Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise this afternoon to discuss the situation in Syria. Let me commend my colleague Senator Romney for his very thoughtful and very timely and very important comments. We all recognize that the situation in Syria is highly fluid. I think it is important to state the case with respect to the President's decision to acquiesce to President Erdogan's offensive against the Kurds. The President's decision is a disaster for our partners in the fight against ISIS and United States foreign policy more broadly. While I welcome the temporary cease-fire announced a short time ago and hope that a permanent cease-fire can be achieved, it does not absolve President Trump of his responsibility for his betrayal of our Kurdish partners and his role in unleashing violence and instability in northern Syria. It is not clear whether Turkey made any concessions as part of the deal struck with the U.S. delegation or whether Kurdish forces will comply. If not, I am concerned that additional violence is likely to follow and we will have little leverage to prevent it. In fact, there is a quote attributed to the Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, by the White House reporter for CNN. She quotes the Turkish Foreign Minister as saying: This is not a cease-fire. We will pause the operation for 120 hours in order for the terrorists to leave. We will only stop the operation if our conditions are met. So, indeed, even this supposed cease-fire may not materialize as a cease-fire.…”