WASHINGTON
- Donald Trump finds himself under a barrage of criticism from US military veterans for "abandoning" America's Kurdish allies by withdrawing troops from northern Syria, opening the way for Ankara to attack them.
Turkey launched an attack on Wednesday hours after US President Donald Trump announced that "fifty US soldiers have left" the Syrian border with Turkey, which appeared to be a retreat from the support of the Kurds, which Ankara considers a threat.
The former commander of US forces in the Middle East, General Joseph Votel, accused the US president of abandoning allies that make up the bulk of Syria's democratic forces, which was crucial in the fight against the Islamic State.
"This policy of abandonment could wipe out a five-year battle against ISIS and would effectively damage the credibility of Americans in all future battles in which we will need strong allies," the general, who retired this year, wrote.
"The SDF liberated tens of thousands of square kilometers and millions of people from ISIS," he said in The Atlantic. During these battles, it lost 11,000 fighters. ”
Six soldiers and two US civil servants were killed in the battle, he said.
Disaster
Donald Trump has long said he wants to end US intervention in Syria. He also stressed that his country could not control the hatred between the Turks and Kurds.
He hinted on Wednesday that he had helped the Kurds enough by spending "large sums" to supply them with weapons. “We love the Kurds,” he said.
Despite the president's arguments, the former commander of US ground forces in Europe, Mark Hartling, said Donald Trump's decision "portends a future catastrophe for the United States."
"The Kurds in the SDF - our former reliable allies in the fight against ISIS - are under attack from NATO member Turkey," he wrote on Twitter.
"The consequences for the United States and NATO will last long and will be at the expense of the safety of Europe and the world."
Pentagon officials said the Kurds were better trained than Turkish or Iraqi soldiers, for example, to campaign to recapture key ISIS-held cities.
"When the Iraqi army collapsed, it was the Kurds who stood up to the Islamic State's attack on our civilization. We did not face them or the Turks," said Rep.
He continued in a tweet on Twitter: "The abandonment of the Kurds is another reminder that (America first) means (America alone)."
American interests
Some compared the previous wars in which the Americans abandoned an ally to find themselves alone in the face of challenges, including the governments of Laos and South Vietnam in the 1970s.
Republican Sen. Martha Maxali, a former US Air Force pilot who served in the Middle East on six missions, said the decision to allow Turkey to launch an attack was "very bad."
"The SDF and our Kurdish allies have paid a heavy price," she told Fox Radio. They are the ones who overthrew the caliphate of the Islamic State.
After all, some in the military support the president in his desire to withdraw US troops from endless conflicts.
Dan Caldwell of the Consort Veterans for America lobby said Trump only wanted to put his country's interests first.
"It is not in our interest to find ourselves in the midst of an old conflict between Turkey and Syria's Kurds that existed before ISIS and the civil war in Syria," he said.
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