Rep. Waltz warns US has set conditions for 'ISIS 2.0' by 'repeating the mistakes of the Obama administration'
Republican Rep. Michael Waltz says withdrawing U.S. troops from the Middle East too soon creates wars instead of ends them.
Republican Rep. Michael Waltz said on Monday that President Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops in northeastern Syria is unfolding too soon and creates wars instead of ending them.
“We’ve set the conditions for ISIS 2.0,” Waltz, R-Fla., told “America’s Newsroom.” “Except we won’t have any local allies to fight them again.”
He added, “We’re repeating the mistakes of the Obama administration which pulled out of Iraq to soon and led to all of this in the first place."
Trump said Sunday there is widespread support in Washington to impose new sanctions against Turkey over its swift incursion into northern Syria.
TURKEY ANNOUNCES NORTHERN SYRIA INVASION OF GROUND FORCES; MULTIPLE CIVILIANS REPORTED DEAD
Specific details about the sanctions were unclear but Trump said on Twitter: "Treasury is ready to go, additional legislation may be sought. There is a great consensus on this. Turkey has asked that it not be done. Stay tuned!"
Reuters, citing an unnamed U.S. official, reported that the measures were being “worked out at all levels of the government for rollout.”
Last week, Trump vowed to obliterate Ankara’s economy if Turkey did anything in Syria that he considered "off-limits."
TRUMP SEES ‘CONSENSUS’ ON IMPOSING NEW SANCTIONS ON TURKEY
Over the past five days, Turkish troops and their allies, emboldened by the announced U.S. withdrawal of soldiers from the area, have pushed their way into northern Syria towns and villages, clashing with the Kurdish fighters over a stretch of 125 miles. The offensive has displaced at least 130,000 people.
On Sunday, at least nine people, including five civilians, were killed in Turkish airstrikes on a convoy in the Syrian border town of Ras al-Ayn, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Syrian Kurdish officials.
Waltz, a former Green Beret, went on to say, “The United States has to lead, and when we create a vacuum, bad actors and bad things happen and fill the void.”
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Trump was criticized by lawmakers across the political aisle, including outspoken ally Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., for his initial decision, but was praised Sunday night for working with Congress “to impose crippling sanctions against Turkeys (sic) outrageous aggression/war crimes in Syria.”
Fox News’ Melissa Leon and Edmund DeMarche contributed to this report.
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