SYRIA; Congressional Record Vol. 164, No. 200

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SYRIA

Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I am in distress to be on the floor of

the Senate today with my colleague, Senator Graham, to express our deep

and profound disappointment in President Trump's decision to withdraw

U.S. troops from northeast Syria.

We had the opportunity to visit Syria this summer, and we saw what a

difference our troops had made there in the fight against ISIS in

stabilizing Syria along the northern Turkish border. We saw the

response from the Syrians we talked to, both the Kurds and Arabs, as we

drove along the road. We saw children and people in the area flashing a

victory sign at our troops, and you can see from this map the land that

is controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces, our partners in Syria,

so this is the United States and Syrian Democratic Forces.

We have a significant piece of Syria that is now peaceful and

stabilized and ISIS has been thrown out of that part of Syria, but the

President's decision--which was announced by a tweet--is dangerous,

premature, and wholly inconsistent with the facts on the ground in

Syria and our own military's advice.

I was listening to Senator Rubio earlier today talking about what is

the plan? What is the plan if we withdraw? Well, I will tell you what

the plan is. There is no plan. There is no follow-on to what we are

going to do if we withdraw from Syria. What we know is, the work of our

combined joint task force, Operation Inherent Resolve, and its partner

forces, the Syrian Democratic Forces, is truly remarkable. Again, we

can see it. We can see it in this brown section of the country where we

have control and there is peace and stability.

Senator Graham and I, when we visited this summer, we went to Manbij,

which was controlled by ISIS for 3 years. We walked through the market

in Manbij without any body armor, with no guards. We talked to people

in that community about what life was like under ISIS.

I talked to one woman who told me she did not go out of her house the

entire time ISIS controlled Manbij, for 3 years. She went out of her

house once to visit the doctor.

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We saw women strolling through the market. We saw children playing.

We saw people who were happy to be back in their own communities. They

said to us: Please stay. We are worried about what will happen if the

Americans leave Manbij.

We also flew over Kobane, right here on the Turkish border. I

remember all of the TV coverage of the fight for Kobane and what it

looked like.

We could see it was being rebuilt, not with money from the United

States but with money from the region. We could see all the building

going on. We flew over a center where they were holding some of the

most dangerous foreign fighters who had been captured in the fight

against ISIS, being held right here in Kobane. Then we went down to Ayn

Issa, where we saw, directly, the difference certain forces had made in

helping to guard our outposts where our troops were stationed. We saw

detention facilities where they were holding, again, fighters from

Syria who had fought for ISIS.

We then went over to Al-Hasakah where we saw a prison that was being

built to hold the most dangerous of the foreign fighters. Those foreign

fighters who--we don't know what will happen if we withdraw our troops.

There will be nobody there to support the Syrian Democratic Forces that

are holding hundreds of those fighters. What happens? Do they get

released?

Do they come back to the United States and to Europe where they can

engineer terrorist attacks? Do they go back into the villages and

restart another terrorist group? There is no--we don't know what is

going to happen there because there is no follow-on plan.

Again, we heard from people everywhere we went how important it was

to have American troops stationed in Syria\\--about 2,000 American troops

who have made such a huge difference there. They serve a vital shield

against ISIS cells that are still operating in Northeast Syria. While

the President claims that the threat of ISIS within Syria has

dissipated, the conditions on the ground paint a very different

picture. So working with our partners we have achieved gains against

ISIS because we have partnered with the Syrian Democratic Forces that

are partly Kurd and partly Arab. If those Syrian Democratic Forces lose

the support of the United States, we run the risk of a resurgence of

ISIS and the possible capitulation or all-out destruction of Kurdish

resistance in the region.

What does that mean? That means those ISIS elements are emboldened.

They may go underground, but they may reemerge. If we don't remember

history, we are destined to repeat it. That is what happened in Iraq.

We left al-Qaida, moved to Syria, and they reemerged as an even bigger

threat. If we leave, it is not at all clear what is going to happen.

These are hard-fought gains that are critical to ensuring that we win

the fight against terrorism in the Middle East. If we leave, we are

going to cede influence in that region to Russia, to Iran, to Assad. In

fact, just moments after this decision was announced this morning, we

heard the chair of Russia's State Duma, the chair of the Defense

Committee, Vladimir Shamanov said: \\\`\\\`U.S. plans in Syria had failed,''

and he added that we, the United States, had decided to make this

knight's move in order to avoid a \\\`\\\`shameful end.''

Make no mistake. They are celebrating in Moscow tonight after the

President's announcement, just like they are celebrating in Tehran

tonight because of the President's announcement because we are going to

leave the field in Syria to those countries that are aggressors against

the United States.

I urge President Trump to listen to his military and diplomatic

advisers before he goes any further on this shortsighted decision.

It is important to understand that U.S. leadership is essential to

completely defeating ISIS and to bringing an end to the violence in

Syria. It is also important to reassure our allies that America keeps

its word; that when partnering with us, we are there to support you. If

we leave now, what does that say to anybody else in the future who may

want to partner with the United States on any conflict? It says: You

can't count on the United States because we may just pull out on you

tomorrow if the President suddenly thinks it is in his interests--not

in the interests of the United States but in his interest to withdraw.

This is a reckless decision, and it is undoubtedly going to have

consequences for years to come for our military and for our ability to

partner with others internationally. The only ones who are going to

benefit from this decision are our enemies.

So I am pleased to partner with Senator Graham on a resolution that

would express the sense of the Senate that we should not be withdrawing

our troops from Syria, that there is too much at stake here for us to

take this reckless action and send the wrong message to our partners in

the rest of the world.

I am pleased to join my colleague, Senator Graham, and we will do

everything we can to urge the President to reverse this reckless

decision.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Carolina.

Mr. GRAHAM. I thank my colleague from New Hampshire.

Let me ask the question, when we went to Syria and Iraq together, did

anyone in the military suggest to you that withdrawing in the

foreseeable future was a good idea?

Mrs. SHAHEEN. Absolutely not. In fact, they talked about how pleased

they were with the gains we had made, with the partnership, with the

SDF, with what they were seeing in terms of stabilizing those

communities, people coming back to their homes, rebuilding, and how

important it was for us to stay there.

Mr. GRAHAM. Did they also not say that the Syrian Democratic Forces

were some of the best allies we had since 9/11?

Mrs. SHAHEEN. Without a doubt, and we saw that firsthand, as you

remember. When we saw them guarding our outposts, when we saw them in

the communities, when we saw them in the detention facilities, trying

to abide by international standards with respect to the foreign

fighters they were guarding, it was very impressive.

Mr. GRAHAM. Did anyone suggest to you that the war against ISIS in

Syria was over and had been won?

Mrs. SHAHEEN. Not at all. In fact, if you look at this map, you can

see this orange color. That is one of the pockets that remains of ISIS.

Right here. We have not yet eradicated ISIS, and that does not account

for some of the cells that exist throughout this area.

Mr. GRAHAM. Do you remember being told that thousands of ISIS

fighters had gone back into the fabric of Syria and that they will

reemerge under the right conditions?

Mrs. SHAHEEN. Absolutely, and it is what we saw in Iraq.

Mr. GRAHAM. Well, I just want to state that this has been a long

struggle. Most Americans, all things being equal, would like to get all

of our troops home.

The Middle East is a very complicated place. I share the President's

desire to withdraw our forces when it makes sense. As to the public at

large, I want to stress that having been in the military for quite a

while, I am very aware of the sacrifices required to go overseas and

serve in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. I have come to conclude that a

presence over there is still necessary to keep us safe here.

There is a division in this body about whether we should have a wall

as part of border security. I think we need a wall as part of border

security to secure our southern border. Every Democrat is for border

security; we just maybe have a different way of doing it.

What I tried to tell the President, with apparently very little

effect, is that you are right to want to secure our border because

drugs are coming across, criminals are coming across, and illegal

immigration is a problem in the country, and securing the border is

part of the solution, but I told him I don't know of any way to defend

the Nation from radical Islam by building a wall.

There is no wall we can build between us and the forces of radical

Islam that reside in Africa and the Mideast--places like Syria and

Iraq. I tried to convey to him that our deployed forces, in partnership

with others, is a virtual wall. It is the best hope we have of stopping

another 9/11, protecting ourselves and our allies; that a forward

deployed presence gives us eyes and ears on the ground, working with

others to protect the homeland

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and to destroy over time the scourge called radical Islam.

The partnership between us and the Syrian forces, which has been

mostly Kurds, has been very successful.

I want to compliment the Senator from New Hampshire for taking the

floor and expressing a resolve to maintain a fairly small military

footprint in Syria and having connected to that our own national

security interests. Maybe the good news--if there is any from today--is

that Democrats and Republicans, after 16 or 17 years of looking at this

war, are beginning to come together--that troops are necessary

sometimes in some places where military action alone will not win the

war but is certainly necessary, and that partners are a good thing.

I have come to conclude that when it comes to the war on terrorism, I

would rather fight it in the enemy's backyard than ours. I would rather

have partners than do it alone. I think the decision today by the

President--and I think it was his alone--is disastrous to our own

national security and those 2,200 whom Senator Shaheen talked about and

the great job they have done; that by withdrawing them, we have

basically taken a part of the wall down and have now an open-border

policy when it comes to ISIS in Syria; that the consequence of this

decision makes it far more likely that there will be a corridor from

Tehran into Lebanon and to Hezbollah. Our presence there made it more

difficult to the Iranians.

Who would be celebrating this decision? Everybody whom we hate likes

what is going on. The Russians are up to no good all over the world.

Their statement says everything you need to know about this decision.

The only reason they are not dancing in Tehran and ISIS camps is they

just don't believe in dancing. They are as happy as they will ever be--

and they are not into being happy.

To the President, you won the election. You beat me and many others.

You have the right to make this decision, but the Congress has the duty

to hold you accountable. I wish we had done more of this in a

bipartisan fashion when President Obama withdrew from Iraq. If I am

nothing, I am consistent. I want this President to be successful. I

will help him at every turn.

Generally speaking, I am very pleased with his domestic policy and

most of the time his foreign policy. I am shocked by this. I think this

is a decision that is against sound military advice. I intend to do our

part as a Congress to make sure that history records how this decision

was made.

There is a clear record that President Obama's decision to withdraw

from Iraq and not leave a residual force proved to be wrong and was

against military advice at that time. I have yet to find one person in

the administration of the national security team who thinks this

decision was a good decision. This was made against sound military

advice.

I don't think \\\`\\\`General Trump'' is going to be any better than

\\\`\\\`General Obama.'' I don't think \\\`\\\`General Graham'' is the answer to

this problem. I think those who are in the fight, who have been doing

it for 17 years--the national security team the President has--are the

experts. Mr. President, if you don't like them or trust them, fire

them. What you have done, in my view, is set us back.

The chatter out there is pretty disturbing. I talked with General

Mattis today. It is pretty clear that the ripple effect of this is

going to be as bad as we think it will be.

To our Kurdish partners, I am sorry. I don't support this decision,

and I am hoping it will change.

President Trump, leadership is about adjusting and being able to

change your mind when circumstances warrant it. I am not saying we need

to be in Syria forever. I am saying now is not the time to leave, and

Senator Shaheen made a very compelling case about conditions on the

ground.

The winners are Russia, Iran, ISIS, and Assad. The losers are the

Kurdish people, who came to our aid when almost nobody would. The Arabs

who are part of the Syrian Democratic Forces are big-time losers. I can

only imagine what it is like tonight in Manbij.

I saw in the eyes of the people that we were partnered with, hope and

trust: America is here. America is good. Maybe our suffering is over.

When I look at the flag and the soldiers who wear it on their sleeve,

we are not a perfect country, but we are a damn good country. What

makes us a good people is that we do the hard things.

We are not the policemen of the world. I understand that, but we are

the glue that holds this world together. We have betrayed our Kurdish

allies if this decision stands. If it is reversed, I will be the first

one to applaud the President because that is true leadership. To those

who say that we have defeated ISIS in Syria, that is an inaccurate

statement. They have been hurt. They have been degraded.

I give the President all the credit in the world for changing our

policies regarding the fight against ISIS, but I will not buy into the

narrative that they have been defeated in Syria and Iraq.

I just got back from Afghanistan and haven't slept in 2 days. I

really appreciate the chance to visit our troops and talk to our

generals, but, sure as hell, ISIS is not defeated in Afghanistan. So to

say they are defeated is an overstatement, and it is fake news. It is

not true. They have been severely damaged, but they will come back

unless we are there to stop it.

I don't intend to outsource our national security to any foreign

power. This idea that Turkey is going to be the good guy, that Turkey

is going to come into Syria and protect us against the rise of ISIS, is

just crazy. What Turkey is going to do is unleash holy hell on the

Kurds. In the eyes of Turkey, they are more of a threat than ISIS.

This decision is a disaster on multiple fronts, and I hope it can be

changed. There is a resolution urging the President to make a

withdrawal decision based on conditions on the ground after a vigorous

interagency process.

Mr. President, I, too, want our troops to come home, but I don't want

to tell the American people that we are secure when I don't believe we

are. And what is odd is that the troops who are actually doing the

fighting believe in this more than anybody. They were proud to be

partners with the Kurds. Most of them had been to Iraq and Afghanistan

numerous times and were heartbroken when we left Iraq and all of the

gains lost. Many of them went back to the fight to take it yet again.

So to the body who loves the troops, that is good. The American

people respect our troops. If you truly love them, let them win. They

are not asking to come home. They do this voluntarily. They understand

why they are there. They understand the benefits of being there.

I know it must be tough as Commander in Chief to write a letter to

the family of the fallen. I know it is a hard decision for any

President to make to put people in harm's way, but I just want the

President to understand that the troops who do this embrace their

mission and believe they are defending their Nation and protecting

their families. They accept the risk. If we do follow through with this

withdrawal, I am afraid Americans all over the world and here at home

are going to be more at risk, not less.

I can't imagine winning this war without allies. If this decision

stands, I can't imagine being able to sign up many people in the future

to serve with us to defeat enemies that threaten us after today. What

hurts so much is to have been on the ground--to see it get bad, to see

it get better--and to look into the eyes of the people who are willing

to fight with us and see the hope they have that we are finally here.

It hurts so much to know that everybody that we talked to in Manbij--

many of them--are going to get killed. They did the honorable thing to

come to our aid, to help destroy a common enemy of mankind, ISIS. We

have been dishonorable. This is a stain on the honor of the United

States.

I hope and pray the President will reconsider this. I know that every

National Security Advisor understands that the time is not right to

withdraw, that the situation described by Senator Shaheen as to what

will happen is more likely than not.

If he does not decide to reconsider, then it will be incumbent upon

the Congress to speak and hold him accountable. If you are concerned

about today's decision as a Member of the Senate, please join this

resolution. It is

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very evenly worded. We all want the troops to come home, but we want to

make sure they come home with honor and that the conditions warrant

them leaving.

Right now, we are withdrawing in a dishonorable fashion. We are

putting our own Nation more at risk. Just as sure as I am on the floor

of the Senate, ISIS will reemerge, and all those who helped us are

going to be in jeopardy. It will be harder to get allies in the future.

As for these 700 prisoners who were captured on the battlefield, we

will hear from them again.

Mrs. SHAHEEN. Will my colleague yield for a question?

Mr. GRAHAM. Yes.

Mrs. SHAHEEN. You talk about those 700 prisoners. A number of them

are foreign fighters. A number of them are ISIS fighters from Syria and

Iraq. What do you think will happen to those detainees who are being

held by the Syrian Democratic Forces if we withdraw and there is no

support for what they are doing?

Mr. GRAHAM. One of two things will happen. No. 1, the Syrian

Democratic Forces had a very ethical view of treating prisoners. I was

astonished at the compliance with law and their desire to take their

enemies and treat them better than they were treated. The jail was,

quite frankly, very impressive.

Here is what is going to happen. They are going to shoot them or they

are going to get out. If Assad takes over before Turkey gets there,

they will kill everybody in the jail. So what does it matter if a bunch

of ISIS fighters get killed? It is about us. Once they are captured, it

matters how we treat them. I want them tried. I want them held off the

battlefield. We are not executioners. But the most likely scenario is

that ISIS reemerges and they break out.

I promise the President this--and I told President Obama the same

thing--if you will stick with it and listen to the generals, no matter

whether it hurts me or not, we will be with you. We will give you the

political support a Republican can give a Democrat to see this thing

through. I promise the President one thing: I will help you where I

can, but I am going to hold you accountable. I am going to do

everything in my power--if you don't change this decision--to make sure

you own it, so the next President will learn from your mistakes.

I yield.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The senior Senator from Texas is recognized.

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I have a number of consent requests and

wrapup as we make our way toward the conclusion of the 115th Congress.

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