Susan Rice blasts Trump as ‘total sell-out’ for saying Kurds are ‘more of a terrorist threat’ than ISIS

Former national security adviser Susan Rice on Wednesday blasted President Trump as a “total sell-out” after Trump said that Kurdish forces were a comparable threat to ISIS while justifying his move to withdraw U.S. troops from northern Syria. 

Rice, who served in the Obama administration, said on Twitter that the remarks were “among the most dishonest, craven statements” ever uttered by Trump.

She said they were made to justify his “total sell-out” to ISIS, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Syrian President Bashar Assad and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.{mosads}

“We need to find out WHY?” Rice added. “What did Trump get in exchange for sacrificing our national security???”

This is among the most dishonest, craven statements ever from Trump — to justify his total sell-out to ISIS, Putin, Assad and Erdogan. We need to find out WHY? What did Trump get in exchange for sacrificing our national security??? https://t.co/TmKfpExbYt

— Susan Rice (@AmbassadorRice) October 16, 2019

Trump last week abruptly announced that U.S. troops would be pulled out of northern Syria ahead of a planned Turkish invasion. The forces deployed in northern Syria had been assisting the Kurdish YPG, which leads the Syrian Democratic Forces.

Turkey considers the Kurdish-led forces, which have proved to be the U.S.’s most effective allies in its fight against ISIS, to be a terrorist insurgency. 

Despite bipartisan opposition in Congress, Trump has defended his decision, saying that it is time for the U.S. to leave conflicts it “has nothing to do with.” He also questioned the value of the Kurdish alliance Wednesday, saying at a joint press conference alongside the Italian president that the Kurds are “probably” a worse terrorist threat than ISIS. 

“The PKK, which is a part of the Kurds, as you know, is probably worse at terror and more of a terrorist threat in many ways than ISIS,” Trump said. PKK is short for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. 

The comments came as lawmakers and former Pentagon officials voiced concerns that Trump’s decision could lead to a resurgence for ISIS in northern Syria. Hundreds of ISIS supporters reportedly fled a Kurdish-established detention camp 35 miles south of the Turkish border on Sunday following a Turkish airstrike. 

Rice, who has been outspoken in her criticism of Trump, called the president’s decision “batshit crazy” last week during an appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

“[The Kurds] are the people who for the last four years have been fighting on our behalf, with our equipment to defeat ISIS, and they have done it with enormous efficacy, and they’ve sacrificed immensely, and we basically just said to them, ‘See ya,’ ” she said. “And let the Turks, who are like the hungry wolf trying to kill the lamb, go for it.”