U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) today reacted harshly to the removal of U.S. Special Forces from Northern Syria that has put countless Kurdish lives in danger.

“The tragedy that is now unfolding in Northern Syria is a direct product of Donald Trump’s despicable betrayal of our Kurdish allies. Kurdish warriors did so much of the hard work expelling Daesh. For their courage they count on the support of our grateful nation. Our sudden revocation of that support is duplicitous, and because of it, lives will be lost, including women and children.

“The practical military consequences of what is happening are obvious: Trump is waving the dinner-bell for Daesh to flood back into Syria and taking a sledgehammer to already-tenuous regional stability. Why was this decision made without any consultation with the Pentagon, Congress, or our allies? What if any personal deals did Trump make with Erdogan or Putin — the two main beneficiaries of this tragedy? But in addition to the stability of Syria and the larger region and the well-being of our Kurdish allies, this decision lays bare our broken national credibility. Where I grew up, if you betrayed a friend you didn’t just lose their friendship and trust, you lost the trust of the entire neighborhood. Under Trump, the United States’ word isn’t worth a nickel – and now the entire world knows it.”