In rare rebuke, McConnell, other top Republicans rip Trump’s ‘disaster’ decision to allow Turkish military push in Syria

Oct. 7--The most powerful Republican in Congress joined a growing chorus of lawmakers Monday in condemning President Trump's decision to turn a blind eye to Turkish military aggression in Syria, accusing the president of hanging American allies in the region out to dry.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who's usually hard pressed to criticize Trump in any fashion, said the president's Sunday decision to give Turkey a free pass to invade northern Syria would put U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in harm's way, benefit nation state adversaries and create a vacuum for an ISIS resurgence.

"A precipitous withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria would only benefit Russia, Iran, and the Assad regime. And it would increase the risk that ISIS and other terrorist groups regroup," the Kentucky Republican said in a statement.

"Major new conflict between Turkey and our partners in Syria would seriously risk damaging Turkey's ties to the United States and causing greater isolation for Turkey on the world stage."

McConnell's rare rebuke came on the heels of a statement quietly issued by White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham late Sunday saying Trump had spoken on the phone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and that, as a result, Turkey would "soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation into Northern Syria."

Grisham said U.S. forces in the region would not be involved in the Turkish military campaign and were preparing to move out of "the immediate area."

Turkey considers Kurds fighting in Syria to be terrorists, and most members of Congress as well as national security experts believe Erdogan would attempt to target them as opposed to Islamist militants, giving room for badly bruised ISIS militants to recuperate.

By contrast, the U.S. has long supported Kurds fighting ISIS under the banner of the Syrian Democratic Forces, as they have proven successful in stamping out the terrorists and jailing them.

The U.S. troop withdrawal announced by Trump could put those Kurdish forces at serious risk of a Turkish assault.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham -- typically one of Trump's most loyal supporters in Congress -- echoed McConnell and unloaded on the president in a string of seething tweets blasting the Syria announcement as detrimental to American national security.

"This is a disaster in the making," the South Carolina Republican tweeted. "This decision to abandon our Kurdish allies and turn Syria over to Russia, Iran and Turkey will put every radical Islamist on steroids. Shot in the arm to the bad guys. Devastating for the good guys."

Graham argued Trump's order would ensure a "comeback" of ISIS in the war-torn region and pledged to introduce a bipartisan resolution opposing the president's move. The senator also said he was working with Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) on bipartisan legislation that would impose intense sanctions on Turkey in the event that it follows through with a military foray into Syria.

Picking up on Graham's thread, McConnell appeared to issue a veiled threat to Trump in his statement, noting that a Senate super-majority passed a bipartisan resolution in January expressing continued support for U.S. military involvement in Syria.

"The conditions that produced that bipartisan vote still exist today," McConnell said.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), another Trump loyalist, slammed the president's announcement as a "grave mistake."

"We degraded ISIS using Kurds as the ground force," Rubio tweeted. "Now we have abandoned them and they face annihilation at the hands of the Turkish military. 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."

Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, who's recently been outspoken against Trump in light of the rapidly developing House impeachment investigation, similarly blasted the president's decision as "a betrayal that will have grave humanitarian and national security consequences."

Feeling the intra-party heat, Trump took to Twitter to defend himself, claiming he's not giving Turkey free reign.

"If Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey," he tweeted. "They must, with Europe and others, watch over the captured ISIS fighters and families."

Trump appeared to acknowledge that his decision was at least partially influenced by political calculations ahead of next year's presidential election.

"I was elected on getting out of these ridiculous endless wars, where our great Military functions as a policing operation to the benefit of people who don't even like the USA," Trump posted.

Trump, who ran in 2016 on a nationalist "America First" agenda, has had an at times confusing policy on U.S. military involvement in Syria and other parts of the world.

He announced in December 2018 that all U.S. forces would pull out of the country, but later walked back that order amid harsh bipartisan rebuke.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose committees are knee deep in an increasingly aggressive inquiry into whether Trump should be removed from office, said she hopes the president will similarly reverse the Sunday decision, which she said appeared influenced by his peculiar affinity for authoritarian leaders.

"Once again, President Trump is deserting an ally in a foolish attempt to appease an authoritarian strongman," Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement. "The president must reverse this dangerous decision. The American people deserve a smart, strong and strategic national security policy that keeps America safe."

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