In less than a week, Turkey has managed to draw the ire of most of the world, including most on Capitol Hill, as they move to eradicate Kurds and Christians in eastern Syria. Their invasion, coordinated with attacks by their Syrian al Qaeda proxies, have already caused turmoil, killed hundreds, and displaced hundreds of thousands.

Now, President Trump appears ready to follow through on his threat to “cripple Turkey’s economy” through sanctions.

Dealing with @LindseyGrahamSC and many members of Congress, including Democrats, about imposing powerful Sanctions on Turkey. Treasury is ready to go, additional legislation may be sought. There is great consensus on this. Turkey has asked that it not be done. Stay tuned!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2019

The President has been criticized by many in both political parties following the White House announcement that we are withdrawing troops from the border region. What followed was such a quick response in the form of an all out Turkish invasion that it’s clear they’ve been planning this for some time.

Our EIC took to Twitter to push the President towards following through with his threat against Turkey should they cross the line. As he noted, they have clearly crossed the line.

It's time to cripple Turkey's economy with harsh and unambiguous sanctions, @realdonaldtrump.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has heard the threats and has doubled down as a result.

Bringing al Qaeda in and facilitating the release of ISIS fighters and supporters crosses the line.

— JD Rucker (@JDRucker) October 13, 2019

Bringing troops home is a great thing.

Leaving a vacuum in our wake for radical Islamic terrorists to rise once again under Erdogan's haphazard charge is a very bad thing.

As ISIS regroups and al Qaeda expands, Americans and our allies become less safe.

— JD Rucker (@JDRucker) October 13, 2019

Historians can debate the efficacy of rapidly pulling back our limited number of troops from the Syrian-Turkish border. My focus is on the immediate future.

We must cripple Turkey's economy immediately.

They have crossed the line and the situation is getting much, much worse.

— JD Rucker (@JDRucker) October 13, 2019

The tribalism in American politics must not be used to justify Erdogan's actions. If this happened under Obama, all conservatives would be outraged.

The proper course of action is for President Trump to cripple Turkey's economy as promised. If not, I'm very concerned about 2020.

— JD Rucker (@JDRucker) October 13, 2019

Reports of civilian deaths are mounting. It isn’t just the Kurds that Turkey and al Qaeda are targeting. Syriac Christians are in the crosshairs as well. The intense fighting seems to be focused on clearing out entire cities to make room for the millions of refugees the Turks currently hold. Instead of just taking out military targets from the Kurds, who Turkey believes to be terrorists, the invaders are wiping out the entire populations in cities and villages near the border.

Senator Lindsey Graham chimed in. Graham has been a Trump supporter, but broke from the White House over the Syrian withdrawal. Now, he’s voicing hope and alignment with the President’s sanction plans.

Just spoke with President @realdonaldTrump.

I applaud his decision to work with Congress to stop Turkeys aggression in Syria through crippling economic sanctions.

This decision by President Trump will be a game changer — in all the wrong ways — for Turkey.

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) October 13, 2019

Turkish President Erdogan clearly lied to President Trump. It’s time to send them a clear message in response. Our troops may be coming home, but we can stop this bloodbath through sanctions. Cripple their economy, Mr. President.

We are currently forming the American Conservative Movement. If you are interested in learning more, we will be sending out information in a few weeks.

President Trump warned Turkey shortly after removing troops from the Syrian-Turkish border that if they “crossed the line” he would cripple their economy. The line has been crossed. It’s time to act before things get worse.

As anticipated, Turkey has turned to Syrian militants to conduct many of the attacks against the Kurds in Eastern Syria. These militias are made up of al Qaeda and other terrorist groups who have sworn to destroy America. Multiple news outlets and monitoring NGOs have reported they have entered peaceful Kurdish areas and began terrorizing civilians. One report even notes they murdered a female Syrian politician.

This is the first report of such incidents confirmed by the Pentagon, but many other reports of similar executions of civilians have been coming in as well. The targets seem to be centered around cities and villages Turkey has apparently earmarked for placement of the two million Syrian refugees they have been holding since the height of the Syrian civil war. These villages are not just homes to Kurds. Thousands of Christians and non-Kurdish Muslims are also being displaced, captured, or killed.

According to a Syriac Christian group, this is a form of ethnic cleansing.

“People were so scared, they were telling me, ‘They are bombing us right now!’” Bassam Ishak, president of the Syriac National Council of Syria, told NPR. “We think this is a message to the Kurds and Christians there to leave, so Turkey can move refugees there. We think it’s a form of ethnic cleansing.”

At least three Christians in the area have reportedly been killed as a result of the Turkish invasion:

Since the announcement was made a week ago that the U.S. would stop allowing our troops to be human shields preventing the Turkish attack, events have unfolded at a lightning pace. Turkey and their al Qaeda proxies in Syria were obviously mobilized and prepared to attack well before the withdrawal. There was no time allowed for Kurds and other residents in the area to escape, which is telling. This is not about establishing a “safe zone,” as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was claimed. This is about blitzing the region as quickly as possible to eliminate as many Kurdish fighters as they possibly can. If Christians and other civilians are caught up in the destruction, so be it.

This is certainly not what President Trump wanted nor expected. He was lied to, and as a result he must follow through with his threat to cripple Turkey economically. If he cannot get a hold of this situation very soon, it will escalate beyond his ability to correct the issue.

To add insult to injury, it appears the Turks and their Syrian allies are freeing Islamic State prisoners, whether intentionally or as a result of their haphazard invasion.

Opinion

I have turned this decision around in my head over and over for the last week. While I definitely appreciate the sentiment of bringing troops home, that’s not what’s happening. They were pulled away from the border and will remain in Syria for now. More importantly, these particular troops were with our allies. They were not in harms way as our troops in Afghanistan and other areas in the Middle East are.

Friday, he signed an executive order allowing for broad and swift sanctions to be imposed on Turkey. Monday, he should use these powers to send Turkey a very clear message that we will not stand by and watch as al Qaeda takes over eastern Syria.

The President is losing this narrative thanks to the duplicity committed by Turkey and their al Qaeda allies moving into areas we just vacated. He must follow through with his threat to cripple Turkey’s economy immediately.

We are currently forming the American Conservative Movement. If you are interested in learning more, we will be sending out information in a few weeks.

President Trump signed an executive order Friday expanding his powers to impose sanctions on Turkey or anyone associated with the government. It is being seen as a warning that he’s serious about “crippling Turkey’s economy” as he has threatened since ordering U.S. troops to pull back from the border between Turkey and Syria.

The move drew criticism from both the left and the right as politicians and pundits assert the move is a betrayal to our allies in the region, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. Our troops provided weapons, training, and counsel for the Kurds in their battles against the Islamic State. By pulling troops back, Turkey was given a green light to attack their long-time enemies who they believe are terrorists assisting Kurdish insurgents in their own nation, the PKK.

“These are very powerful sanctions. We hope we don’t have to use them, but we can shut down the Turkish economy if we need to,” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said. “We are putting financial institutions on notice that they should be careful, and that there could be sanctions.”

These are not sanctions as of yet, They simply expand the President’s ability to impose strong sanctions against Turkey and its leaders. The President has warned if the fighting gets out of hand, if Turkey gets too aggressive, or if any of the 12,000 Islamic State captives in the region escape, he would crush the Turkish economy. Currently, Turkey relies on trade with the United States to sustain its economy, which is the largest economy in the Middle East and has the 18th highest GDP in the world.

The situation was exacerbated Friday following reports Turks attacked a position with U.S. troops present, though very little has been discussed in the media about the development. Many of the President’s Republican allies, most notably Senator Lindsey Graham, have adamantly opposed the move. But as Lieutenant Colonel (US Army, Ret.) Robert L. Maginnis noted:

It will be interesting to see if Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slows the attacks on the Kurds. If he doesn’t, how far will President Trump go to prevent full-blown war from breaking out again in the region?

We are currently forming the American Conservative Movement. If you are interested in learning more, we will be sending out information in a few weeks.