A bipartisan group of senators urged President Donald Trump in a letter to rethink his sudden and unexpected decision to pull troops from Syria as quickly as possible.
Senators Lindsey Graham, Jeanne Shaheen, Joni Ernst, Angus King, Tom Cotton and Marco Rubio said in the letter that they fear withdrawing troops from Syria could “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 letter said. “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.”
The senators further expressed their strong belief that the “brutal dictatorship of Bashar al Assad” posed another threat for the people of Syria and the move to pull the U.S. troops out of there would only allow him to “take further actions to solidify his power.”
The administration’s decision would further boost adversaries Iran and Russia, they added.
“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 stressed. “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 move to withdraw troops from Syria was first announced in a Wednesday morning tweet by President Trump in which he also declared victory against ISIS in the country.
“We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency,” he tweeted.
The decision was confirmed later in the day in a statement by the White House, which pointed out that coalition efforts in Syria would continue.
“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.
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