Thursday, during an appearance on FNC’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) discussed his push to eliminate a U.S. troop presence in Syria.
According to Gaetz, members of Congress on both sides of the aisle were using military authorization coming out of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to justify an effort to create so-called Jeffersonian democracy in the Middle East.
“Well, if you believe both Democrats and Republicans who led the debate against my resolution, the 2001 authorization to use military force against Afghanistan and the people who were involved in the 9/11 attacks, they believe actually justifies U.S. troop presence in Syria in 2023. It’s like they think that document is a global permission slip for every neoconservative fantasy to try to turn these desperate places into Jeffersonian democracies by weaving together sand and blood and Arab militias.
“The reality is far different,” Gaetz continued. “In Syria and in Iraq, we have actually funded a good amount of ISIS by giving weapons and training to some of these entities and then watching them shift their alliances faster than the shifting sands. The United States of America is not a Middle Eastern power. We are an Atlantic power, we are a Pacific power, and for us to try to nose ourselves into the Middle East, I think, has been a disaster for my generation that has spanned multiple presidencies, and I’m going to continue to force votes in Congress to bring our troops home from these faraway places where the mission is as unclear as it is in Syria.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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