美国国防部长证实，在唐纳德·特朗普总统的“蓄意撤军”下，1000名美军将于周日从叙利亚北部撤离，政府官员继续威胁土耳其经济。
国防部长马克·特·埃斯珀(Mark T. Esper)周日上午表示，特朗普政府“不想让美国军队受到伤害”，并正在撤出土耳其边境的战斗，尽管另一名五角大楼官员告诉美国广播公司新闻，剩余的美国军队可能会留在叙利亚。特朗普为放弃库尔德武装这一有争议的决定辩护，称土耳其和库尔德人之间的战斗是另一场战争的一部分”无休止的战争。"
特朗普周日与财政部长史蒂夫·穆努钦一起继续威胁说停工“如果形势变得太不稳定，土耳其的经济将会出现问题。但愤怒的民主党议员对这些威胁的回应是，询问特朗普政府为何推迟对土耳其的制裁。
埃斯珀说:“昨晚，在与其他国家安全小组讨论后，我与总统进行了交谈，他指示我们开始从叙利亚北部有意识地撤军。”讲述 面向国家周日早上。
埃斯珀表示希望库尔德人将“与叙利亚和俄罗斯军队达成协议”，但他承认库尔德军队参与此类谈判的唯一原因是保护自己免受土耳其军队的蹂躏。他说库尔德人是反对伊拉克和黎凡特伊斯兰国的好伙伴，但补充道，“我们没有代表他们与土耳其人战斗。我们对他们已经非常清楚了。”
埃斯珀说，他不相信土耳其的雷杰普·塔伊普·埃尔多安会同意停火或搬回土耳其边境。
周日早上，特朗普在推特上抢先报道埃斯珀在哥伦比亚广播公司的露面:“库尔德人和土耳其人已经打了很多年了。土耳其认为PKK是最糟糕的恐怖分子。其他人可能想进来为一方或另一方而战。让他们来吧！我们正在密切监视局势。无尽的战争！”
特朗普继续说，“你还记得两年前伊拉克打算在叙利亚不同地区与库尔德人作战的时候吗。许多人希望我们和库尔德人一起对抗伊拉克，我们刚刚为他们而战。我拒绝了，库尔德人两次退出了战斗。现在土耳其也发生了同样的事情……”
姆努钦星期五在白宫发表讲话，如果土耳其的军事侵略升级，他将继续威胁土耳其的经济:“这些是非常有力的制裁。我们希望不必使用它们，但如果需要，我们可以关闭土耳其经济。”
“我们已经警告[·土耳其。总统已经授权我有效地关闭整个土耳其经济，我们可以在接到他的命令后立即关闭，”穆努钦还告诉美国广播公司本周星期天。
特朗普声称共和党参议员林赛·格雷厄姆和国会民主党议员正在努力对土耳其实施“强有力的制裁”。但是马里兰州民主党参议员克里斯·范·霍伦出现了福克斯周日新闻并要求了解特朗普政府的时间表。
“看在上帝的份上，他们还在等什么？人们正在被杀害。我们的叙利亚库尔德盟友正在被杀害，”他告诉福克斯新闻主播克里斯华莱士。
唐纳德·特朗普总统7月23日在华盛顿特区白宫椭圆形办公室举行的马克·埃斯珀国防部长宣誓就职仪式上发表讲话
U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY CONFIRMS SYRIAN TROOP WITHDRAWAL: 'WE DIDN'T SIGN UP TO FIGHT THE TURKS'
The U.S. Secretary of Defense confirmed 1,000 U.S. troops are set to evacuated from northern Syria Sunday under President Donald Trump's "deliberate withdrawal" and administration officials are continuing to threaten Turkey's economy.
Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper said Sunday morning that the Trump administration "did not want to put American forces into harm's way" and is pulling out of the fighting along the Turkish border, although a second Pentagon official told ABC News a residual U.S. force may be kept in Syria. Trump defended the controversial decision to abandon Kurdish forces, labeling the fighting between Turkey and the Kurds as part of yet another "endless war."
Trump joined Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin Sunday in continuing to threaten to "shut down" Turkey's economy should the situation become too volatile. But outraged Democratic lawmakers responded to these threats by asking why the Trump administration is holding off on sanctions against Turkey.
"I spoke with the president last night after discussions with the rest national security team and he directed that we begin a deliberate withdrawal of forces from northern Syria," Esper told Face the Nation Sunday morning.
Esper expressed hope the Kurds will "cut a deal with the Syrian and Russian forces," but he acknowledged that the only reason Kurdish forces are engaging in such talks is to protect themselves from being overrun by the Turkish military. He said the Kurds were good partners against ISIS, but added, "we didn't sign up to fight the Turks on their behalf. We've been very clear with them about that."
Esper said he does not believe Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will agree to a ceasefire or to move back across the Turkish border.
Tweeting Sunday morning, Trump preempted Esper's appearance on CBS: "The Kurds and Turkey have been fighting for many years. Turkey considers the PKK the worst terrorists of all. Others may want to come in and fight for one side or the other. Let them! We are monitoring the situation closely. Endless Wars!"
Trump continued, "Do you remember two years ago when Iraq was going to fight the Kurds in a different part of Syria. Many people wanted us to fight with the Kurds against Iraq, who we just fought for. I said no, and the Kurds left the fight, twice. Now the same thing is happening with Turkey..."
Mnuchin, speaking Friday at the White House, continued to threaten Turkey's economy should their military aggressions escalate: "These are very powerful sanctions. We hope we don't have to use them, but we can shut down the Turkish economy if we need to."
"We've put [Turkey] on warning. The president has authorized me to effectively shut down the entire Turkey economy and we can do that at a moments notice on his command," Mnuchin also told ABC This Week on Sunday.
Trump claimed GOP Senator Lindsey Graham and Democratic members of Congress are working to impose "powerful sanctions" against Turkey. But Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen appeared on Fox News Sunday and demanded to know the Trump administration timeline.
"For God's sakes what are they waiting for? People are being killed right now. Our Syrian Kurdish allies are being killed right now," he told Fox News anchor Chris Wallace.
President Donald Trump speaks during the swearing-in ceremony of Mark Esper as secretary of defense on July 23 in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C.
