Donald Trump has ordered a slowdown on the withdrawal of US forces from Syria, according to Republican senator Lindsey Graham.
Senator Graham made the announcement – which hasn't been confirmed by the Trump administration – following lunch with the president in the White House.
The president had seemingly shocked everyone – from Congress and the Pentagon, through to America's allies and enemies around the world – when he announced that US troops were to pull out of Syria.
The announcement was directly followed by the resignation of defence secretary Jim Mattis, whose resignation letter criticised Mr Trump's foreign policies and his treatment of military allies.
The US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias, said the move had "dangerous implications" for stability, would "negatively affect the campaign against terrorism", and create "a political and military vacuum".
The announcement was also addressed by British defence minister Tobias Ellwood, who said he "strongly disagreed" with the American leader, adding that Islamic State had "morphed into other forms of extremism and the threat is very much alive".
The President will make sure any withdrawal from Syria will be done in a fashion to ensure:
1) ISIS is permanently destroyed.
2) Iran doesnt fill in the back end, and
3) our Kurdish allies are protected.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) December 30, 2018
Mr Graham had initially criticised the president's decision, but after the White House lunch struck a more conciliatory tone, saying: "I think we're slowing things down in a smart way."
He had told CNN's State Of The Union show about his arguments before speaking to the president.
"I'm going to ask him to sit down with his generals and reconsider how to do this. Slow this down. Make sure that we get it right. Make sure ISIS never comes back. Don't turn Syria over to the Iranians. That's a nightmare for Israel.
More from Syria
"And, at the end of the day, if we leave the Kurds and abandon them and they get slaughtered, who's going to help you in the future?
"I want to fight the war in the enemy's backyard, not ours. That's why we need a forward-deployed force in Iraq and Syria and Afghanistan for a while to come."
Donald Trump has ordered a slowdown on the withdrawal of US forces from Syria, according to Republican senator Lindsey Graham.
Senator Graham made the announcement – which hasn't been confirmed by the Trump administration – following lunch with the president in the White House.
The president had seemingly shocked everyone – from Congress and the Pentagon, through to America's allies and enemies around the world – when he announced that US troops were to pull out of Syria.
The announcement was directly followed by the resignation of defence secretary Jim Mattis, whose resignation letter criticised Mr Trump's foreign policies and his treatment of military allies.
The US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias, said the move had "dangerous implications" for stability, would "negatively affect the campaign against terrorism", and create "a political and military vacuum".
The announcement was also addressed by British defence minister Tobias Ellwood, who said he "strongly disagreed" with the American leader, adding that Islamic State had "morphed into other forms of extremism and the threat is very much alive".
The President will make sure any withdrawal from Syria will be done in a fashion to ensure:
1) ISIS is permanently destroyed.
2) Iran doesnt fill in the back end, and
3) our Kurdish allies are protected.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) December 30, 2018
Mr Graham had initially criticised the president's decision, but after the White House lunch struck a more conciliatory tone, saying: "I think we're slowing things down in a smart way."
He had told CNN's State Of The Union show about his arguments before speaking to the president.
"I'm going to ask him to sit down with his generals and reconsider how to do this. Slow this down. Make sure that we get it right. Make sure ISIS never comes back. Don't turn Syria over to the Iranians. That's a nightmare for Israel.
More from Syria
"And, at the end of the day, if we leave the Kurds and abandon them and they get slaughtered, who's going to help you in the future?
"I want to fight the war in the enemy's backyard, not ours. That's why we need a forward-deployed force in Iraq and Syria and Afghanistan for a while to come."
