with the Army’s 34th Infantry Division.

Weeks ago, our commander in chief

announced he was pulling our last troops out

of the region.

“And I say why are we protecting Syria’s land?”

Ever since I haven’t been able to sleep at night.

“Breaking news: Turkey has launched a military offensive

against the Kurds in northeastern Syria.”

“In just a week hundreds reported dead.

Around the world, condemnation growing.”

Our complete withdrawal from Syria

is unstrategic, immoral and ultimately un-American.

Don’t get me wrong, I agree with President Trump’s

statement that we should end endless wars.

I don’t think we should have been in Iraq.

I certainly don’t think we should be in Yemen.

Overall, it is good for us to get out of the Middle East.

But we do that by building and maintaining alliances,

by creating a peace process that

maintains stability in the region

and supporting our allies.

That’s how we work ourselves out of our jobs.

I was stationed in July in Kobani, Syria.

In Kobani, there’s a little cafe where we met with our Kurdish

counterparts.

We drank tea in little glasses.

I met a Kurdish fighter who asked me if the U.S. would ever

leave Syria.

I reassured him: Of course the U.S.

would never leave Syria and abandon the Kurds.

They’re our partners.

I was wrong.

Last week I read that Kobani was attacked by Turkey.

That’s the same city where I drank tea with the Kurds

and reassured them that we’d have their back.

Now I worry that those same men

may be dead.

I can’t believe President Trump let

this happen.

I joined the Army to follow in the footsteps

of my grandfather and great-uncle Milt

who both served in World War II.

Now the same army that stopped the Nazis is being sent home

to clear the way for an ethnic cleansing of the Kurds.

Today the United States and Turkey

have agreed to a cease-fire in Syria.

But this is too little too late.

“This morning that short-lived deal already appears to be falling apart.”

“Turkish attacks continued on the border today.”

“There are reports that ISIS prisoners

have been escaping … promising slaughter

and quote ‘the return of the Islamic State.’”

President Trump has said, “We have won against ISIS,”

but that’s not true.

ISIS no longer controls territory

but they are still a threat.

Keeping ISIS at bay in northern Syria

means collecting on-the-ground intelligence

and guarding tens of thousands of captured ISIS

terrorists and their families, something

the Kurds have done for us for years.

Based on what I saw in Syria, I strongly

believe the president’s decision may prolong a war—

rather than end it.