Tag Archives: Syria

The Daily Beast reports: Presidential hopeful Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) on Wednesday morning insisted to a stunned MSNBC’s Morning Joe that Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad is “not an enemy of the United States.” The Hawaii congresswoman dropped the shocking claim after dodging multiple questions on how she would describe the Syrian dictator’s relationship with the United States. “Assad is not …

NBC News reports: U.S. service members were among those killed by an explosion in Syria on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the coalition fighting the Islamic State group said. Earlier, a senior Kurdish security official told NBC News that members of the U.S.-led coalition were caught up in a blast at a market in the northern city of Manbij. The official …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump on Sunday vowed to “devastate Turkey economically” should the Turkish military attack U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters — a rare direct threat by Trump to a NATO ally as his administration grapples with the execution of its plan to withdraw American soldiers from Syria. The planned U.S. troop drawdown has provoked international uncertainty amid conflicting statements from …

The New York Times reports: The United States has started withdrawing its troops from Syria, an American military spokesman said on Friday, further muddling the Trump administration’s plans for disengagement from one of the Middle East’s most complex battlefields. As recently as Sunday, President Trump’s national security adviser, John R. Bolton, had said that the pullout was conditional on circumstances …

Newsweek reports: President Donald Trump on Wednesday called Syria “sand and death” in a question-and-answer session with reporters following a cabinet meeting. Asked about a timeline for withdrawing troops from the country, the president described how he viewed the country and the fighting there. “We’re talking about sand and death, that’s what we’re talking about,” Trump said. “We’re not talking …

Mediaite reports: On New Year’s Eve, President Trump apparently felt the need to clear the air and defend his position via a short series of tweets that explained his process as a simple fulfillment of his campaign promise. And, as his is wont, he included some not-so-subtle digs at his detractors. Trump’s dig at “some failed generals” is certainly a …

Reuters reports: Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said President Donald Trump reassured him about his plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria and his commitment to defeating Islamic State during a White House meeting on Sunday. “We talked about Syria. He told me some things I didn’t know that made me feel a lot better about where we’re headed in …

CNN reports: Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said on Sunday that withdrawing US troops from Syria could directly result in the deaths of Kurdish people there and that he plans to make a case to President Donald Trump today to reconsider his plans. “There are three things important for this country. Number one, make sure that ISIS never comes back in …

“The way [Trump] did it in the face of the president of Turkey, basically abandoning our allies [the Kurds], who the Turks see as terrorists, is just a horrible piece of foreign policy. I am very disappointed in the president that he would do this in this fashion. We need to stand for our allies, particularly allies who have fought …

Mediaite reports: White House spokeswomen Mercedes Schlapp appeared for an interview on Fox & Friends Monday, where she was challenged by host Brian Kilmeade to name a single adviser that told President Donald Trump to withdraw troops from Syria. “Can you name an adviser the president has that recommended he pull out 2,000 troops?” Kilmeade asked. Schlapp dodged: “I’m not …

“There doesn’t seem to be any strategic rationale for the decision. And if there’s no strategic rationale for the decision then you have to ask, why was the decision made? People around the world are asking this and some of our friends and our allies in the Middle East are asking, did Erdogan blackmail the president? Was there a payoff …

Reuters reports: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed on Sunday to coordinate to prevent an authority vacuum from developing as the United States withdraws from Syria, the Turkish presidency said. In a phone call between the two leaders, Erdogan also expressed satisfaction with steps taken by Washington regarding combating terrorism in Syria and said Turkey was …

The New York Times reports: President Trump, angry over days of news coverage characterizing the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis as a rebuke of the president, has told administration officials that he is considering removing Mr. Mattis from his job by Jan. 1, two months before he had planned to depart. The president, a notoriously mercurial leader, has been …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump claimed Saturday he gave outgoing Defense Secretary James Mattis “a second chance” after the retired Marine general was ousted from military leadership under the Obama administration. Former President Barack Obama fired Mattis as head of U.S. Central Command in 2013 in large part because of Mattis’ increasingly hawkish posture toward Iran. Mattis resigned from the …

NBC News reports: Brett McGurk, the special envoy for the global coalition to defeat Islamic State, submitted his resignation on Friday, effective Dec. 31, a U.S.State Department official said on Saturday. A person familiar with the matter said McGurk has quit because he objected to President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out U.S. troops from Syria, a decision followed by …

The Hill reports: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is calling for hearings on President Trump’s plans to withdraw troops from Syria and possibly Afghanistan. Graham has been a staunch Trump defender but broke with him over the Syria decision, saying it would spark “chaos” and likening it to former President Obama’s decision to …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw American troops from Syria was made hastily, without consulting his national security team or allies, and over strong objections from virtually everyone involved in the fight against the Islamic State, according to U.S. and Turkish officials. Trump stunned his Cabinet, lawmakers and much of the world with the move by …

The Hill reports: “Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade on Friday said President Trump had “re-founded ISIS” and was giving Russia “a big win” with his decision to pull U.S. troops from Syria. Kilmeade made the remarks during an interview with White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. “He also is doing exactly what he criticized President Obama for doing. …

CNN reports: “One core belief I have always held is that our strength as a nation is inextricably linked to the strength of our unique and comprehensive system of alliances and partnerships. While the US remains the indispensable nation in the free world, we cannot protect our interests or serve that role effectively without maintaining strong alliances and showing respect …

As the Syria withdrawal decision continues to draw furor from conservatives, Trump just announced that Defense Sec. James Mattis will “retire” at the end of February. Update to follow shortly…. UPDATE via NPR: Defense Secretary James Mattis, a living Marine Corps legend who made history by securing special permission from Congress to lead the Pentagon, is stepping down after a …