Members of President Trump
Donald TrumpDemocrats defeat GOP effort to declare 'lost confidence' in Biden after Afghanistan withdrawal Prosecutors say Jan. 6 rioters committed roughly 1,000 assaults on federal officers Texas emerges as new battleground in abortion fight MORE's Cabinet, including Defense Secretary Mark Esper
Mark EsperBiden, Trump battle over who's to blame for Afghanistan Overnight Defense: Pentagon chief defends Milley after Trump book criticism | Addresses critical race theory | Top general says Taliban has 'strategic momentum' in war The Biden administration and Tunisia: Off to a good start MORE and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin
Steven MnuchinMenendez, Rubio ask Yellen to probe meatpacker JBS The Hill's Morning Report - Presented by Goldman Sachs - Biden rallies Senate Dems behind mammoth spending plan Mnuchin dodges CNBC questions on whether Trump lying over election MORE, on Sunday defended the decision to withdraw U.S. forces from northern Syria ahead of a Turkish military operation as well as a delay in sanctions against Ankara that have sparked bipartisan criticism.
Esper said the presence of U.S. troops near Turkey’s border with Syria would not have prevented Turkey’s advance into Syria.
“I think they were fully committed,” Esper said of Turkey on “Fox News Sunday.” “We are not going to go to war, another war in the Middle East, against Turkey. ... That’s not what we signed up for.”
Esper also pushed back against host Chris Wallace
Christopher (Chris) WallaceSunday shows - Impending Afghanistan withdrawal deadline dominates McConnell says US has 'little or no leverage' to evacuate Americans and Afghan allies McConnell rips Biden's Afghanistan withdrawal decision MORE’s characterization of U.S. troops at the border as a “tripwire.”
“I’m not one to ... classify them as a tripwire and sacrifice them, if you will,” he said.
He insisted the White House remains committed to working against the Turkish offensive.
“I would say what we’ve been saying. ... We are doing everything we can to get the Turks to stop this egregious behavior,” he said.
Esper, meanwhile, confirmed on CBS's "Face the Nation" that the U.S. had withdrawn more forces than the 50 troops near the border between Turkey and Syria, saying the U.S. had pulled another 1,000 amid Ankara's advance.
“And so we find ourselves as we have American forces likely caught between two opposing advancing armies, and it's a very untenable situation,” Esper told host Margaret Brennan.
Mnuchin also defended a delay in sanctions against Turkey on ABC’s “This Week.” Trump warned of the sanctions if Ankara treated Syrian Kurds, who aided the U.S. in the fight against ISIS, inhumanely.
“Let me just say this is a complicated, developing situation. You have a NATO ally, on one hand, fighting against the Kurds, who were helping us with the fight against ISIS. We are in daily communications with Turkey, both at the Defense Department, the State Department, on very specific issues. We are ready to go on a moment’s notice to put on sanctions,” Mnuchin said.
Senators from both sides of the aisle also weighed in on Syria during the Sunday morning political shows.
Sen. Kevin Cramer
Kevin John CramerThe Memo: Biden beats Trump again — this time in the Senate The 19 GOP senators who voted for the T infrastructure bill Republicans unveil bill to ban federal funding of critical race theory MORE (R-N.D.) told CNN’s Jake Tapper
Jacob (Jake) Paul TapperTapper presses top Biden aide on Afghanistan: 'How are you going to get those Americans out?' The Hill's 12:30 Report - Presented by AT&T - US enters nerve-wracking final hours in Afghanistan Former Afghanistan ambassador to US: Afghan women 'are in a state of panic' MORE that Trump was faced with more than a “binary” choice and that had the U.S. remained in Syria, the president might have had to make a decision about possibly fighting Turkey, a NATO ally.
"I think the president at that point has a not so much a binary choice as a decision to make as to which friend, if you will, do we stand with in this circumstance?" Cramer said.
"I wish it had been different. I can tell you that. But I'm not sure the president had a lot of choices," Cramer said. "We can't be in the middle of every skirmish in the neighborhood."
Sen. Chris Van Hollen
Christopher (Chris) Van HollenProgressive pollster: 65 percent of likely voters would back polluters tax Senate backlog of Biden nominees frustrates White House We need a national green bank to build the green economy MORE (D-Md.), who is sponsoring bipartisan legislation to impose sanctions on Turkey with Sen. Lindsey Graham
Lindsey Olin GrahamMcConnell: Biden 'is not going to be removed from office' Biden's Afghanistan exit: A decision for the long term Heavy fighting reported in last Afghanistan province not under Taliban control MORE (R-S.C.), expressed frustration at the administration’s pace on “Fox News Sunday.”
“For God’s sake, what are they waiting for, right? People are being killed right now,” Van Hollen told Wallace.
“Our Syrian Kurdish allies are being killed right now. It looks like many of the ISIS detainees — there are about 10,000 fighters — are now possibly going to be able to escape. ... They [the White House] look ridiculous right now, so that’s why it’s important that the Congress move forward on this front,” he added.
And Rep. Adam Kinzinger
Adam Daniel KinzingerFreedom Caucus chair asks McCarthy to boot Cheney, Kinzinger from GOP conference Advocates 'demoralized' as 100K allies remain stranded in Afghanistan Cawthorn to introduce resolution condemning political violence after warning of 'bloodshed' if elections are 'rigged' MORE (R-Ill.), an Air Force veteran, also blasted the withdrawal, saying that “we all know” a continued U.S. presence at the border would have prevented Turkey’s advance.
“To see this yet again, you know, leaving an ally behind, abandoning people that we frankly told that we were gonna be with is disheartening, depressing. Frankly, it's weak,” Kinzinger said on “Face the Nation.” “I don't see how it follows through on the president's promise, his biggest promise in the campaign to defeat ISIS because I think it is going to resurge.”
Former Defense Secretary James Mattis
James Norman MattisHouse panel advances 8B defense bill Who authorized Afghanistan in the first place? Want to evaluate Donald Trump's judgment? Listen to Donald Trump MORE also warned about unintended consequences from the move, saying on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the Turkish invasion had thrown the region into “disarray” and that a potentially resurgent ISIS would benefit from the chaos.
"Obviously, the Kurds are adapting to the Turkish attacks. And we'll have to see if they're able to maintain the fight against ISIS. It's going to have an impact," Mattis told Chuck Todd
Charles (Chuck) David ToddSunday shows - Impending Afghanistan withdrawal deadline dominates McMaster: Afghanistan War 'ended in self-defeat' Fauci: US still planning booster shots after eight months, but 'flexible' MORE on Sunday.
"The question is, how much?" he added.
