Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo both issued dire warnings about the urgent need to protect the endangered Syrian Kurdish population under attack by government forces in the war-torn country.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who earlier this month ordered his army, which reportedly contains a large jihadist element, to seize territory that had been under the control of the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) for more than a decade.
Graham stated on the social media platform
Pompeo responded to Graham’s post, saying, “To turn our backs on our Kurdish allies would be a moral and strategic disaster.”
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The Trump administration is facing criticism from its longstanding ally, the Syrian Kurds, who played a crucial role in the defeat of the Islamic State in the heart of the Middle East following a US government announcement on social media that appeared to suggest the partnership had ended last week with the Kurdish-led SDF in northern Syria.
In 2013, the SDF formed a bulwark against the rapid spread of the Islamic State terrorist movement. ISIS created a caliphate covering significant territory in Syria and Iraq. Al-Sharaa was a former member of Islamic State and Al Qaeda.
Kurdish civilians gather with their weapons in the town of Qamishli on January 20, 2026, after the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces called on “young Kurds, men and women” both inside and outside Syria to “join the ranks of the resistance.” (Delil Souleiman/AFP via Getty Images)
Barrack wrote: “The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), led by Kurds, proved to be the most effective ground partner in defeating ISIS’s territorial caliphate in 2019, with thousands of ISIS fighters and family members being held in prisons and camps such as al-Hol and al-Shaddadi. At the time, there was no functioning central Syrian state to work with – the Assad regime was weakened, embattled, and not a viable partner against ISIS due to its alliances with ISIS. Iran and Russia.
“Today the situation has fundamentally changed. Syria now has a recognized central government that has joined the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS (as its 90th member by the end of 2025), signaling a westward turn and cooperation with the US in counter-terrorism.”
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters pose for a photo with the American flag on stage after an SDF victory ceremony announcing the defeat of ISIS in Baghouz at the Omer oil field on March 23, 2019 in Baghouz, Syria. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
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Ahmed questioned statements like Barrack’s, warning that “the Syrian army is still made up of radical factions that no one can trust. Alawites, Christians, Sunnis and Druze cannot trust these factions. We could face massacres, which took place in other Syrian cities.”
She pushed for a “special status for the Kurdish region” in northeastern Syria.
Syrian government forces load missiles to be launched towards Kurdish forces near Dibsi Faraj in Syria’s northern Tabqa area, Raqa province, January 17, 2026. (Omar Haj Kadour/AFP via Getty Images.)
Ahmed accused the Erdoğan government of nefarious involvement.
“Turkey is behind the attacks on our region. Turkish intelligence services and small groups are leading the attacks. Statements from Turkey encourage the extermination of our people,” she claimed.
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The influential president of the Family Research Council, Tony Perkins, wrote on X: “Senator Graham is right. I discussed the situation in Northeast Syria with Republican House leaders. It is not in America’s interest for Islamic forces to take territory once ruled by trusted American allies who protected minorities and promoted religious freedom.
“Yet this is happening as Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa’s forces move into northeastern Syria and drive out the Syrian Democratic Forces – our partners in the fight against ISIS, which has lost thousands of fighters, guarded US bases and held ISIS prisoners.
“Before we place any trust in al-Sharaa, a former al Qaeda insurgent who fought US forces in Iraq and was held at Abu Ghraib, he must prove he is trustworthy. So far he is failing the test.”
A masked Islamic State terrorist poses with the ISIS flag in 2015. (Photos from History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
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She added that there has been an announcement of a 15-day extension of the ceasefire.
“But both the SDF and outside observers noted that they continued [Syrian] the build-up of government forces near Kurdish-held areas, signaling that the conflict could resume. The Kurds want to achieve peace and stability through negotiations.”
