Sen. Lindsey Graham said he won’t remain silent about his opposition to President Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops who were stationed along the Syrian border with America’s Kurdish allies.
“With all due respect to the president, I’m elected to have a say in our national security, that in my view what is unfolding in Syria is going to be a disaster,” the South Carolina Republican told reporters Tuesday. “I hope I’m wrong. I will not be quiet.”
Trump, in a White House news conference, said Graham “would like to stay in the Middle East for the next thousand years with thousands of soldiers fighting other people’s wars,” and added that Graham should focus on chairing the Senate Judiciary Committee and the concerns of his constituents in South Carolina, where he is running for reelection.
Graham has introduced a bipartisan bill to sanction Turkey, which has invaded Syria and has threatened the stability of the region as well as the ability of the Kurds to prevent thousands of captured ISIS terrorists from escaping.
“The president’s decision here is the biggest mistake of his presidency and I will never be quiet about matters of national security.”
He said Trump was making a mistake “worse than what Obama did” when President Obama pulled U.S. forces out of Iraq.
