Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) joined a list of high-profile politicians offering “bipartisan support” for President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from Syria.
In a letter coauthored by Senator Rand Paul (R-K.Y.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), lawmakers urged the Trump administration to leave Syria within the next six months, noting the deployment of military forces was not approved by Congress in 2015.
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“It is long past time to rein in the use of force that goes beyond congressional authorization, and we look forward to pursuing this longstanding bipartisan objective with your administration,” said the Kentucky and California senators. “Finally, we hope this will serve as a model for ending hostilities in the future—in particular, as you and your administration seek a political solution to our involvement in Afghanistan.”
Other lawmakers joining Paul, Khanna and Ocasio-Cortez include Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Justin Amash (R-Mich.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Bill Posey (R-Fla.), Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) and Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.).
Despite announcing the United States would withdraw from Syria late last year, the Trump administration has sent conflicting messages over a timeline for the exit—which has confused other countries with interests in the region. Speaking to a Washington audience on Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu admitted he was confused by America’s course of action regarding military involvement.
“I don’t want to make comments about the internal methods of your country, but again, different positions, different statements coming from different institutions and departments in the U.S.,” said the foreign minister, per POLITICO. “The State Department and defense, actually, as well as the military on the ground, [U.S. Central Command] and all that. Different positions. There is no clear strategy, this is the problem.”
