President Donald Trump's decision to leave 200 US troops in Syria was a "very smart decision," and now the burden for fighting ISIS will fall more on Europe, as it should, Sen. Lindsey Graham said Friday.
"He adjusted his policies," the South Carolina Republican told Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "The goal is to make sure ISIS won't come back. If we kept troops in Iraq, we would never have had ISIS. This 200 will attract probably 1,000 Europeans."
Thousands of Europeans have been killed by ISIS fighters who came from Syria into Europe, Graham continued, and now the United States is "flipping the responsibilities."
"It is a great decision by the president to make sure ISIS doesn't come back, Iran doesn't fill in the vacuum, and you don't have a war between Turkey and the Kurds," said Graham."
Graham said he's spoken with Trump often, telling him he does deserve credit for destroying the ISIS caliphate, but stressing there must be an insurance policy to make sure they don't return.
"We need a buffer zone between Turkey and the Syrian Democratic Forces," said Graham. "You don't want to end one war and start another. You want to make sure ISIS never comes back. Iran cannot get the oil fields."
Trump further deserves credit for using a small American force of 2,700, said Graham.
"We've lost eight people in the last three years," he said. "God bless the eight. This is the most successful model since 9/11, indigenous forces, Kurds, and Arabs doing the fighting with our help.
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