Rand Paul Blocks Senate Democrats’ Rebuke Of Trump’s Syria Pullout

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) shut down an effort by Democrat Chuck Schumer (NY) to rebuke President Trump over his decision to withdraw US troops from northern Syria. 

Schumer attempted to get consent on Thursday to bring up the House-passed resolution, arguing that “we’re in real trouble,” according to The Hill. 

On Tuesday, the house voted 354-60 “opposes the decision to end certain United States efforts to prevent Turkish military operations against Syrian Kurdish forces in Northeast Syria.” 

Paul blasted Schumer, saying “He should come to the floor and say that we are ready to declare war. We are ready to authorize force, and we are going to stick our troops in the middle of this messy, messy, five-sided civil war where we would be ostensibly opposed to the Turkish government that has made an incursion.” 

The Kentucky Republican added that the House-passed resolution would do “nothing to fix the problem.” 

On Wednesday, Paul told CNN‘s Jake Tapper that pulling US troops from Northern Syria “may be the best thing that ever happened to the Kurds,” adding “This was [President Donald Trump’s] decision … It was the best thing not only for our troops, but it’s also the best way to adhere to the Constitution.” 

“The Constitution says you don’t declare a war unless Congress votes on it, and who are we going to declare a war against — our ally, Turkey, the Free Syrian Army that used to be our ally, [Syrian President Bashar] Assad?” 

“He was told by the Turks they were coming one way or another, and they had 50 troops. Fifty troops don’t stop 10,000 troops … I think he made the right decision. I’m reminded of Beirut [Lebanon] when we made the wrong decision and had 300 Marines in a barracks that weren’t well protected. … So I think he made the right decision,” Paul said, adding “This may be the best thing that ever happened to the Kurds, because they need a protector in Syria willing to stay.”

“We had been preventing having them talk to Assad. Now they’ve made an alliance with Assad, and the irony of this is: It may end up being the best thing that ever happened to them.”