Congress set for showdown with Trump over Kurds

The Hill ^ | 10/09/19 06:11 PM EDT | JORDAIN CARNEY AND REBECCA KHEEL

[robowombat]

President Trump is barreling toward a showdown with Congress over his decision to pull back U.S. troops in northern Syria despite widespread opposition.

The announcement, which caught leadership and traditional GOP allies flatfooted, sparked a wave of condemnation, with Republicans calling it a “disaster in the making,” a “catastrophic mistake” and a “terrible decision.”

Lawmakers are already weighing how to respond to Trump’s decision, setting the stage for a high-profile clash with Trump as soon as Congress returns from a two-week break on Monday.

“Congress must and will act to limit the catastrophic impact of this decision,” said Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), a member of House GOP leadership, adding that Trump’s decision was having “sickening and predictable consequences.”

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) warned that unless Turkey changes its behavior “everything is on the table,” including “suspending arms sales, to suspending economic aid to even considering their status in NATO.”

Lawmakers, scattered across the country for a two-week break, are having behind-the-scenes talks about potential legislative action and publicly throwing out a myriad of ideas ranging from a resolution opposing Trump’s actions to sanctions against Turkey to inserting language into a mammoth defense policy bill.

“Multiple committees are looking at possible legislative efforts to put the House on record against the President’s outrageous decision,” a House Democratic leadership aide told The Hill.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y) separately predicted that “Congress will take some form of action” given the “broad condemnation” sparked by Trump’s decision.

Lawmakers are under growing pressure to mount a formal response after Turkey began airstrikes and shelling against Kurdish forces in northern Syria and, hours later, moved ground troops into the country after Trump pulled back U.S. troops. Lawmakers have warned for days that Trump’s decision could endanger the Kurds, who were integral to the U.S.-led fight against ISIS.

Trump on Wednesday tried to distance himself from Turkey’s actions, saying the United States “does not endorse this attack and has made it clear to Turkey that this operation is a bad idea.” But he also said the United States should not be part of “endless, senseless wars.”

Trump reiterated that the U.S. stance is that it is now Turkey’s responsibility to ensure ISIS prisoners being held by the Syrian Democratic Forces do not escape and further claimed Ankara has committed to “protecting civilians” and “ ensuring no humanitarian crisis takes place.”

That’s done little to stem the flow of criticism from Capitol Hill.

“I said that President Trump's decision to abandon the Kurds ... was terribly unwise. Today, we are seeing the consequences of that terrible decision. If the reports of Turkish strikes in Syria are accurate, I fear our allies the Kurds could be slaughtered,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) lamented the “tragic loss of life among friends shamefully betrayed.”

One option under discussion would be to slap new sanctions on Turkey for invading Syria.

Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said after Turkey’s actions that they have reached an agreement on sanctions legislation. The bill would target Turkey’s energy sector and military. It also includes visa restrictions for Turkish leadership, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and would sanction any assets they have within U.S. jurisdiction.

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BY ABBVIE “I am pleased to have reached a bipartisan agreement with Senator Van Hollen on severe sanctions against Turkey for their invasion of Syria. While the Administration refuses to act against Turkey, I expect strong bipartisan support,” Graham said.

“Most Members of Congress believe it would be wrong to abandon the Kurds who have been strong allies against ISIS,” he added.

Van Hollen said the sanctions bill will be introduced next week and that they want a quick vote.

“Will ask for an immediate vote to send a clear message to Turkey that it must cease and desist its military action, withdraw its fighters from the areas under attack, and stop the tragic loss of life,” he said.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), who has aligned herself closely with Trump, said on Wednesday that she will support new financial penalties.

“I condemn in the strongest possible terms any U.S. policy that will result in endangerment of the Kurds who have sacrificed so much blood and treasure alongside American forces. ... Turkey must pay the price for its aggression toward our Kurdish partners,” Blackburn said.

Trump downplayed the potential pushback, saying he thinks “it’s OK” if Congress imposes sanctions on Turkey even as he disagreed with Graham’s desire to stay in Syria and dismissed the Kurds because they “didn't help us in the Second World War.”

“I think Lindsey would like to stay there for the next 200 years and maybe add a couple a hundred of thousand people every place, but I disagree with Lindsey on that,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “But I will tell you that I do agree on sanctions, but I actually think much tougher than sanctions if [Erdogan] doesn’t do it in as humane a way as possible.”

Graham is also crafting a resolution formally opposing Trump’s decision, adding that he expects “it will receive strong bipartisan support.” A spokesman for Graham told The Hill this week that they were in the process of drafting the resolution.

It would mark the second time the Senate has rebuked Trump on Syria after providing veto-proof support for an amendment from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) warning the president against withdrawing troops from Syria or Afghanistan earlier this year.

McConnell sent a warning shot on Monday saying that “the conditions that produced that bipartisan vote still exist today.”

Lawmakers could also slip language into a mammoth defense bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). House and Senate lawmakers are negotiating on a final version of the legislation.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) called Turkey’s actions “unacceptable” and warned that Ankara will face “serious economic, diplomatic and security consequences.”

“Erdoğan’s actions risk undermining our bilateral relationship, destabilizing northeastern Syria, squandering hard-won progress against ISIS, creating a new humanitarian crisis and harming our Kurdish partners,” Inhofe said.

A spokeswoman for Inhofe said because “the NDAA is currently in the conference process” she “couldn’t speculate” on whether it will include a response to the Syria situation.

A House Armed Services Committee spokeswoman told The Hill that lawmakers, led by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), are working on legislation related to the issue separately from the NDAA, but could not immediately provide more detail. A House Foreign Affairs spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

More than 50 House Democrats, led by Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), sent a letter to Trump on Wednesday afternoon demanding he answer 10 questions about his Syria policy, including how the United States will ensure the Kurds’ protection and what Trump considers to be “off limits” for Turkey to do.

“This decision jeopardizes decades of trust in American solidarity and will only serve to undermine current and future alliances,” they wrote.

In the meantime, calls are mounting for the Trump administration to testify about the decision, providing a high-stakes setting where they would likely face a bipartisan grilling.

Romney and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) are urging Senate Foreign Relations Committee leadership to have administration officials testify before the panel and “explain to the American people how betraying an ally and ceding influence to terrorists and adversaries is not disastrous for our national security interests.”

Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, also called for Defense Secretary Mark Esper to testify before Congress “as soon as possible.”

“I would hope Secretary of State [Mike] Pompeo and Acting Director of National Intelligence [Joseph] Maguire will be called before the respective oversight committees as well,” Reed said.

“We need a full accounting and there is no time to waste. Congress must send a clear, bipartisan signal to this president that we do not condone his decision,” he added. “And it has to go beyond tweets and statements. We need action.”

[Alberta's Child]

You're acting as if all of this has unfolded only at the times you've been reading about it in the media. I'm almost 100% certain that this is NOT the case.

President Trump has been making public statements about removing troops from Syria for months -- if not longer. Do you really think he just woke up a couple of days ago and decided to do it right then and there? LOL.

[ConservativeWarrior]

If Trump had decided to double our presence from 50 troops to 100, there would be wall-to-wall stories about his warmongering.

All reporting on Trump is driven by hate.

[ought-six]

“President Trump has been making public statements about removing troops from Syria for months — if not longer. Do you really think he just woke up a couple of days ago and decided to do it right then and there? LOL.”

Not at all. But where was the withdrawal coordinated with the Kurds? That is basic military practice. This was not a Dunkirk-style withdrawal, which was an essential measure that would enabler Great Britain to continue the fight; this was a cut-and run that is leaving an ally to be wiped out. Like the Kurds or hate them, they were an ally in the fight against ISIS, and we owed it to them to coordinate the withdrawal. Trump ignored pretty much ALL of his military advisors on this one.

As I stated previously, I support withdrawing our troops from Syria. But the manner in which it was handled is inexplicable.

[JonPreston]

Thank you, sir.

[wita]

giving Turkey the OK to bomb our Kurd allies is an entirely different thing.

...and you have incontrovertible proof that such is the case, and the reason for your very short loyalty to my President.

...and you got this proof from where exactly?

[Redmen4ever]

By slicing through Al Anbar Province (Sunni), this new nation would link with Jordan. Perhaps some arrangement could be made to allow Iran and Shia Iraq a conduit to the Mediterranean in return for a peace settlement. As Trump says, think big.

[Wuli]

Trump will lose this fight, whether the policy stays or not.

The risk, to us, of leaving the policy alone and telling Erdogan to go stuff it was very small.

The violence in Syria the policy change is going to unleash will be worse than the violent political reactions against the policy here at home, but both will be negative weights on Trump.

Trump has the wrong angle on this.

It is not a case of EXTENDING our military in an ADDITIONAL war. It was already there when Trump entered office.

It is a case of continuing commitments already made; of loyalty kept with an ally, particularly when you know that ally is going to be attacked, after you have worked so hard defending them.

If we have ever had a more true ally in the Middle East, besides Israel, it would have to be the Kurds.

[nathanbedford]

FReeper Announces Breakthrough in Cure for the Ad Hominem Distemper-an Analogue of Tourette's Syndrome

I have pondered a while now the best way to help you with your condition. It is indeed perplexing because the regular nostrums like Ritalin seem to be of no avail. I debated offering personal counseling and I considered that I could recommend some rehabilitation centers where they can, with modern drugs, ease you through withdrawal before you embark on a 12-step program. But these are usually quite expensive and, barring a successful intervention, the patient has a very poor prognosis because he is unwilling to accept the treatment.

All the modern authorities report that the majority of patients once released from rehab inevitably wander back to their keyboards and commit the sin of personal attacks within a matter of hours. Alas, the hard and bitter truth is that the AD HOMINEM DISTEMPER which afflicts you and so many others with access to the Internet, has no known cure, as a recent article in The New England Journal of Medicine under this very title has concluded. The statistical relapse rate has been truly disheartening. That is, until now for I have by the grace of a benign Providence hit upon the solution to your compulsion which no doubt will be published in the next edition of the Journal under the working title, FReeper Announces Breakthrough to Cure the Ad Hominem Distemper-an Analogue of Tourette's Syndrome. I will be pleased to send you a reprint upon request.

It all came to me as an epiphany when I contemplated your symptoms. The malady is easy to describe: The unfortunate patient, unable to deal with the substance of what he reads and bereft of factual answer for it, resorts to attacks against those whom he regards to be the author of his misery, much like the ancient Pharaohs who cut off the heads of messengers bearing bad news. Our modern Pharoah cannot, of course, physically decapitate anyone in ether-space so he becomes a mighty potentate astride his own keyboard and lashes out to assassinate the character of these cyber devils. After he has pushed the Reply button and sent his screed into cyberspace, he enjoys a rush of adrenaline and a psychotic high which, of course, is inevitably followed by a deeper low from which he cannot emerge until he finds another victim for his calumnies. The disease is progressive and up until now there has been no known cure. But I have found the certain cure and I am willing to give it away, free and without charge, out of Christian concern and solicitude for a fellow conservative. You may consider this to be charity but I am also motivated in the interests of science. Since my motives are altruistic you will observe below the absence of any claim of copyright for my breakthrough, I exact no excise for my good works. I do this not just to save you - but for all humanity, that is, to save all humanity from you.

My prescription, like all brilliant breakthroughs which are obvious only in hindsight for their simplicity and brevity, is analogous to the practice which has developed on the Rush Limbaugh radio program in which the caller, to express a whole series of complementary observations merely has to say: Dittos -and all is perfectly understood by everyone with no trouble or bother or any loss of time.

My antidote for your Ad Hominem Distemper is simplicity itself: Whenever you feel an attack coming on do not resist, for that only leads to the cold sweats, rather, you should embrace it because, after all, acceptance of the disease and your powerlessness over it are the first steps in your recovery. Do not try to avoid your keyboard but eagerly reach out for it. We know that you have nothing to say about the substance of the matter, we know that you've been confused by the reality with which you have been confronted, we know how feverish and insecure you feel as a result, we know how much you feel the need to blackguard someone. Nevertheless, go confidently to your keyboard without any anxiety that you will compulsively vituperate - as though you were some wretched victim of Tourette's syndrome - and take your keyboard stoutly in hand to gallantly type the following:

TOUCHÉ

(recent results of phase lll clinical trials have shown that the better course of therapy is to encourage the patient to write the word in italics and in bold letters because it seems to bolster self-esteem, a pathological deficiency common to all these unfortunates)

Now there, don’t you see how much easier and lighter you feel in your soul? Instead of betraying to the world the poverty of your intellectual estate, you have made a clean breast of your ignorance, which is different from rank stupidity, and it is anyway the first step in your recovery program. More, you will be awarded points because you show the world that you are a bigger man and by no means petty. The therapeutic effects of this balm cannot be overestimated. Phase llB and pivotal phase lll clinical trials have shown that, although my remedy may be sublime, it is not wholly perfect because it brings no cheap and easy rush, no high, but then no crash either, no withdrawal, no need for the next fix. Instead, you can have your life back.

Your friend,

Nathan

[Shethink13]

In that respect, I wish he would have channeled Ronald Reagan more, and Andy Jackson less.

Yeah, because Ronald Reagan was really successful at draining the swamp. Good thing he made that great immigration deal that stemmed the flow of illegals, right?

I wonder if it was like this for the patriots during the revolution? So many people afraid to stand for what is right because those with a vested interest in the status quo are a powerful, frightening force. It takes a lot of courage to push back. I think Pres Trump has the courage but the rest of us not so much. I’m afraid we may not be ready for the sacrifice.

[bert]

I have come to believe that Turkey will allow or disallow the formation of this nation. For that to happen, the Turkish Kurd problem must be resolved.

I have no idea how that can come about

The traitorous Euro former allies will probably never allow a solution

[LS]

Go ahead. Declare war.

Since the DemoKKKrats are the majority in the House and lefties hate war, see how that goes.

[Jim Robinson]

Are they going to declare war on Turkey or what?

[Sequoyah101]

If you are trying to convince me you don’t need to.

[AAABEST]

More pre-readied cut and paste NB? Typical.

If you really were my friend, you could at least type me something.

[AAABEST]

If we have ever had a more true ally in the Middle East, besides Israel, it would have to be the Kurds.

Wow.... I really can't get over the absolute SHIT I read here. Kurds are a back-ass Mideast tribe of Maoist commies, who slaughter Christians when we're not looking.

You have a warped definition of "friend."

[Home-of-the-lazy-dog]

When you’re in command... COMMAND! If you’re a subordinate, you FOLLOW ORDERS!

Nate, you’re a reasonable guy, I’ve been following your posts for years, so this isn’t meant as a negative.

President Trump has to call it the way he sees it. The politics that resulted in our troops being there are so convoluted that no one person could ever truthfully explain why they’re there. Recent events revolving around the Congressional corruption that is being uncovered at every turn has to leave reasonable doubts in everyone’s mind concerning our representation.

Congress have sidestepped their constitutional responsibility for too many years; they need to re-engage. If they cannot “declare war”, then whatever operation they “concoct and condone” should include specific national security objectives, include all of the funding, and very importantly contain conditions for victory and “AN EXIT STRATEGY” all signed by Congress. Then, Congress should get out of the Commander-in-Chief’s way. Consult with him as necessary, but allow him to achieve the objectives as outlined.

The trouble is, the world has become a much more complicated mess post WW2 and Cold War. I didn’t make the mess, you didn’t make the mess... it’s just the way it has worked out over the decades.

The way I see it, we have a couple of options: Congress needs to re-engage and put some skin in the game, or end up in a never-ending string of failures... Korean War, Vietnam War, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and now Syria... Each of these involved some kind of treaty or coalition... too many opportunities for graft and corruption... sacrificing our best and brightest... and, unfortunately, for better or worse, blaming the President.

The President called it the way he sees it. Congress can fall back on their specific objectives, including all of the funding, and very importantly the conditions they established for victory and “THEIR EXIT STRATEGY”. Absent that, I’ll go with the President’s leadership in this one. I just can no longer afford to trust Congress.

Good seeing your posts, Nate. Keep up the good work.

[KC Burke]

Feckless ass-hats.

The Constitution gives them the war powers and they refuse to use it and want to question bureaucrats on television instead of actually doing something.

[JimRed]

If he sent more troops to aid the Kurds, they’d bitch just as loudly. He could cure cancer or the common cold and they’d still hate on him.

[ASA Vet]

Since Turkey is a NATO member that could get interesting.

[Home-of-the-lazy-dog]

You bring up a point of view I’ve not considered yet. This whole enemies and friends thing. Maybe this whole thing is about what’s right and wrong. Our leadership in Washington DC, it seems, can’t find their butt with both hands when it comes to doing what’s right and what’s wrong. How is it even concievable that so many people in this country are on one side or the other when it comes down to every single decision that has to be made? Is President Trump considered to be wrong about everything he does that angers the democrats? Is he doing too good of a job and putting them out of business with pending elections? Is that why they’re his enemies? It seems that whenver his deep state “RINO friends” are on their monthly cycles, they demand that he kiss their ass, or they won’t be his friends anymore?

I have considered that President Trump made his decision as a concerned American, perhaps he decided that the entire middle east situation is not worth one single solitary drop of precious urine from any of our best and brightest.

DemonRATS are going to hate, it’s what they do. But with friends like the RINO’s, who needs enemas?!?

I support the President; his heart and soul are in the right place... shed no American blood in Syria.