Photo Credit: US Government
Capitol Hill in Washington DC

A hasty withdrawal by U.S. forces from Syria will cause the Kurds and the SDF to end their fight against the Islamic State terrorist group, and turn the country over to Israel’s greatest enemies, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) said in response to Wednesday’s announcement by President Donald Trump that American troops are being pulled out of Syria.

“This is a terrible mistake,” Rubio said. “It will have grave consequences for the U.S. and Israel and great benefit for ISIS, Iran and Hezbollah.”

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Numerous other American lawmakers agreed with Rubio, and gathered in the Senate Wednesday to discuss the issue.

“The decision to pull U.S. defense presence out of Syria is a big mistake,” Rubio said in a statement. “The Syrian Democratic Forces and YPG will now abandon the fight against ISIS in the Middle Euphrates River Valley.

“Iran will step up activity in Southern Syria, which will elicit increased Israeli strikes that could lead to a new and far deadlier Israel-Hezbollah war. And our adversaries will use this as evidence that America is an unreliable partner.

“Today’s decision will lead to grave consequences in the months and years to come,” he said.

Rubio joined U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham, Jeanne Shaheen, Joni Ernst, Angus King Jr. and Tom Cotton in sending a letter to Trump asking him to “reconsider his proposal” to withdraw U.S. forces from Syrian to ensure the nation’s “strategic interests are secured.”

The letter follows.

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Hana Levi Julian is a Middle East news analyst with a degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from Southern Connecticut State University. A past columnist with The Jewish Press and senior editor at Arutz 7, Ms. Julian has written for Babble.com, Chabad.org and other media outlets, in addition to her years working in broadcast journalism.