Now that ISIS has been defeated in Syria, how can anyone defend a continued presence in a country that never approved of us being there nor wants us there. Syria is a sovereign country whose recognized government is hostile to us. Obama espoused regime change and Hillary said it was not a matter of if Assad would be removed from power, but when. She predicted at one time it would be a matter of weeks.
The US response to the civil war in Syria precipitated Iranian and Russian involvement. We sent weapons to the varied anti-government forces in Syria, including Islamic jihadists. Who fills the vacuum if Assad is removed? What is our exit strategy?
The US has plenty of resources in the region including in Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia. We can monitor events in Syria and react as needed. We have no obligation to the Kurds who were fighting on behalf of their own interests. They want an independent state that eventually would encompass Kurds in Turkey, Syria, Iran, Iraq, and Armenia. An independent Kurdistan has been the objective for a long, long time. Our assistance to the Kurds was transactional not aspirational. We joined Stalin in WWII to defeat Hitler.
Turkey under Erdogan has been drifting into a fundamentalist Islamic Republic eschewing Western values and mores that were put in place initially by Ataturk. The Turkish parliament prevented the 4th ID from transiting Turkey during our invasion of Iraq. Turkey has bought anti-missile defense systems from the Russians. They have extorted the EU for money to prevent the 3.6 million refugees from the ME in Turkey from going into Europe. It is the sword they hold over the Europeans. And let's be frank, the EU will never admit Turkey into the organization.
The neocons want continued US military involvement in the region. It has proven to be counterproductive for US national security interests. It is a tar baby. How long will we be in Afghanistan? Do we now have an obligation to protect Afghan women from being returned to virtual slavery under the Taliban. This is all mission creep. And no one talks about the costs. $50 billion in Afghanistan. How much are we spending in Syria and Iraq?
If Congress wants a continued presence in Syria, let them declare war against Syria. They didn't approve our "temporary" entrance into the country, why do they now have veto authority over withdrawal?
The GOP should be defending Trump and not allowing the Dems to use it as another club to hit Trump while the House is trying to impeach him. McConnell, Graham, McCarthy, Scalise and others are destroying the GOP. Trump has a 94% approval rating among Rep voters.
Not only does President Trump enjoy a whopping 94% approval from Republicans, based on surveys taken at his highly attended rallies, as much as 25% of the democrats have defected to the Donald. Minneapolis rally =30% approx and Dallas over 20% If these numbers are even close to actual the game is OVER!
As always very informative summary with a direction for a cure , that in this case won’t be taken ( declaration) but serves to expose the real end game
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great take the area has been a mess for decades and for infidels its always a no win,IMHO.
Very well said!!! I’ve been following GEROMAN..of the Tiger Forces in Syria. Along with several other soldiers including Arabs fighting along with Syrians...you are spot on. We..the DS has been supplying the terrorist and white helmets...but the night we bombed (under President Trump)..we only hit the terrorist..and even the Syrian soldiers were respectful of our perfect aims of the troubled areas. They commented ...where are the Russian planes?...it was obvious we gave Russia a heads up and they totally got out of Syria as to not make a mistake and engage. A couple days after the bombing Putin talked and made some deal with Israel. Russia then broke a deal with Syria to give them more Russian weapons. The soldiers were really mad. Now it’s looking like the different fighting forces inside Syria are uniting...As it should be.