WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Top Republican Senator Lindsey Graham says President Donald Trump remains committed to defeating Islamic State (IS) in Syria, and ordered a slowdown to the withdrawal of US forces in the war ravaged country.
The South Carolina lawmaker revealed this after a White House meeting with Trump on Sunday.
Graham, who had criticized Trump's decision earlier this month to call back the nearly 2,000-strong US force from Syria asserting that IS had been defeated, said after the meeting that he learned a lot from the President about the government's efforts in Syria, which was 'reassuring.'
He said the President will make sure any withdrawal from Syria will be done in a fashion to ensure IS is permanently destroyed, Iran doesn't fill in the back end, and Washington's Kurdish allies are protected.
'President Trump is talking with our commanders and working with our allies to make sure these three objectives are met as we implement the withdrawal,' he tweeted.
Earlier, he told reporters that the president 'is firm in his commitment to make sure we get money for border security.'
Graham was one of the fiercest critics of Trump's December 19 troop pullout announcement, which met with strong opposition from major allies.
He said it will be an Obama-like mistake made by the Trump Administration.
The approximately 2,000 American troops stationed in Syria are vital to US national security interests, according to Graham.
'An American withdrawal at this time would be a big win for ISIS, Iran, Bashar al Assad of Syria, and Russia. I fear it will lead to devastating consequences for our nation, the region, and throughout the world,' he said in a statement.
US troops have helped rid much of Syria's north-east of the terrorist group, but pockets of fighters still remain in the country.
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