Trump complains Kurdish allies didn't help US in World War II
The Kurds ‘didn’t help us with Normandy, as an example.’
Donald Trump on Wednesday responded to backlash against his decision to pull troops out of northern Syria by criticizing Kurdish allies there for not helping the United States during World War II.
Turkey this week launched a military strike on the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, who have been allied with the United States in the fight against ISIS. Trump’s sudden decision to withdraw from the region — a decision he reportedly made without consulting senior military officials — effectively gave Turkey the greenlight to carry out its attack.
“The Kurds are fighting for their land,” Trump said, during scheduled remarks about an executive order on transparency in federal guidance on Wednesday.
But, he said, “As somebody wrote in a very very powerful article today, they didn’t help us in the second World War, they didn’t help us with Normandy, as an example.”
He concluded, “We like the Kurds.”
As Business Insider notes, the Kurdish-led SDF in fact “bore the brunt of the US-led campaign against ISIS, losing roughly 11,000 fighters in the process.”
Daily Beast reporter Will Sommer noted on Wednesday that Trump appeared to be referencing a Townhall article by Kurt Schlichter, titled, “Critics Aghast As Trump Keeps Word About No More Wars.”
In the article, Schlichter wrote, “Let’s be honest — the Kurds didn’t show up for us at Normandy or Inchon or Khe Sanh or Kandahar.”
Townhall is a far-right media outlet known for publishing “misleading reports” and stories that “omit reporting of information that may damage conservative causes,” according to Media Bias/Fact Check.
Trump first announced his plan to withdraw U.S. troops from northern Syria on Sunday. Experts and lawmakers alike quickly condemned the decision, with former CENTCOM chief and retired four-star Gen. Joseph Votel writing in an op-ed, “This policy abandonment threatens to undo five years’ worth of fighting against ISIS and will severely damage American credibility and reliability in any future fights where we need strong allies.”
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
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