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USMilitary Leaders, Congress Spar Over Syria Pullout

Carla Babb

   WASHINGTON - U.S. lawmakers and military leaders sparred Wednesday over
   the U.S. decision in October to pull troops out of northern Syria amid
   the threat of a Turkish offensive.
   "The American handshake has to mean something," Representative Elissa
   Slotkin, aDemocrat andformer Defense Department official who has been
   outspoken against the U.S. move, told Secretary of Defense Mark Esper
   and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman GeneralMark Milley.
   The U.S. decision to withdraw troops from the area cleared the way for
   NATO ally Turkey to invade a region of Syria controlled by another U.S.
   ally,the Syrian Democratic Forces, which includes Kurdish fighters
   denounced by Ankara as terrorists.
   Officials estimate that hundreds of thousands of people were displaced
   from their homesbecause ofthe Turkish incursion. Kurdish fighters, who
   had been key in helping the U.S. fight the Islamic State terror group,
   were also left open to attack.

   Turkish buildup
   Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee on U.S. military
   policy in Syria, Milley said Wednesdaythathe "personally recommended to
   pull out 28 special forces soldiers" from northern Syria "in the face
   of 15,000 Turks." He said intelligence had shown considerable buildup
   of Turkish forces on the Syrian border since early August.
   "I'm not going to allow 28 American soldiers to be killed and
   slaughtered just to call someone's bluff," Milley fired back
   atRepresentativeMikie Sherrill, a Democrat and formerNavy helicopter
   pilot.

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