Withdrawal Bill

From USA Today:

"Senate advances bill warning against 'precipitous withdrawal' from Syria and Afghanistan"

The Senate delivered a rare rebuke to President Donald Trump's foreign policy on Thursday, opposing his plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria and shrink American forces in Afghanistan.  In a bipartisan vote, lawmakers advanced a measure sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., warning against a "precipitous withdrawal" of American forces from Syria and Afghanistan. It was a particularly notable move coming from McConnell, who has been reluctant to criticize or cross Trump.  "The United States is engaged in Syria and Afghanistan for one simple reason: because our enemies are engaged there," McConnell said from the Senate on Wednesday. "Dangers to us and to our allies still remain in both these nations, so we must continue to confront them there."  McConnell's resolution is nonbinding, but it showcased a public rift between hawkish congressional Republicans and Trump, who campaigned on a promise to bring American troops home from far-flung conflicts. GOP critics say Trump has minimized the threat from the Islamic State in Syria and is plotting a hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan that could allow extremist elements to re-emerge in a country that once served as a base for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. In his speech Wednesday, McConnell invoked the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and suggested a premature withdrawal from Afghanistan could lead to more attacks on U.S. soil. "It's understandable that as we get farther from Sept. 11, many would grow tired of our military efforts a long way from home," he said, but leaving "too abruptly carries its own grave risk."   McConnell may have gotten fresh fuel for his proposal from a watchdog report on Afghanistan released Thursday. The U.S. inspector general overseeing Afghanistan reconstruction found insurgent forces increased their control over swaths of Afghanistan and the ranks of U.S.-backed government security forces have thinned to a new low. Thursday's Senate vote would cut off debate on McConnell's provision, which is an amendment to a broader Middle East foreign policy bill. The legislation would authorize new sanctions against the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad and extend a security cooperation agreement between the United States and Jordan, among other things.

^ I completely agree with the Senate on this. Obama removed all American troops from Iraq too early and that allowed ISIS to come in and take over. The same (or worse) can happen if the US leaves Syria or Afghanistan too soon. No one likes war, but until ISIS, Al-Qaida and other terrorist groups are defeated then we shouldn't stop fighting them. Hopefully, Trump will stop and re-think his decision to remove the troops. ^

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/01/31/mcconnell-warns-against-withdrawal-forces-syria-afghanistan-senate/2730462002/