Incoming GOP lawmaker pens op-ed knocking Trump over Syria withdrawal

Incoming Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R) criticized President Trump’s plan to remove troops from Syria in an op-ed detailing his own military service.

Crenshaw, a U.S. Navy SEAL veteran wounded during his service in Afghanistan who was elected to Congress for his first term last month, penned an op-ed for The Washington Post on Saturday explaining his opposition to Trump’s plan.

{mosads}The president announced this week that the U.S. would remove troops from Syria and news reports indicated that Trump was considering reductions in force levels in Afghanistan as well.

“In the end, I settle on one very simple reason: We go there so that they don’t come here,” Crenshaw wrote. “It really is that simple. We bring the fight to the enemy so that they don’t bring it to us.”

The congressman-elect urged Trump to “stay the course” in Syria, Afghanistan and other countries where the U.S. is engaged in anti-Islamic State operations, while adding that the government would be “lying” to say that the terrorist group poses no threat to the homeland.

“Stay the course, Mr. President. We may have accomplished the territorial defeat of the Islamic State — and you deserve credit for that — but we are lying to the American people if we let them believe that the chaos of the Middle East cannot reach our borders,” he concludes.

Crenshaw made headlines earlier this year during his campaign when he appeared on “Saturday Night Live” following a cast member’s mocking of his appearance the week prior.

The congressman-elect revealed that he recently reached out when he learned the cast member, Pete Davidson, had made a troubling social media post.