Three months ago, I was in northern Syria with the Army’s 34th Infantry Division. Weeks ago, our commander in chief announced he was pulling our last troops out of the region. “And I say why are we protecting Syria’s land?” Ever since I haven’t been able to sleep at night. “Breaking news: Turkey has launched a military offensive against the Kurds in northeastern Syria.” “In just a week hundreds reported dead. Around the world, condemnation growing.” Our complete withdrawal from Syria is unstrategic, immoral and ultimately un-American. Don’t get me wrong, I agree with President Trump’s statement that we should end endless wars. I don’t think we should have been in Iraq. I certainly don’t think we should be in Yemen. Overall, it is good for us to get out of the Middle East. But we do that by building and maintaining alliances, by creating a peace process that maintains stability in the region and supporting our allies. That’s how we work ourselves out of our jobs. I was stationed in July in Kobani, Syria. In Kobani, there’s a little cafe where we met with our Kurdish counterparts. We drank tea in little glasses. I met a Kurdish fighter who asked me if the U.S. would ever leave Syria. I reassured him: Of course the U.S. would never leave Syria and abandon the Kurds. They’re our partners. I was wrong. Last week I read that Kobani was attacked by Turkey. That’s the same city where I drank tea with the Kurds and reassured them that we’d have their back. Now I worry that those same men may be dead. I can’t believe President Trump let this happen. I joined the Army to follow in the footsteps of my grandfather and great-uncle Milt who both served in World War II. Now the same army that stopped the Nazis is being sent home to clear the way for an ethnic cleansing of the Kurds. Today the United States and Turkey have agreed to a cease-fire in Syria. But this is too little too late. “This morning that short-lived deal already appears to be falling apart.” “Turkish attacks continued on the border today.” “There are reports that ISIS prisoners have been escaping … promising slaughter and quote ‘the return of the Islamic State.’” President Trump has said, “We have won against ISIS,” but that’s not true. ISIS no longer controls territory but they are still a threat. Keeping ISIS at bay in northern Syria means collecting on-the-ground intelligence and guarding tens of thousands of captured ISIS terrorists and their families, something the Kurds have done for us for years. Based on what I saw in Syria, I strongly believe the president’s decision may prolong a war— rather than end it.