Former NATO commander Gen. Wesley Clark harshly criticized President Donald Trump for his decision to remove American troops from Syria, telling CNN’s “New Day” on Monday that "there doesn’t seem to be any strategic rationale for the decision.”
Clark said he was very concerned because, “if there’s no strategic rationale for the decision then you have to ask, why was the decision made. People around the world are asking this and some of our friends and our allies in the Middle East are asking, did [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan blackmail the president? Was there a payoff or something? Why would a guy make a decision like this? Because all the recommendations were against it."
The general emphasized that “All the facts are against it too. We are not quite finished with ISIS. We were not taking a lot of casualties over there. The Kurds have been reliable allies. Why do this right now?”
Clark, a frequent critic of the president, further explained his concern about Trump's decision.
"What does this say about the foreign policy of the United States?” he said. “That we're not reliable? That we make strategic decisions based on no strategic logic? What kind of person is driving the helm? That’s the issue."
Clark added that he also is very worried about the Kurds being set up for a slaughter.
He said that a “decision on a spur of the moment undercuts” all the decades of reliability and consistency that “we were going to be there through thick and thin,” sending a worrisome message not only in that region but to allies around the world.
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