Colorado Senator Urges Trump Not To Pull Troops Out Of Syria
(CBS) - The White House has ordered the Pentagon to pull U.S. troops from Syria immediately, a U.S. defense official confirmed to CBS News correspondent David Martin. President Trump, who has long wanted to withdraw troops from the war-torn region, suggested on Twitter Wednesday that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is defeated and therefore, there is no reason to be there.
"We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump presidency," Mr. Trump tweeted Wednesday morning, without explicitly confirming an order to look to withdraw troops.
The Pentagon was not as definitive, and Mr. Trump's own administration has suggested the work in Syria isn't over.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and now serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said it's "simply not true" ISIS is defeated in Syria.
After Trump's tweet, Senator Cory Gardener (R-CO) urged the president not to withdraw US troops from Syria.
I urge President Trump to immediately halt any plans to withdraw US troops from Syria and to consult with Congress on a long-term Syria strategy that protects US national interests and denies a win for Vladimir Putin, Bashar al-Assad, and the Iranian mullahs.
— Cory Gardner (@SenCoryGardner) December 19, 2018
"The US is the only global power able to stop Russia, Iran, & their terrorist proxies in Syria from total control of a region vital to national security. We've made significant progress in our fight against ISIS but the fight isn't over, & a US withdrawal will embolden bad actors," Sen. Gardner wrote.
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