Senator Lindsey Graham introduced a bill that would prevent President Donald Trump from withdrawing US support for the Syrian Kurds. For over a decade, the US used air power to protect Kurdish-controlled Syria. In recent weeks, Washington has allowed Syrian government forces to take territory from the Kurds.
“I will be introducing legislation this week designed to impose crippling sanctions on any government or group engaged in hostilities against the Kurds,” Graham wrote on X Tuesday. “The Save the Kurds Act, I believe, will receive strong bipartisan support and must have teeth to make it effective.”
Watching the deteriorating situation in Syria with great concern. The Kurds are under threat from the new Syrian government that is aligned with Turkey.
It would be a disaster for America’s reputation and national security interests to abandon the Kurds, who were the chief ally…
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) January 27, 2026
“Watching the deteriorating situation in Syria with great concern. The Kurds are under threat from the new Syrian government that is aligned with Turkey,” the Senator argued. “It would be a disaster for America’s reputation and national security interests to abandon the Kurds, who were the chief ally in destroying the ISIS caliphate.”
The Islamic State rose to prominence in Iraq and Syria as a result of the CIA’s operation to arm, fund, and train the opposition to then-Syrian President Bashir al-Assad. After ISIS captured significant portions of Iraq and Syria, the US began backing Shi’ite militias to fight ISIS in Iraq, and the Kurds to fight the Sunni extremists in eastern Syria.
During the operations against the Islamic State, the US set up bases across Kurdish held territory. Once ISIS was largely defeated, the US shifted its goal in Syria to preventing forces allied with Assad from encroaching on Kurdish territory.
The US positioned its soldiers between jihadists backed by Turkey and Kurdish fighters to prevent confrontations. Additionally, Washington ordered airstrikes against Syrian forces and Russian mercenaries that attempted to enter Kurdish territory.
The battlefield in Syria significantly changed in late 2024, when an al-Qaeda-linked group overran Assad’s troops and forced him to flee the country. Abu Mohammad al-Jolani then seized power in Damascus.
Jolani, who now goes by Ahmed al-Sharra, fought for al-Qaeda in Iraq against the Americans during the Iraq War and founded the jihadist group’s Syrian affiliate.
Despite his jihadist past, Jolani has been embraced in Washington, including multiple meetings with President Donald Trump. As Jolani has consolidated power in Syria, he has cracked down on minority groups, including Druze and Alawites.
The former al-Qaeda commander now has his sights set on retaking Syrian territory held by the country’s Kurdish minority. The Syrian forces are receiving assistance from Turkey, which has fought a long-term war against its own Kurds.
While in the past, Washington has intervened to assist the Kurds, the US has allowed Syrian forces to advance. The US has attempted to broker a deal between Damascus and the Kurdish leadership, but the ceasefire has failed to hold.
