SALT LAKE CITY — Sen. Mitt Romney hasn’t retreated from his sharp criticism of the Trump administration for withdrawing U.S. troops from northern Syria even as it announced that Turkey agreed to a cease-fire in the area Thursday.
Turkish forces launched an offensive against Syrian Kurds a day after President Donald Trump initiated the pullout last week. Syrian Kurdish fighters played a key role in aiding the U.S.-led fight against ISIS.
“The announcement today is being portrayed as a victory,” Romney, R-Utah, said on the Senate floor. “It is far from a victory.”
Serious questions remain about the decision to withdraw and why the terms and assurances were not negotiated before the president consented to the withdrawal. Also, the administration needs to explain America’s future role in the region, what happens now to the Kurds and why Turkey won’t face any apparent consequences.
“The cease-fire does not change the fact that America has abandoned an ally. Adding insult to dishonor, the administration speaks cavalierly, even flippantly, even as our ally suffered death and casualty. Their homes have been burned and their families have been torn apart,” Romney said.
The U.S. does not abandon its allies, and the decision to abandon the Kurds violated one of the countries most sacred duties, he said, calling it a matter of American honor and promise.
“What we have done to the Kurds will stand as a bloodstain in the annals of American history,” the senator said.
Romney blasted Trump over the withdrawal last week and called on the administration to immediately reconsider. He said it “shamefully betrayed” the Kurds. The decision strengthened Iranian and Russian interests in the Middle East, Romney said.
He called for Senate hearings on the issue.
“Mr. President, we need answers,” Romney said, adding that what happened in Syria should not happen again.
Condemning the president’s move has become a moment of rare bipartisan agreement while Congress remains bitterly divided over an impeachment inquiry. On Wednesday, the House passed a resolution, 354-60, denouncing the withdrawal.
All of Utah’s House members voted for the resolution, although none issued statements about their votes on the high-profile issue.
Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, who has been one of the most vocal supporters of the president since the inquiry began last month, said the resolution vote was “very difficult” because he supports the policy to withdraw troops from the region.
“But the implementation of it was not communicated and they weren’t prepared to implement this policy. And that’s the thing that I most object to,” Stewart said. He also noted he supported the resolution’s call for a cease-fire.
While Romney continued his offensive, Utah’s senior senator, Republican Mike Lee, said people shouldn’t be criticizing the president over the decision. Trump, he said, might be helping head off a full-blown war.
“We should therefore respect and be grateful to him for taking that step of restraint,” Lee said on the Senate floor. “This president has been unique in ... not blindly deferring to the military industrial complex. I thank him for that and salute his willingness to stand behind our brave men and women.”
In announcing the cease-fire, Vice President Mike Pence said the U.S. and Turkey “have both mutually committed to a peaceful resolution and future for the safe zone, working on an international basis to ensure that peace and security defines this border region of Syria.”
Pence said that both countries had committed to “defeat ISIS activities in north Syria,” including an agreement to “coordinate efforts on detention facilities and internally displaced persons in formerly ISIS-controlled areas.”
Romney questioned Trump’s reasons for removing U.S. troops from Syria, including the president saying it was to keep a promise to stop endless wars, bring troops home and save money.
“I find these reasons hard to square,” he said, noting the U.S. removed 1,500 troops from Syria but is placing 2,000 in Saudi Arabia and has some 60,000 total in the Middle East.
Romney also wondered why the Kurds weren’t warned about the pullout, leaving no time to defend themselves. The Turks, he said, clearly had a heads up because they started bombing within hours of the withdrawal. Romney said he doesn’t understand why the administration did not tell Turkey it was unacceptable to attack an American ally.
Lee said U.S. troops shouldn’t be in Syria at all because Congress never authorized military action there. Romney said he disagrees and Congress gave the president the authority and funding to fight terrorism in Syria.
“Once you jump in the ocean to save a drowning soul, you don’t turn around with the excuse that you didn’t have to jump in in the first place,” Romney said.
Ending the bloodshed is among several moves Stewart said the administration should make to address U.S. interests in the region. Others are helping Turkey stem the flow of refugees crossing Turkey’s southern border and ensuring security for Kurdish allies in northern Iraq and for Israel.
“Israel is in a very dangerous part of the world and it’s more dangerous when these kinds of things are happening not far from their borders,” he said.
Stewart, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee that is holding closed door impeachment hearings that he has criticized as unfair to the president, downplayed his vote against Trump. Stewart has voted with the president 95% of the time, according the statistical analysis website FiveThirtyEight.
“I’ve supported Trump on the majority of his policies, and there have been times that I’ve disagreed with him. And this was one of them,” he said of his vote.
At a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing Wednesday, Romney was incredulous that Brian Hook, the State Department’s special representative for Iran, didn’t believe that Turkey attacking Kurds in Syria strengthens Iran.
“That’s so dramatic a perspective on your part, that Iran is not celebrating what’s happening in Syria is extraordinary to me,” Romney said.
Syrian Kurds are now aligning with Syrian President Bashar Hafez al-Assad, whose regime is backed by Iran.
“Iran’s power position has significantly increased with Turkey wiping out our friends, the Kurds, in Syria,” Romney tweeted. “Because the U.S. is abandoning its position in Syria, Assad is becoming stronger, and Iran is smiling ear to ear. This is a foreign policy disaster.”