(McClatchy DC)
Sen. Lindsey Graham was furious Wednesday over President Donald Trump’s plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, calling it “a mistake to declare victory” in the war against the terrorist group known as ISIS. Graham, just returned from a fact-finding trip to Afghanistan, told reporters on Capitol Hill he was “blindsided” by Trump’s tweet claiming the United States had defeated the radical terrorist organization in the region.
Lawmakers, the South Carolina Republican said, now have to “find out what the hell happened.
“I want a hearing. I want oversight,” he said. “This is a Republican president I try to work with and I like him, but he can’t be immune to oversight.
“I would urge my colleagues in the Senate and the House, call people from the administration and explain this policy ... This is the role of the Congress, to make administrations explain their policy, not in a tweet, but before Congress answering questions.”
Graham was not alone in his shock and outrage Wednesday. The outgoing chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, both said they were not informed of the decision prior to Trump’s tweet and wanted answers.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, called troop withdrawal from Syria a “grave error.” Read more