An evangelical leader united with senior Republicans yesterday in urging President Trump to reconsider his Syria policy, even as the secretary of state angrily rejected accusations that the United States had given Turkey a “green light” to attack Kurdish troops.
Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator close to Mr Trump, said that he expected bipartisan support for a bill he introduced with a Democratic senator, Chris Van Hollen, to impose sanctions on Turkish leaders unless they ended the airstrikes and ground invasion.
A member of the US special forces who has served alongside the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), added to the outcry in Washington.
The unnamed soldier, one of about 1,000 American troops in Syria, told Fox News of Turkish atrocities on the front lines. “I am ashamed for the first time in my career. Turkey is not doing what it agreed to. It’s horrible. The Kurds met every single agreement [with the Turks]. There was no threat to the Turks — none — from this side of the border.”
The soldier said that the Kurds had not left their positions guarding suspected members of Islamic State since the offensive began. “They prevented a prison break last night without us,” the source said. “They are not abandoning our side [yet].”
Franklin Graham, the evangelical pastor who read from the Bible at Mr Trump’s inauguration and who has said that the “God factor” was behind his victory, wrote on Twitter: “The Kurds are the ones who have been leading the fight against Isis in Syria. Also pray for the Christians who the Kurds have been protecting. They could be annihilated.”
He invited people to pray that Mr Trump would reconsider. “Thousands of lives hang in the balance,” he added.
Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, was asked by PBS Newshour whether the US would “take responsibility for whatever the outcome is because the US has given Turkey a green light”. This followed Mr Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops from north Syria and his tweet stating: “Turkey will soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation into Northern Syria.”
Mr Pompeo responded: “Yeah, well, that’s just false. The United States didn’t give Turkey a green light . . . On the phone call on Sunday night, it became very clear that there were American soldiers that were going to be at risk, and the president made a decision to put them in a place where they were out of harm’s way. That’s what we’ve done.”
Lindsey Graham said that his bill would target President Erdogan, staff around him and the Turkish military. “Very sad to see great ally — the Kurds — being assaulted by Turkish-Erdogan military using American-designed equipment,” Mr Graham tweeted. “Expect Congress to act soon against Turkey’s invasion & aggressively push back.” He added that the offensive was a “nightmare” for the US and Israel.
Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, tweeted: “Israel strongly condemns the Turkish invasion of the Kurdish areas in Syria and warns against the ethnic cleansing of the Kurds by Turkey and its proxies. Israel is prepared to extend humanitarian assistance to the gallant Kurdish people.”
Marco Rubio, a Republican senator, wrote: “At request of this administration the Kurds served as the primary ground fighters against Isis in Syria so US troops wouldn’t have to. Then cut deal with Erdogan allowing him to wipe them out. Damage to our reputation & national interest will be extraordinary.”
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/world/turkey-invasion-republicans-turn-on-trump-over-syria-withdrawal-tmhmlg9kl
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