President Donald Trump’s decision to pull American forces out of Syria drew fire this week from members of the Florida congressional delegation on both sides of the aisle.
After Trump spoke with Turkish President Recept Stay Grogan, the White House made the announcement Sunday.
"Turkey will soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation into Northern Syria. The United States Armed Forces will not support or be involved in the operation,” the White House announced.
Trump took to Twitter Monday to explain the decision.
"We may be in the process of leaving Syria, but in no way have we abandoned the Kurds, who are special people and wonderful fighters," Trump insisted.
U.S.. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., weighed in, insisting “the Trump administration has made a grave mistake that will have implications far beyond Syria” and “would confirm Iran’s view of this administration and embolden then to escalate hostile attacks, which in turn could trigger much broader and more dangerous regional war.”
Rubio added that the move could empower Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists.
“We degraded ISIS using Kurd’s as the ground force. Now we have abandoned them and they face annihilation at the hands of the Turkish military,” Rubio insisted. “ISIS could now be reinvigorated when 1000‘s of jailed fighters break out when the Kurdish guards are forced to leave to go fight Turkey.”
Rubio returned to the topic Tuesday morning.
“Syria isn’t about neocons or hawks,it’s about reality,” Rubio posted on Twitter. “The Kurds were lead ground force against ISIS and currently hold 1000’s of ISIS killers in jail. Abandoning them is morally repugnant,stains our nation’s reputation and could lead to 1000’s of ISIS killers back on battlefield.”
On the other side of the aisle, other members of the Florida delegation also weighed in.
“Of all of Trump’s foreign policy blunders, this one is particularly damaging and goes against our American values. It’s hard to see how anyone will agree to partner with us on the ground after this. Trump's betrayal of the Kurds shows he's willing to throw our allies under the bus,” insisted U.S.. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., on Tuesday.
“The president’s latest impulsive decision is outright dangerous and appalling,” said U.S.. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla. “In sanctioning Turkish military action against the American-trained Kurdish forces who fought and died on the front lines against the Islamic State, the president has abandoned our allies in Syria and made an egregious strategic error. This will undoubtedly pave the way for massacre and humanitarian disaster. At every turn, this president undermines America’s legitimacy as a global leader and forsakes the values that our nation stands for.”
