Sen. Rubio: We’ve slowed the withdrawal from Syria
WASHINGTON DC (Kurdistan 24) - Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Florida) said on Friday that the US withdrawal from Syria has been delayed somewhat.
“We have been able” to get “the pace of the retreat, or withdrawal slowed,” Rubio told a press conference in his home state, emphasizing that it was “important.”
Rubio, however, remains highly critical of any US withdrawal from Syria now, under prevailing conditions.
Rubio explained that in Syria’s northeast, “We are outsourcing the fight against ISIS to the Turks.”
But the Turk’s top “priority is to wipe out the Kurds, whom they view as a threat,” because the Kurds “want to establish their own independent nation in northeast Syria and southern Turkey,” he said.
“So here we have people who, for two years, have fought as the ground force against ISIS.” They, along with their families “could be slaughtered,” the Senator protested.
Rubio also noted that US forces have a small presence in southern Syria, at al-Tanf, near the Iraqi border, which is “largely an anti-Hizbollah presence.” The US presence there also protects some 50,000 Syrians, who have taken refuge from the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
Al-Tanf straddles the main highway between Damascus and Baghdad, and the US base blocks a key route that Iran could use to ship weapons to Hizbollah, were its ally, Syria, to gain control of the area.
Sadly the U.S. retreat from #Syria was made in order to placate Erdogan.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) December 27, 2018
This is who we have now entrusted to bring “stability” to northern Syria & defeat ISIS.
Now every major player in Syria is anti-Israel. https://t.co/KXcD5hepOp
Rubio stressed that the US abandonment of the Kurds, who have been America’s main partner in the fight against the Islamic State in Syria, is “morally wrong.”
He also suggested that “an entire generation of young Kurds” will “grow up hating this country,” because of this decision.
Rubio also noted the damage to the US reputation in the region that will ensue, asking, “Who is going to partner with us in the future?”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R, South Carolina) has also been a strong critic of President Donald Trump’s surprise decision to withdraw from Syria.
Following reports on Friday that the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which has provided the leadership for local forces fighting the Islamic State, had turned to Syria to block any Turkish attack, Graham described that as a “major disaster in the making.”
If reports accurate about Kurds aligning with Assad, major disaster in the making.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) December 28, 2018
Nightmare for Turkey and eventually Israel.
Big winners are Russia, Iran/Assad & ISIS. https://t.co/la2V16qYyQ
Graham visited Manbij last summer, along with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D, New Hampshire), and both senators were very impressed with what they saw.
After touring the city and its bustling market, Graham told local leaders, “I will tell President Trump that it is important that we stay here to help you.”
“You’re friends of the United States, and if we leave it will be terrible,” he said, describing Manbij as “a place of hope in a region that needs more hope.”
“We went through the market,” Shaheen similarly explained. “People were out. Kids were playing in the streets. Women were walking around.”
“We need to make sure that that continues and not leave those Syrians to the Russians or to Assad,” she concluded.
Trump’s surprise decision, made in a December 14 phone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has precipitated strong Congressional opposition, particularly from Trump’s own party.
Graham, Shaheen, and Rubio, along with Senators Joni Ernst (R, Iowa), Tom Cotton (R, Arkansas), and Angus King (Independent, Maine) wrote Trump a letter on December 19, describing his announced withdrawal as “a premature and costly mistake.”
Rubio’s statement on Friday was the first public indication of any modification in Trump’s plan.