“Withdrawing U.S. forces from Syria is a grave strategic mistake. It will leave the American people and homeland less safe, embolden our enemies, and weaken important alliances. Sadly, the recently announced pullout risks repeating the Obama administration’s reckless withdrawal from Iraq,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wrote in a Washington Post op-ed.

“Unless halted, our retreat will invite the brutal Assad regime in Syria and its Iranian backers to expand their influence. And we are ignoring Russia’s efforts to leverage its increasingly dominant position in Syria to amass power and influence throughout the Middle East and beyond,” McConnell added.

Sen. McConnell was vocal about his opposition to President Trump’s decision to withdraw our forces from Syria. In a statement released in his twitter feed, he said:

“Withdrawing American leadership from this pivotal region would not serve our nation’s short-, medium-, or long-term interests. It would only mkae a troubling situation much worse, not only for regional partners such as Israel and Jordan but for the United States as well.”

We must avoid strategic calamity in the Middle East. My statement: https://t.co/MRitbPA2ID pic.twitter.com/7psb842jcm — Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) October 14, 2019

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