President Donald Trump's morning tweets about Syria reflect a "pre-9/11 mentality" about the Middle East, and his decision to pull troops out of Syria could prove to be the "biggest mistake of his presidency," Sen. Lindsey Graham said Wednesday.
"This is the pre-9/11 mentality that paved the way for 9/11, that what was happening in Afghanistan was of no concern to us," the South Carolina Republican told Fox News' "Fox and Friends." "If [Trump] follows through with this, it would be the biggest mistake of his presidency. I would argue for him to go back to the status quo."
Graham added that he hopes Trump is right and that the fight against ISIS can be turned over to Turkey, but instead, he worries that won't happen. "I hope Turkey when they go into Syria, they won't slaughter the Kurds," Graham said.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan announced Wednesday through Twitter that Turkey and Syrian rebel allies have launched a military operation into northeastern Syria, claiming the offensive is aimed to eliminate a "terror corridor" along Turkey's southern border.
"When Turkey goes into Syria, they're not going in to fight ISIS," he said. "They're going in to kill the Kurds. In their eyes, they're more of a threat to Turkey than ISIS."
Graham said Trump has been warned by "every military person" about pulling out of Syria.
Safe zones and patrolling with Turkish and international forces to protect the Kurds were the right thing to do, said Graham.
"The Trump way of doing business worked," said Graham. "We can't abandon the Kurds now. We can't turn it over to Turkey. To think that will work is really delusional and dangerous."
It is also a lie to say ISIS has been defeated, said Graham.
"The caliphate has been destroyed but it will reemerge," said Graham. "The Kurds can't fight Turkey and control ISIS at the same time."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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