The Kurds DID do most of the heavy lifting, and took almost all the casualties, in fighting ISIS. So, we “owe them one”.
Plus, it was our mistakes that in large part led to ISIS (we owe the Kurds again), and then to ISIS becoming so strong (more thousands of Kurdish deaths.)
Aside from the Kurds, there is the issue of the Syrian Christians: Can they ever go home?
If Syria could somehow be mostly left alone by everyone, aside from an occasional potent airstrike if Assad grossly misbehaves, the Christians and Kurds would probably be “ok” under Assad. Unfortunately, nature abhors a vacuum, and Assad, less the Russians and / or Iranians, doesn’t have much left to work with.
That brings us to the issue of Russian and Iranian influence in Syria. I have MAJOR problems with Syria (or a large part of it) becoming a defacto province of Iran. That, not in a year or two, but eventually, leads almost certainly to a war that spills well outside the ME and includes nuclear and large scale WMD usage.
Russia controlling Syria I could live with, especially if Israel and Russia could come to an accommodation where Hezbollah / Iran cannot operate in any part of Syria close enough to Israel to launch missiles into Israel. That should benefit Assad, if he behaves, as it virtually eliminates Israel’s reasons to hit Syria with airstrikes.
I rather suspect the Saudis could live with that too, as it may be that Qatar needs that pipeline to Europe, sometimes referenced here and elsewhere, more than does Saudi Arabia. But the relationship between SA and Qatar is really on the rocks now, and what with gas and oil production capacity glutting the market for the foreseeable future, and Saudi Arabia working on local production of other petro products (plastics, fertilizer, etc.) maybe the Saudis figure yet another pipeline won’t help SA very much at present?
Of course SA now saying it will put forces in Syria flies against the above. But, maybe those forces are just for negotiating leverage with Russia? (SA certainly now has the weaponry to make the point & be difficult to push out. Whether they have the skills & mindset is a different story.)
Note that only a little of the above “concern” is for Israel itself. I think they can defend themselves. The Kurds, however, don’t presently have the arms to do so.
The prospects of a much wider “WMD and/or nuclear” war several(?) years from now are the most alarming of all.
All in all, I am “ok” with the US pullout in Syria if:
A) Iran / Hezbollah is mostly pushed out too.
B) The Kurds are allowed to have any short and medium range weapons they desire, with the stipulation those weapons cannot be used for offensive actions against any territory the US designates, with case by case approval sometimes requestable. Infractions maybe subject to heavy NATO air or missile strikes as discipline. Said weapons also cannot be resold without US permission, and the US reserves the right to limit quantities to those conceivably useful. We will donate to the Kurds the 1st year’s supply, with following years paid in oil delivered @ market prices if the Kurds so wish.
C) The Christians get some protections.
D) Some accommodations can be worked out with the Russians.
“The Kurds DID do most of the heavy lifting, and took almost all the casualties, in fighting ISIS. So, we “owe them one”.”
Pffft. The Soviets did most of the “heavy lifting” against the Nazis...did we “owe them”?
We have NO troops on our southern border, until we do, we should have NO troops ANYWHERE.
America First.
Mid-east Last.
Absolutely.
The idiot Brits and Frogs interfered with Russia’s plans to eliminate these pigs years ago.
We should work with them to do it now.