the u.s. was not close to finishing its task of training local forces to fight isis. we estimate, for example, about 35 to 40,000 local forces have to be trained and equipped in order to provide stability. we re probably somewhere along the line of 20% through the training of those forces. but with regard to stabilization, we still have a long way to go, and so i would be reluctant to affix a time. the planned pullout comes just a day after the u.s. announced it was selling turkey a patriot missile defense system, something turkey wanted. and now it s raising questions whether trump s decision paves the way for turkey to move against their long-time rivals, the kurds, who have been allies of the u.s. in the fight against isis. erdogan has been asking the u.s. to leave, so that he can deal directly with his kurdish problem. and in return, the u.s. may be pushing for something, including greater arms sales. maybe a way to balance against
part, but will also include stepped up surveillance? democrats think he s talking a wall-wall. republicans, a majority of them, think it s kind of this mix, which is often the language that you ll see white house advisers dip into. that what he s really talking about is border security. i think notably, kellyanne conway was asked today, what s going to happen with this resolution? and when she talked about what the president is committed to, she didn t use the word wall. she used the word border security multiple times. that is the more politically palatable way to go. it s the thing that brings more people together. it s 100% the politically smarter thing to do. and i think for the most part, his base will go along with him if he says i ve secured the border. i agree with you that the base, a., doesn t care whether mexico pays for it or not or whether it looks like a fence or a great wall to china type of thing. what they do care about is president trump looking weak. the democrats
united states of america or in europe, they ll do it. and we have seen them do it before. if we take the pressure off of them and we give them the opportunity to have land, to plan and execute again, the fight will be back here in the united states. we don t have a choice whether or not to fight terrorism. this isn t like, yeah, we ll fight them because it s good to fight them or maybe we won t and just live in peace. they re fighting us. the question is, do we fight them in syria or do we fight them here at home. and i fare that and and i fear that s going to be here at home if the president follows through on this. a lot of republicans are outspoken about this today. lindsey graham says this is a win not only for isis, but for iran or russia and for bashar al assad. do you agree? absolutely. absolutely. they are cheering right now in tehran. they re cheering in moscow, they re cheering in damascus, they re cheering in the rat s nest of isis. where they re not cheering is in tel a
every national security member of the president s team has said we re not going to leave. we have a base that straddles a very important supply route where iran wants to have access to israel and to israel s enemies. so this is implications beyond just the fight against isis. this has to do with israel, jordan, everywhere in between. not to mention our allies involved in this fight that also woke up today and goes, oh. okay. so i guess we have to pull all the troops out, too, because the united states is. too bad we never heard that until a tweet was just submitted. do you explain how. there are probably a lot of people out there who don t understand it or don t agree with you, but who don t understand why you re arguing this makes the united states less safe. why? so isis goal, and that mind-set s goal is to destroy anybody that doesn t not just believe in islam, but their version of islam, and what we see as violence now against other muslims. but if they have the ability
go back to syria again anyway when isis triples in size if we re not careful. do you think this kind of decision is the kind of thing that even general i m sorry, secretary mattis should resign over? i mean, is it that big a mistake, in your view? well, that s a decision, obviously, for secretary mattis. if i was in that position, i would have a hard time moving forward on executing a strategy that i think will put the united states in more danger. we have to keep this war against isis on keep them on their heels. this announcement today, i pray the president reconsiders. and i ll give him great credit for reconsidering. but if this goes through, i mean, it would be tough for anybody in that position that knows this is wrong to continue. but the president can do it. what do you say to the viewer at home who thinks we can t just be abroad fighting these wars for the rest of our lives. we re never going to kill every member of isis in syria. we re never going to kill every memb