US Senator: Preventing ISIS Reemergence is in Washington’s Interest.
According to Al Jazeera, the US has supported terrorist groups in Syria extensively to overthrow the Bashar al-Assad government after 2011, to the extent that Donald Trump, during his 2016 election campaign, described Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration as supporters of ISIS. However, Washington has now seemingly changed its stance on terrorist groups.
Accordingly, US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham called the resurgence of ISIS a threat to US interests in an interview with NBC News.
Graham said: “The US has a direct interest in preventing the resurgence of ISIS in Syria. This terrorist group seeks to destroy Israel as our friend. Currently, more than 50,000 ISIS terrorists are under the control of Syrian Kurdish forces, an ally of the US, in northeastern Syria.”
Graham emphasized: “It is in America’s interest that ISIS does not regain power and establish a new self-proclaimed caliphate. Supporting the Kurdish forces, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, is fully consistent with US national interests.”
Referring to Turkey’s opposition to this issue, he added: “Ankara is putting pressure on the Kurds in northeastern Syria. They are seeking to create a demilitarized zone on their border with Syria. If Turkey attacks the Kurdish forces and ISIS is allowed to rise again, this will be a nightmare for Syria and the entire world.”
Turkey considers the Syrian Democratic Forces to be allies of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and demands their disarmament. Ankara fears that autonomy for the Syrian Kurds will ultimately lead to an uprising by the Kurds in the country.