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.”

[nathanbedford]

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.

A good description of our postwar martial misadventures.

You are quite right, "I didn’t make the mess, you didn’t make the mess." I would add that President Trump certainly did not make the mess. As a matter of fact he campaigned and won reelection running against this mess. I wish he had your pen at his disposal and he would clearly outline to the country where we are, what we are doing, and why.

Churchill said it best in 1940 when he outlined British war aim:

“You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.”

He asked and answered the same question concerning his policy:

It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark and lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy.

Donald Trump inherited a dysfunctional nation, at least a nation politically dysfunctional. Our Congress is broken as you describe and our courts are running rogue. Trump recognizes the symptoms and his instincts concerning getting us out of these quagmire wars is fundamental to our national survival just as defending us against China is fundamental to our economic future and, ultimately, to our survival as the land of the free and the home of the brave.

As many on this thread have observed, Trump ran explicitly on these truths. But our electorate has a very short memory and our media can vaporize the truth in seconds.

It is the duty of the American president to fulfill many roles besides those explicitly outlined in the Constitution. Not only is he commander-in-chief, he is the nation's chief (unitary) executive, the nation's chief diplomat, but none of these things work if he does not fulfill a role not articulated in the Constitution: leader of his party-and leader of the nation. .

The president must first carry the party to carry the country or his policies are lost in a morass and sink into the swamp. Trump has succeeded overall in carrying his party, although his party members in Congress lesser so. But the polls do not show that he is actually carried the country. Recently, even a Fox poll shows 57% of the respondents wanted him impeached and 51% wanted him removed from office.

Can you actually say that Trump has so clearly and cogently articulated his policy in this instance concerning withdrawal from Syria in a way that carries both party and country? Can you say that he makes it is clear as Churchill did in 1940? Can you tell me what our policy is in individual applications? What is going on in Afghanistan, are we staying or going? What is going on in Syria, there is some question about actually staying, or threatening turkey, or waging air war by against turkey if necessary, or maybe only waging economic war? Can you honestly say you know what the policy is?

I am criticizing Trump for doing what no president should be asked to to do, to articulate a clear policy that has universal application while the country is in the thickets, or as you said, in a mess. Yet that is his job.

Congress is hopeless, we all agree about that. But that does not mean that the president does not have the responsibility to lead it, to make something of it as other Presidents have done in the clutch.

When he does just that all will fall into place, your injunction will be effortlessly obeyed:

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

Thank you for the kind words.

[a little elbow grease]

"As for me, Keane's connection to Kimberly Kagan, and the Kagan family, is the only indicator I need to reject him and his drum beat for war outright."

________________

Dr. Kagan was also credited as the executive producer for the blockbuster film The Surge: the Untold Story with CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus, ISW Chairman, U.S Army General Jack Keane (ret.) and LTG James Dubik (ret.) describing the surge strategy in Iraq and how some high-ranking officers from the United States Army would like to present themselves as having pacified the country and thus won the war."

"Along with General Keane, Dr. Kagan is an Advisory Board Member of Spirit of America, a 501(c) organization that supports the safety and success of Americans serving abroad and the local people and partners they seek to help."

***

(Belated Barf Alert)

[a little elbow grease]

"Project for a New American Century"

_______________

... Billy is so offended.

:-)

[pfony1]

A “whistle-blower” told me that Mitt Romney and Chris Murphy think the only FAIR thing would be to send thousands of US troops to support the Kurds — our allies in the ISIS war — and to send thousands of US troops to support Turkey — our ally in the NATO treaty.

Of course, having Americans fighting Americans would increase the number of American casualties...

But, for them, that would be an unfortunate, but FAIR result.

Nonsense! Trump’s solution is a better one. Deploy NO American troops!

[Wuli]

Name calling really makes an argument doesn’t it. /sarc

[Jim Noble]

Here’s a simple solution for the Congress which is within their proper role:

JOINT RESOLUTION
Declaring that a state of war exists between the Republic of Turkey and the people of the United States and making provisions to prosecute the same.

Whereas the Republic of Turkey is mean to Kurds, gives some Americans bad feels, and Erdogan is a poopy-head:

Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the state of war between the United States and the Republic of Turkey which has thus been thrust upon the United States is hereby formally declared; and the President is hereby authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military forces of the United States and the resources of the Government to carry on war against the Republic of Turkey; and, to bring the conflict to a successful termination, all the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of the United States.

[AAABEST]

I didn't call you any names! Go re-read my post.

I do call people names all the time (it's a vice), but I did NOT in your case.

[Wuli]

I didn’t say you called me names.

[1Old Pro]

Collins, Romney and Graham, same 3.

[CrimsonTidegirl]

I’m sure that President Trump will be deeply saddened. That is, if you even supported him in the first place.

I assume that you will be campaigning for Fauxcahontas?

I’m sorry that you won’t get your precious war.

[CrimsonTidegirl]

This “Oklahoma” creature is nothing but an ignorant, uneducated troll.

During the Presidential Election, he was a virulent, obnoxious NeverTrumper who did nothing but hurl childish insults at freepers who were much more knowledgeable than him. He constantly attempted to “talk down” to other users, despite the fact that the targets of his disdain were far superior to him.

After Trump’s victory he, thankfully, slithered back to DU. He only posts on FR if he believes that President Trump is in trouble. Once again, he will be disappointed.

Just ignore or report him. I just point and laugh at him.

[tet68]

I really have to wonder if President Trump thought to
himself, how can I get more troops into Syria to protect
the Kurds? I know, I’ll pull the troops OUT of Syria
and the rats will go nuts and demand I put more troops in... Win=Win.

[CrimsonTidegirl]

“US membership in NATO has outlived its usefulness.”

Truer words have never been spoken.

[Chaguito]

Ironic it is that Congress was not consulted before the previous occupant of the WH sent troops into Syria. Now they have PIAW over an action to re-stabilize the mess it caused.

[Oklahoma]

Report me for what? Doing the same thing you did in the post I’m responding to?

It’s easy to talk down to halfwits, fools and naves.

Never been a big fan of the Trumpian “genius” but I prefer Trump to ANY democrat that has run or will run in the next ten years.

Why don’t you go back and read every post I’ve made on these forums the past twenty years and then tell me I come from DU.

[Jane Long]

Those rats always come creeping out at (what they think are) oppurtune times.

[CrimsonTidegirl]

Yes, they certainly do.