While news of the Turkey peace deal brokered by Vice President Mike Pence was circulating, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had other things in mind.
Rather than celebrate with the President, McConnell chose to deliver remarks continuing the harsh criticism of President Trump’s Syrian strategy.
Not only that, McConnell stated that he wanted to up the ante on the legislation to block Trump from pulling our troops out of Syria with stronger legislation than what was proposed in the House.
Defying His President
While we really don’t expect our representatives to back Trump on every move, once his move has been proven to be correct, those that were against him should reverse course.
Everyone knows politicians love wars because it gets them all their kickbacks from weapons companies and suppliers.
As Trump stated, if people like Lindsey and McConnell had their way, these wars would never end.
Trump vowed to get our troops home from the Middle East and withdrawing from Syria is part of that plan.
Mike Pence just announced a peace deal with Turkey for a suspension of military operations pending a ceasefire if all terms are met.
Instead of applauding Trump’s approach, McConnell is doubling down on keeping troops in the area.
McConnell stated, “I was encouraged to see yesterday’s display of bipartisan concern in the House of Representatives for sustaining America’s global leadership and, specifically, over the damaging impact of hastily withdrawing that leadership from Syria.
“As the Senate debates our Middle East policy and contemplates what action to take, I believe it is important that we make a strong, forward-looking, strategic statement.
“My preference would be for something even stronger than the resolution the House passed yesterday, which has some serious weaknesses.
“It is so narrowly drafted that it fails to address the plight of imperiled Sunni Arab and minority Christian communities in Syria.
“It is backward-looking. And it is curiously silent on the issue of whether to actually sustain a US military presence in Syria, perhaps to spare Democrats from having to go on the record on this key question.”
More Fodder for Dems
It was bad enough when Republicans did not support the actions in the first place, but McConnell stating that they want to have stronger legislation is only giving Democrats more ammunition to use against Trump.
Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) was more than happy to jump on the statement made by McConnell to take a shot at Trump.
He stated, “The greatest ability to make him reverse is an overwhelming message for the Republican side — House and Senate — that this is wrong.
“He doesn’t hear that too often from our Republican friends. Let’s put politics aside, let’s vote on the House bill.”
The Senate is now on break for the rest of the weekend, so it is unlikely we will see any movement on this over the next few days.
Perhaps after a weekend of reflection, McConnell will see the error of his ways and find himself another seat on the Trump Train before it leaves the station!