WASHINGTON, DC—Sinam Mohamad is the co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Council’s U.S. Mission in Washington, D.C., representing the group that has fought in northern Syria beside U.S. forces to defeat ISIS, and working alongside America to establish a stable democracy in the region.

Standing in view of the White House in Lafayette Square on Tuesday afternoon, she explained that she had learned of the U.S. government’s decision to withdraw troops from the area along the Turkish border ahead of an attack by Turkish forces in much the same way you might have: from a Sunday night social media post. “You know, Mr. Trump, he tweeted it. In the evening, we got up and saw all this happening. It was a surprise for us,” she said.

Behind her, a group of about 50 protesters were waving flags and urging the United States not to abandon its allies in Syria. Mothers attended with children in strollers, Kurdish seniors wore suits and ties, some had their faces painted red, some wore baseball caps. “United States, support your allies!” and “Turkey out of Syria,” they chanted.

After President Donald Trump’s sudden announcement, Mohamad started getting calls from those who will soon be on the front lines of an expected Turkish attack.

“The people there are very surprised. I mean frustrated, actually. Everyone is calling me, ‘Why should it happen like that?’”

She explained that the Syrian Democratic Forces (the military wing of the council she represents politically) have been working with the U.S. and Turkey to implement a safe zone mechanism to protect the border and keep it free from war. They have withdrawn troops from the five kilometre area along the border and removed heavy weaponry, all with reassurances that the U.S. would be there to police the agreement. And now the U.S. is leaving, and Turkey is invading.

“They are worried, also,” Mohamad said. “Because if Turkey attacks, that will mean very bad consequences to the region. ISIS will come back. The humanitarian crisis will mean many millions of people have to leave the region if the attack happens. This is very dangerous.”

Mohamad said she had just come from the U.S. State Department, where she was told that the United States does not support the plans of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to invade the border areas of Syria and likely displace the Kurdish population there. “They say they do not give any green light to Erdoğan to attack,” she said. But they will not leave U.S. troops stationed in the border zone to prevent the attack. “If he attacks, that will mean no meaning for the agreement of the safe zone. It will be seized.”

According to U.S. officials, Turkish troops on Tuesday were massed along the border in apparent preparation for an incursion across the border, but so far there have been no signs of an actual assault beginning, the New York Times reported.

The fear is about more than just territory. Many thousands of ISIS fighters are being held prisoner by Syrian Democratic Forces in the area, and large and dangerous remnants of the terrorist organization remain there. But the worry in the Kurdish population goes well beyond that. Stephen Flint Arthur, whose American Rojava Center for Democracy organized the rally, says the risk is allowing a genocide to occur.

“This is so important because the Syrian Democratic forces are one of the few organizations in the world actively fighting against genocide,” Arthur said. “The genocide waged by ISIS and the campaign of ethnic cleansing that Erdoğan has specifically called for.”

Although the Kurds and the Syrian Democratic Council have a slight presence in Washington, the ragtag group of protesters’ rallying cries echoed loudly in Washington’s corridors of power.

After Trump announced the troop withdrawal and anticipated Turkish attack following a phone call with Erdoğan, the response from U.S. officials and lawmakers — many regular political allies of Trump — was swift and strong in its condemnation.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has been a staunch defender of Trump in the recent impeachment controversy, called in to Fox News to call the decision “impulsive” and “short-sighted and irresponsible” and saying it would give ISIS a new lease on life, invite Iran into the region and lead to “chaos.”

Nikki Haley, Trump’s former ambassador to the United Nations, tweeted, “We must always have the backs of our allies, if we expect them to have our back. The Kurds were instrumental in our successful fight against ISIS in Syria. Leaving them to die is a big mistake.”

Liz Cheney, a high-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives, called the move “abandonment of our Kurdish allies.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who recently made a campaign video pledging his leadership as the best way to block impeachment of Trump, publicly urged the president to reconsider.

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In response, Trump tweeted that his own “great and unmatched wisdom” was all the defence American allies needed, saying that if Turkey does anything off-limits in his own estimation, “I will totally destroy and obliterate the economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!).” He went on to call on others, including European countries, to step in to defend the region, and ended a string of tweets with the proclamation “THE USA IS GREAT!”

At the rally in front of the White House Tuesday, Mohamad hoped that Trump would see the wisdom and greatness of standing beside the people who served as the major U.S. ally in the fight against terrorism in Syria. “What we need from the U.S. is not to leave their allies alone. Because they are the ones who — they defeat ISIS together. Together we could defeat the terrorists,” Mohamad said. “When Mr. Trump came, he was very proud to declare that we defeated the terrorists in Syria militarily. He was so proud. So I would ask him to be proud to continue to end ISIS.”

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