Secretary of Defense Mark Esper defended the Trump administration’s decision to pull a small number of U.S. forces from the northern Syrian border with Turkey, saying the safety of American troops comes first.
The defense secretary emphasized Friday the U.S. is not abandoning the Kurds.
“We oppose and are greatly disappointed by Turkey’s decision to launch a unilateral military incursion into northern Syria,” Esper said at at joint news conference at the Pentagon with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley.