The Latest: Senate Republicans stick up for Syrian Kurds

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump and Syria (all times local):

3:45 p.m.

Senate Republicans are sticking up for the U.S.-allied Syrian Kurds after President Donald Trump defended his pullout of American troops, which cleared the way for the Turkish assault on the Kurds.

GOP Leader Mitch McConnell calls the partnership "a terrific alliance" that set the Islamic State group back and says he is "sorry we are where we are."

Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri says Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan "has not been a reliable ally. The Kurds have been a reliable ally."

Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa adds, "We really have left behind and abandoned a strategic partner, the Kurds, who stood by our men and women in uniform in the fight" to defeat IS.

At the White House, Trump defended his decision, saying the Kurds were "no angels."

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2:45 p.m.

The House has overwhelmingly voted its bipartisan condemnation of President Donald Trump's withdrawal of American forces from northern Syria.

Despite stark divisions over Democrats' Trump impeachment inquiry, Democrats and Republicans banded together Wednesday and approved a nonbinding resolution by 354-60 vote.

The resolution states Congress' opposition to the troop pullback and says Turkey should cease its military action in Syria. And the measure says the White House should present a plan for an "enduring defeat" of the Islamic State group.

Many worry that IS may revive itself as Turkish forces attack Syrian Kurds holding the extremists.

The House debate was extraordinary for the intensity of lawmakers' opinions.

Republicans called the troop withdrawal "disastrous" and a "catastrophe." Democrats criticized Trump directly, with Rep. Seth Moulton saying Trump "has taken the...