US/World News

House passes resolution condemning US withdrawal from Syria

(JNS) The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted on Wednesday, Oct. 16 to condemn President Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from northern Syria, effectively pulling them from the country. The final tally was 354-60.

The resolution states that “an abrupt withdrawal of United States military personnel from certain parts of Northeast Syria is beneficial to adversaries of the United States government, including Syria, Iran and Russia.” It also says that Congress “opposes the decision to end certain United States efforts to prevent Turkish military operations against Syrian Kurdish forces in Northeast Syria.”

Congressional members met with Trump at the White House the same day, urging him to reconsider his decision, which the Kurds have called a betrayal.

However, the meeting ended abruptly after Democratic congressional leadership said Trump lost his cool when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) pointed to the tally. “He couldn’t handle it,” she told reporters following the meeting. Additionally, Trump reportedly told Democrats, “I hate ISIS more than you” and “See you at the polls!”

The president even called former U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who served under Trump, the “world’s most overrated general.” Mattis has warned that ISIS will resurge amid the withdrawal. He resigned in December 2018 over Trump’s initial decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria, which Trump eventually walked back.

On Wednesday, in talking about the Kurds, who have helped the United States fight ISIS and other terror factions, the president said, “The Kurds are safer right now… they are not angels, they are not angels.” He added that they are not strong fighters without U.S. assistance. It has also been reported that the president falsely stated that “the Kurds actually are pulling back substantially from Turkey, and Syria’s pulling in. …Syria probably will have a partner of Russia. Whoever they may have, I wish ’em all a lot of luck.”

Russia has started patrolling territory separating Turkish and Syrian forces in the northeast Syrian town of Manbij, where the flag of the Syrian regime was raised for the first time in years. “So I view the situation on the Turkish border with Syria to be, for the United States, strategically brilliant,” said Trump. “Our soldiers are totally safe. They’ve got to work it out. Maybe they can do it without fighting. Syria’s protecting the Kurds. That’s good.”

Both houses of Congress are expected to pass legislation sanctioning Turkey for the invasion with veto-proof majorities.

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