(Minor quibble: should be in bloggers/personal)
Why, when SA UAE and France are replacing US troops leaving?
We have 2000 troops in Syria. They can come home. We are causing trouble as much as solving problems. And if the Military does not help with our border, I care less about their other priorities. Border first, Syria fifth.
The United States was correct in entering the theater for the purpose of destroying these inhumane elements.
It sounds like ISIS is a bunch of preschoolers compared to Planned Parenthood.
No offense, but it's hard to take this kind of rationalization seriously. It really comes across as a pile of slop when you pretend the U.S. has any moral standing to do this sh!t.
What we “must do” is determined by the President. Period.
NOPE!
Thanks for this article Liberty. I’ve been arguing over the past two days these same points so eloquently pointed out here. It’s a moot point now though because it looks as if forces from the UAE and Saudi Arabia are moving into those positions. I think they can just as well accomplish our goals here. I’m guessing they’ll have a lot of artillery assets as we did in the region. They’ll be backed up by air power out of Jordan, Kuwait/Iraq (US) and most likely a lot of good intelligence assets out of Israel (which will never be reported). They will be able to accomplish our mission and I think the last of the ISIS stronghold will be wiped out by Kurdish forces with Turkey and Iran forced to withdraw from Syria. Unlike Obama we will have not spiked the ball on the five yard line. Trump is more fortunate because he was about to make the same mistake.
One myth I would like to dispense is everyone saying we want to bring our troops home. These guys are most likely not going to be home anytime soon. They are on deployment. My guess is they re-deploy to Camp Arafjan in Kuwait as we have strict troop limits now that we can station in Iraq. They will go home at the end of their deployment. We are just re-positioning them.
Disagree. Completely.
Also, I can’t believe we’d do this without first talking to the Israelis. Esp. this president.
Also, we’re not abandoning the region; we still have a heavy presence in Bahrain and Kuwait. We’re just abandoning Syria.
Iran wants to see Israel destroyed but wanting to see it and being able to do it done are two different things. Iran knows Israel will never stand alone; we won’t permit it (and Russia wouldn’t interfere).
POTUS is right. Let’s get out.
We do not need to be in Syria. We only need to assist the GCC and Israel. They can defend their borders as we defend our own.
The failed southern hemisphere socialist countries are sending their version of ISIS to the USA as we speak.
Let Asad take care of his country, not our problem.
> Viewed in its totality, Americas continued presence in Syria is crucial to keeping Iran from forwarding its abilities to foment terrorism, keeping Soviet influence at bay, checking the evils of the Assad regime, protecting Israel, and preventing the resurgence of ISIS. In short, the stakes here are, quite frankly, far too high for the United States to abandon them at this time.
Not one of these goals is an accountable one. This is your red flag that you’ve drunk the Kool-Aid and are in a cult.
“In short, President Trump needs to rethink his position in Syria and engage in patient perseverance.”
Bull! Trump’s got it right> After 17 years in these $%^thole countries, what has been accomplished? We”ve lost thousands of troops, thousands injured and permanently maimed. Bring the troops home and secure the country. This argument, if we don’t keep them there they’ll be coming here, doesn’t hold much water.
The author is an idiot.
A US withdraw is a step closer to the 2000 status quo. And that status is the absolute best the US can hope for, and is in the interests of the US.
Syria has been a client state of the Russians since the 60s. And Russia has had a Naval and Air base there since then. If this were such a strategic threat to the US, surely we would have solved it by now.
Now we have Neocons telling us we must reverse that as a principal, strategic interest of the US...and all of humanity.
They cannot even see they are now perceived as cartoon characters to be laughed at.
In short, President Trump needs to rethink his position in Syria and engage in patient perseverance.
Its called a declaration of war and you dont has one.
L
I voted for , and donated money to Trump's campaign and will do so again in his next election.
Having said that, I don't always agree with some of Trump's opinions; like we have won against ISIS.
I don't disagree with us withdrawing from Syria a long as we can help protect the Kurds from Turkey.
ISIS is a religiously motivated organization promising an eternal reward for killing us Infidels.
This problem can't be solved as long as there is a Koran and Hadith to be read, and believed, by a person who believes there is only one God (Allah) and Muhammad is his prophet.
Expect ISIS to flare up again; as a motivation by a supernatural being is just about impossible to stamp out.
Some of these religious beliefs in other Gods have been around for thousands of years.
We have a long history of battling against life threating things, and now Islam is another one of them that has reached our shores. We have to realize Islam is a life threatening problem for us, and not treating it like another run of the mill religion, that can be tolerated because it doesn't pose a death threat to non- believers as does Islam. .
We have to face up to Islam and stamp it out when we can and certainly not let fundamental Islam take root in our country. - Tom
I think we are leaving advisers in small numbers
Our presence there is illegal. Syria & Russia will finish off the remnants of ISIS (and al Qaeda). There is NO need for a single American serviceman to be there.
Do you even read the daily dispatches from Syria, about the only source of what is happenjng in the ground.
Our token force ( and 2,000 troops based in Syria is a token force, most of them there to defend the base, not the Kurds) could easily be based in Jordan or another host and stage attacks on ISIS as needed...if that was their real mission. It is not.
Trump called the establishment on its big lie about the real mission.
He understands the real mission.
And has other ways of dealing with it than sending someones son father and husband as pawns in an undeclared and absolutely ill-devised proxy faceoff with Russia and Iran.
2,000 troops.
Armchair quarterback.
ISIS does not exist.
Not really. There are a number of mohammedan terror groups, Hammas, Hezbollah, Islamic State (ISIS), the Taliban, Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, Lashkar-e-Taliba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Hizbul Mujahideen and Abu Sayyaf just to name a few. But you will never be able to effectively deal with them until you realize that all of these groups are fronts.
They are all groups that are attacking everyone who is not Mohammedan or sufficiently Mohammedan.
The point is not what ever they claim their grievance is, the point is the forced submission of the world to their death cult.
So you can not "Fight ISIS" in Syria. All you will be doing is supporting one branch of the death cult against another that would rather be on top. You can never win. As long as there is one mohammedan "true believer" in the world left then there is going to be more terror. All you are doing is giving space for some new horror to emerge.
It is like fighting Trotsky for Stalin. No matter what you do there is no possible happy outcome. So why are you spending your money and the blood of your fighters again?