Trump Called It for Turkey on a Phone Call. The Kurds Who Fought ISIS for the US Were Left to Die.

The Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces were the United States' most effective partner in the military campaign against ISIS. Between 2014 and 2019, the SDF — whose core was the Kurdish YPG militia — fought alongside US special forces and air support to recapture ISIS territory across Syria and Iraq. More than 11,000 Kurdish fighters were killed in this campaign. They captured tens of thousands of ISIS prisoners, including foreign fighters. They took and held territory containing the largest concentration of ISIS detainees anywhere in the world. They were, in the words of multiple US military commanders, indispensable.

The October 6 White House statement was released with almost no notice to the Pentagon or to US partners in Syria. General Mazloum Abdi, commander of the SDF, said he learned about the withdrawal from news reports. US special forces officers on the ground were blindsided. Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring into northeastern Syria on October 9 — three days after the US announcement. Kurdish civilians fled their homes in mass displacement. The SDF, forced to redirect forces to defend against Turkey, had to rely on Russian and Syrian government forces to fill the security vacuum — a profound strategic gift to Russia and Assad.

The Senate voted 98-0 on a resolution condemning the decision — one of the most lopsided bipartisan votes against a presidential action in decades. Republican senators including Graham, Marco Rubio, and Mitt Romney were fierce in their criticism. Mattis had written in his resignation letter the previous December that Trump's approach "treat[ed] allies and partners with disrespect" and that "without strong alliances" the US "cannot protect our interests." The Kurdish abandonment was precisely what he had warned against. Trump's response to the criticism was to call the Kurds "no angels" and say they hadn't helped the US in Normandy during World War II.