During Tuesday’s CNN-New York Times Democratic debate, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate South Bend, IN Mayor Pete Buttigieg said President Donald Trump withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria has made them “ashamed,” and was taking away their honor.

Buttigieg said, “The slaughter going on in Syria is not a consequence of American presence, it a consequence of a withdrawal and a betrayal by this president of American allies and American values. Look, I didn’t think we should have gone to Iraq in the first place. I think we need to get out of Afghanistan. But it’s also the case that a small number of specialized, special operations forces and intelligence capabilities were the only thing that stood between that part of Syria and what we’re seeing now, which is the beginning of a genocide and the resurgence of ISIS. Meanwhile soldiers in the field are reporting that for the first time they feel ashamed— ashamed of what their country has done.”

He added, “I would have a hard time today looking an Afghan civilian or soldier in the eye after what just happened over there. And it is undermining the honor of our soldiers. You take away the honor of our soldiers, you ever might as well go after their body armor next. This president has betrayed American values, our credible has been tattered.”

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