Seventy-five percent of respondents said they are very concerned about the situation unfolding in the country, which since 2011 has been roiled by a civil war featuring extensive foreign intervention.
Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from Syria, which exposed Kurdish fighters who previously served as key U.S. allies to a Turkish offensive, has emerged as a rare topic of bipartisan unity in his presidency. As Democrats and Republicans remain deeply divided over Trump’s handling of the office, he has been roundly criticized for his abrupt decision to withdraw troops.
Politicians from both parties, including Republican party leaders, publicly rebuked the president, saying they were concerned that the decision would lead to a resurgence of ISIS and lead potential allies to lose trust in U.S. promises.
The withdrawal led to a rapid reconfiguration of alliances in Syria, as Kurdish fighters struck a deal with the Syrian government. The Turkish offensive against Kurdish fighters, which prompted dissent from bipartisan lawmakers, was halted last week when the U.S. said Turkey agreed to a temporary ceasefire. Then Turkey and Russia announced a deal earlier this week, in which they would remove Kurdish fighters from the northeast border and conduct joint patrols.
Trump said on Wednesday that he would lift the sanctions he levied against Syria for its offensive into the country. He took credit for what he hailed as a positive development that would save Kurdish and American lives.
“We have done them a great service, and we’ve done a great job for all of them. And now, we’re getting out,” Trump said. “Let someone else fight over this long bloodstained sand.”
Despite the wide rebukes of what bipartisan lawmakers have described as a strategic error, Trump presented his recent decisions as a fulfillment of his campaign promises.
“As a candidate for president, I made clear that we needed a new approach to American foreign policy, one guided not by ideology, but by experience, history, and a realistic understanding of the world,” Trump said.
However, according to the poll, the rapid retreat has not been received well by some members of the public. Forty-two percent of survey respondents said that the administration has not been tough enough in its response to Turkey’s military action in Syria, while 33 percent said the U.S. had reacted “about right.”
Florida Senator Marco Rubio described the deal as far less beneficial than Trump sought. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “has NOT agreed to stop all military operations in #Syria,” Rubio tweeted on Wednesday.
Russia “is going to:
-Remove Kurdish forces from east & west of current Turk controlled areas, including Kurdish cities
-Help #Turkey push all SDF forces 30km south from entire border
-Take control of 5 oil fields,” he added.
Other lawmakers described the move said that move hands Syrian and Russia, who have been accused of war crimes during the civil war, a victory.
“As if clearing the way for a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Syrian Kurds wasn’t enough, President Trump seems determined to keep handing political and military victories to Russia and Syria, kowtowing to Turkey, and opening the door for further Iranian expansion in the region,” Senator Bob Menendez, the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement published Wednesday.
