"This president's shameful decision on Syria [to withdraw troops] is the latest example of chaos masquerading as foreign policy. It goes against all military advice. It harms our national interests, emboldens our adversaries, and it will cost lives. The world urgently needs real American leadership."

Source: Pete Buttigieg, Twitter.com, Oct. 7, 2019

"This decision is a betrayal of our ally in the fight against ISIS and risks American lives. We have a president who is telling our allies and our adversaries that America doesn't keep her word."

Source: Kamala Harris, Twitter.com, Oct. 7, 2019

"Giving the green light to President Erdogan to slaughter our allies is wrong. The Kurds have stood with us in our fight against ISIS. They have been stalwarts and lost many of their people because of it. This is part of a deeper and disturbing pattern with this President. He stands with dictators instead of allies. He stands with Vladimir Putin over his own intelligence officers. He stands with murderers and thugs against innocents.

Once again this President has ignored the advice of our military, acted out of impulse, and thrown our foreign policy into chaos. This decision to abandon the Kurds does nothing but destabilize the region—by weakening the fight against extremism, exacerbating an existing humanitarian disaster, and demonstrating that America cannot be trusted to keep its commitments.

There are no more excuses for abandoning our allies."

Source: Amy Klobuchar, "Klobuchar Statement on Syria," klobuchar.senate.gov, Oct. 9, 2019

"The crisis here... is when you begin to betray people, in terms of the Kurds, 11,000 of them died fighting ISIS, 20,000 were wounded. And the United States said, 'We're with you, we're standing with you.' And then suddenly, one day after a phone call with Erdogan, announced by tweet, Trump reverses that policy.

Now, you tell me what country in the world will trust the word of the president of the United States. In other words, what he has done is wreck our ability to do foreign policy, to do military policy, because nobody in the world will believe this pathological liar."

Source: The Fix Team, "The October Democratic Debate Transcript," washingtonpost.com, Oct. 15, 2019

"So, look, I think that we ought to get out of the Middle East. I don't think we should have troops in the Middle East. But we have to do it the right way, the smart way.

What this president has done is that he has sucked up to dictators, he has made impulsive decisions that often his own team doesn't understand, he has cut and run on our allies, and he has enriched himself at the expense of the United States of America. In Syria, he has created a bigger-than-ever humanitarian crisis. He has helped ISIS get another foothold, a new lease on life...

We need to get out, but we need to do this through a negotiated solution. There is no military solution in this region."

Source: The Fix Team, "The October Democratic Debate Transcript," washingtonpost.com, Oct. 15, 2019

"If we pull troops out of foreign theatres we should do so in a disciplined way in consultation with our allies. An abrupt move makes our commitments seem subject to change and unreliable."

Source: Andrew Yang, Twitter.com, Oct. 7, 2019