In withdrawing from Syria, Trump makes a major error

President Trump has made such a major error. He needs to gather in his experienced, genuine supporters on the Hill — Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Todd C. Young (R-Ind.) plus a couple of young warriors-turned-congressmen such as Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Rep.-elect Dan Crenshaw (R-Tex.) — and revisit the decision to pull U.S. troops out of Syria.

This decision puts one of Trump’s signal achievements — the defeat of the Islamic State — in grave danger. As much as it would pain veterans of the Obama administration to admit, it was Trump who changed the rules of engagement in the battle with the Islamic State. It was Trump who oversaw their rout and retreat. But the Islamic State is not defeated. And even if the Islamic State stays on its collective heels, those who would replace them — Iran, Bashar al-Assad’s regime and Russia — are greater threats to Americans in Iraq and to our ally Israel.