Freshman Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, cautioned that withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria could give the Islamic State a “vacuum of power” and would jeopardize U.S. allies.
“If we remove American troops, it does a few things,” Crenshaw told Fox News’ Dana Perino on Wednesday. “First, it puts our Kurdish allies in great danger from all sides, from the Turks, from ISIS, from all sides. It’s not good for them. It also creates a corridor for Iran to reach Lebanon and increase its influence there. We have the possibility of an all-out conflict between Israel and Hezbollah on Syrian territory [that] could really destabilize the region.”
Several Americans were killed in an explosion in Syria early Wednesday as the U.S. starts to pull out of the country.
“If you give them space, if you leave a vacuum of power, then they feel relaxed, like they can wake up the next day and start planning attacks on the homeland,” Crenshaw said. “And that’s what we have to prevent.”
Crenshaw also said that a successful mission prevents the next attack and that leaving areas where ISIS or the Taliban operate gives the groups the opportunity to continue plotting against the U.S.
President Trump last month claimed ISIS had been destroyed and said that the U.S. would begin to withdraw the approximately 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria — a decision that surprised many lawmakers and was a factor in former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’ resignation.
Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State, announced Wednesday morning the troops were killed during a routine patrol in Syria. An investigation into the matter is underway, and U.S. Central Command said two U.S. service members, one Department of Defense civilian, and one contractor supporting the Department of Defense were killed in Manbij. Three other service members were injured.
Lawmakers including Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., urged Trump to “look long and hard at what we’re doing in Syria” in light of the attack.
