[Alberta's Child]

All good responses. I'll address key points one by one.

1. Be careful about letting Congress off the hook for declaring war as a condition of using military force. Look what is happening here now: Members of the same Congress that never authorized anyone to conduct a military operation in Syria are complaining that President Trump is pulling those 2,000 troops OUT of Syria. If you're suggesting that these troops should be left there simply because it's "water under the bridge," then let's just dispense with Congress and let the President and a military junta run the damn country.

2. A declaration of war is a formality by definition. There's a reason for this: It is legal proceeding as much as anything else, and is accompanied by all kinds of legal formalities that govern everyone who is involved (diplomatic ties, military operations, prisoners of war, etc.). It also means the President of the United States must act as commander in chief to defeat an actual ENEMY -- which is the main reason why Congress will NOT declare war (the U.S. is not fighting an enemy in any of these actions; we're taking sides in civil wars).

3. Turkey may not be a great ally, but as fellow NATO members the U.S. and Turkey have mutual defense obligations to each other. That's probably the perfect definition of an "ally" in international affairs. A mutual defense obligation, however, does not obligate Turkey to assist a U.S. military campaign against a country that never attacked the U.S. If you want to make the case that Turkey and the U.S. no longer have mutual defense interests, then let's work on getting them out of NATO so they can be treated like any other Islamic dump over there.

4. The U.S. pulled out of Iraq at the end of 2011 because that's when the U.S. and Iraq agreed to have all U.S. combat troops leave Iraq. You can read the U.S.-Iraq Status of Forces agreement signed by George W. Bush in 2008 for the details.

5. Needlessly pissing away thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars isn't a smart way to "learn from mistakes." I'm not sure why anyone would believe this line of thinking makes any sense. "We didn't do it right before, but you must let us try it again somewhere else."

6. Why do so many Freepers keep posting things that suggest countries like Russia and Iran are hostile occupying forces in Syria? They'll stay there as long as the Syrians want them there. What "leverage" are we supposed to have there? How about we send a family of Mexicans to move into your house when you're away for a few days -- just so they have "leverage" to make you call your Congressman to get the whole neighborhood turned into Section 8 housing?

7. If 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria are the only thing keeping the region from descending into chaos, then I'm go out on a limb here and suggest that the region isn't about to descend into any more chaos than it's already facing.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"Be careful about letting Congress off the hook for declaring war as a condition of using military force."

I'm not letting them off the hook. I'm saying they were wrong. What I am saying is I don't want to rehash that, it does no good and is a pointless debate exercise. We should be concentrating on the situation in 2018. I can't change what Congress should have done in 2014 or 2015.

"A declaration of war is a formality by definition."

And it's not a requirement per the constitution. The Constitution says in Artile 1 Section 8 that the Congress has the power to delare war. It doesn't tell them how to do it. However they do it, they should vote on it and be accountable for their votes. If they are smart they put the objectives in the bill so they can hold the President to it.

" If you want to make the case that Turkey and the U.S. no longer have mutual defense interests, then let's work on getting them out of NATO"

I'm all for it. First we have to work on re-deploying our Airbase out of Incirlik and then lets work on kicking that rising Caliphate out of NATO.

"The U.S. pulled out of Iraq at the end of 2011 because that's when the U.S. and Iraq agreed to have all U.S. combat troops leave Iraq"

You know that Obama wanted out of Iraq. The Iraqis wanted anywhere from 10,000 - 20,000 troops to stay in the new SOFA agreement. Obama offered somewhere around 3,500 which was a joke. Maliki knew this would do nothing and he had to look elsewhere for his support and cut the U.S. loose. Obama got to say, hey I tried they didn't want us there and he got what he wanted, troop pullout.

"If 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria are the only thing keeping the region from descending into chaos, then I'm go out on a limb here and suggest that the region isn't about to descend into any more chaos than it's already facing."

You are taking my words out of context. I said those 2,000 troops are there to eliminate the last pocket of ISIS resistance, protect and finish training our Kurdish allies and put a check on Iran and ensure they get out. If Iran stayed there, that would destabilize the region eventually. With the Turkey, Russian, Iranian talks going on right now and the Kurds starting to eliminate those last ISIS members, I imagine we could have pulled them out sometime next year. It's like we spiked the ball on the five yard line before going in for a touchdown.

It's all a moot point now as the news is out that Saudi and UAE are sending troops in to protect the Kurds and assist them. This is good news and will ensure our national interest objectives are met.

I've ignored your argument comparing us going into Syria like Mexico going into America. It's specious and your better than that. Syria was in a civil war and gassing it's own people. They had no control over the areas we are in and ISIS claimed itself as a sovereign state there. You could say we weren't going into Syria but the ISIS caliphate. They had large swaths of Iraq and Syria. Iraq wanted us in and after ISIS fled into Syria do you think they would just stay there if we don't go after them? To use your metaphor, if a robber comes in your house and you manage to chase him out and kill one of his friends, they might come back. You're gonna want to ensure that never happens.