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Trump defends decision to pull US troops from Syria

Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria came after a conversation Trump had with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday.

By World Israel News Staff

President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Monday to defend his decision to withdraw U.S. military forces in Syria, which effectively opens the door for Turkey to launch an expected attack against the country’s American-allied Kurdish forces.

White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham confirmed on Sunday that the president’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria came after a conversation Trump had with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier that day.

Trump has come under attack by both Republicans and Democrats over his decision. Abandoning the Kurds, who helped the U.S. defeat ISIS, sends the wrong message to America’s allies, critics argue. It also may give ISIS the chance to rebuild.

Trump responded to the accusations, tweeting on Monday that “the Kurds fought with us, but were paid massive amounts of money and equipment to do so.”

He also said that the U.S. has fulfilled all of its commitments in the region.

“The United States was supposed to be in Syria for 30 days, that was many years ago. We stayed and got deeper and deeper into battle with no aim in sight. When I arrived in Washington, ISIS was running rampant in the area. We quickly defeated 100% of the ISIS Caliphate, including capturing thousands of ISIS fighters, mostly from Europe,” he tweeted.

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Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) denied that ISIS had been defeated in Syria.

“The biggest lie being told by the administration is that ISIS has been defeated… this to me is just unnerving to its core,” Graham said on Fox News. “To say to the American people ISIS has been destroyed in Syria is not true.”

In another Monday tweet, Trump said, “it is time for us to get out of these ridiculous Endless Wars, many of them tribal, and bring our soldiers home. WE WILL FIGHT WHERE IT IS TO OUR BENEFIT, AND ONLY FIGHT TO WIN. Turkey, Europe, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Russia and the Kurds will now have to figure the situation out, and what they want to do with the captured ISIS fighters in their ‘neighborhood.'”

Erdogan has long threatened to defeat the Kurdish forces in Syria, believing them to be allied with Kurdish insurgents within his country, according to USA Today.