President Trump ordered the Pentagon to withdraw 1,000 troops from northern Syria this week in response to the Turkish push into the Kurd populated region. Trump received significant backlash from Republican and Democratic congressman alike for leaving the Kurds, an important American ally in the fight against terror, without sufficient defense. Defenders of Trump’s order argue the withdrawal prevents unnecessary American military casualties.
Carmen Marr, freshman
“I really don’t think it was a good idea. I think that the backlash is indeed unnecessary. He’s done an unwise event. If he’s at all to learn about what further actions he should be taking, and for other presidents to get an example on what they shouldn’t be doing with foreign policy, we need to acknowledge that what he did was wrong and that there are better ways to pull troops out of areas in such tight conflict.”
Murat Agca, senior
“I personally don’t think Trump should have pulled troops out of Syria. Mainly because, you know, the Kurds were allies. It’s setting a bad precedent, I believe. I mean, I’m also Turkish and one fourth, Kurdish too. So it feels a bit weird. You can’t really trust president Erdoğan of Turkey to do what you want because Turkey sees the Kurds as a terrorist group, much like we see ISIS as the terrorist group. I don’t know how to fix the situation, but I think it was a bad idea to help troops out.”
Daniel Kang, junior
“I think it’s a little ridiculous. I mean, even though it’s not our job, America’s job to protect the world. Politically, I think it would make sense for him to put them back in, just because if he did that there’s a chance of Democrats actually voting for Trump even though most of them don’t like Trump.”
Autumn Slingerland, sophomore
“I think it was a bad choice. He wasn’t thinking about his how his actions would affect everyone. He was only thinking about how his actions would affect like a select group of people, and he needed to understand the repercussions.”
Candace Osborn, junior
“The issue in Syria isn’t really an American battle. We have issues with ISIS, and part of what was happening there is more geared towards that, but we are losing American troops that are going in there and fighting. Having them pulled out was sort of taking the stance that Trump believes that it’s our battle, and I kind of agree with that idea.”
