U.S. Senator Ron Johnson is opposed to President Donald Trump’s plan to withdraw American troops from Syria. The Wisconsin Republican, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement that while he doesn’t believe the U.S. “can or should be the world’s policeman,” he does believe that “the fight against ISIS and preventing further unnecessary bloodshed in Syria” is in the U.S. national interest.
“I have never believed America can or should be the world’s policeman. But I do believe when it is in our national security interest, and we have the capability of stabilizing a situation to prevent violence, we should do so,” said Sen. Johnson. “Supporting a key ally in the fight against ISIS and preventing further unnecessary bloodshed in Syria is in our national interest. Abandoning the Kurds would not only send a terrible signal to America’s allies and adversaries, it would simply be unconscionable.”
In a Tuesday tweet, the president said the U-S is not abandoning the Kurds, calling them “a special people and wonderful fighters.”
We may be in the process of leaving Syria, but in no way have we Abandoned the Kurds, who are special people and wonderful fighters. Likewise our relationship with Turkey, a NATO and Trading partner, has been very good. Turkey already has a large Kurdish population and fully….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 8, 2019
Johnson said that abandoning the Kurds would send a terrible signal to American allies and adversaries, and “would simply be unconscionable.”