 9th Inning Propels Giants to Victory Over Reds

Heading to Sierra? Prepare for Heavy Snow

2 hours ago

Mexican National Caught in Fresno County Pleads Guilty to Fentanyl Trafficking

2 hours ago

CA Snowpack Is Near-Average. What Does This Mean for Water Supplies?

3 hours ago

Shohei Ohtani Adds Another No. 1 to His Resume: MLB’s Best-Selling Jersey

3 hours ago

Tush Push Is the Hottest Topic at the NFL League Meetings

3 hours ago

U.S. Bank Executive Terry Dolan Dies in Plane Crash Near Minneapolis

4 hours ago

Trump Administration Will Review Billions in Funding for Harvard

4 hours ago

Former MLB Pitcher CJ Wilson of Fresno on New Torpedo Bats: ‘Still Room for Innovation’

4 hours ago

Man Arrested After Shooting at Fresno’s Switch Nightclub

5 hours ago

Who Is Fresno’s ‘Fake’ ICE Agent? He Speaks Up

5 hours ago

Braves’ Jurickson Profar Hit With 80-Game PED Ban

NEW YORK — Atlanta Braves outfielder Jurickson Profar has been suspended for 80 games without pay for performance-enhancing drug use. Major ...

46 minutes ago

Jurickson Profar
46 minutes ago

Braves’ Jurickson Profar Hit With 80-Game PED Ban

1 hour ago

Watch: City Demolishes Historic Chinatown Building to Make Way for Housing

Photo of First Lady Melania Trump
2 hours ago

The Mystery of Melania Trump’s Wedding Dress and an eBay Sale

2 hours ago

Heading to Sierra? Prepare for Heavy Snow

Miguel Obed Romero Reyes, 25, of Sinaloa, Mexico, pleaded guilty Monday, March 31, 2025, to trafficking more than 200,000 fentanyl pills after authorities seized the drugs during a traffic stop on Interstate 5. (DOJ)
2 hours ago

Mexican National Caught in Fresno County Pleads Guilty to Fentanyl Trafficking

3 hours ago

CA Snowpack Is Near-Average. What Does This Mean for Water Supplies?

3 hours ago

Shohei Ohtani Adds Another No. 1 to His Resume: MLB’s Best-Selling Jersey

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) lines up for the goal line Tush Push play during the NFL championship playoff football game against the Washington Commanders, Jan. 26, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP File)
3 hours ago

Tush Push Is the Hottest Topic at the NFL League Meetings

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend