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Is Trump Rethinking Abandoning The Kurds?
Hotair ^
| 10/07/2019
| Jazz Shaw
Posted on 10/08/2019 7:46:52 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
We’ve had more than 36 hours to absorb the news that President Trump was pulling our troops out of the way of an anticipated Turkish incursion into northern Syria. (And possibly out of the country entirely.) The response has been rapid and generally brutal across the board. Has any of this sunk in with the President yet, potentially leading him to reconsider this decision? As of last night, it certainly didn’t sound like it. (Associated Press)
I held off this fight for almost 3 years, but it is time for us to get out of these ridiculous Endless Wars, many of them tribal, and bring our soldiers home, he wrote, adding that, WE WILL FIGHT WHERE IT IS TO OUR BENEFIT, AND ONLY FIGHT TO WIN. He said it will now be up to the region to decide what to do with captured IS fighters, and warned of retribution in response to any future attacks.
We are 7000 miles away and will crush ISIS again if they come anywhere near us! he wrote.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened for months to launch the military operation across the Syrian border. He views the Kurdish forces as a threat to his country. Republicans and Democrats have warned that allowing the Turkish attack could lead to a massacre of the Kurds and send a troubling message to American allies across the globe.
But at the same time that the tweetstorm was brewing, US News reported that an anonymous “senior administration official” said America is “not removing its forces from Syria in the face of a Turkish incursion.” The official went on to say that Trump had simply ordered approximately fifty special forces troops to relocate to “a different part of the country.”
But that’s sort of a distinction without a difference, isn’t it? If the expected Turkish assault is only going to move fewer than twenty miles into Syrian territory (as Erdogan intimated) and we’re pulling our troops to the south, that’s still “removing our forces” from the expected field of battle. Still, this apparent contradiction in the messaging makes me wonder if an extra night to sleep on it has the President reconsidering the plan.
I have no doubt that President Trump isn’t losing any sleep over the Washington Post’s comments about his “stunning ignorance” of the situation in Syria. He probably takes it as a badge of honor. But some of the other people weighing in must surely carry a bit more weight with him.
Two of the louder voices in Washington who are opposing this policy shift are Lindsay Graham and Cocaine Mitch. I’m not suggesting that Trump takes his marching orders directly from them (or anyone, for that matter) but he’s surely aware that if the Democrats move forward with impeachment, those will be two people he needs leading his defense in the Senate trial to follow. And they’re hardly alone. Elected officials and conservative media figures across the board are freaking out at this point, moreso than they have been over most any other controversial decision coming out of this White House.
The President is describing this as yet another campaign promise he’s keeping. Fair enough, but it’s not being done intelligently. Trump’s constant goal since taking office has been to keep his base revved up and solidly behind him. But those Republicans screaming most loudly about the abandonment of the Kurds were elected by that base. What few defenses of this decision I’ve seen thus far have been luke-warm and watered down at best.
If Erdogan’s forces come blasting into the border region this week and begin slaughtering the Kurds wholesale, the disaster will land squarely on the plate of Donald Trump and nobody else. And starting yet another trade war with Turkey in response isn’t going to solve anything. They’re already a marginal “ally” at best and such a move will simply push them further into Vladamir Putin’s arms all the faster. There is no good outcome from this scenario that I can see and the President needs to find a path to back away from this move even if he loses face in the process. Sadly, that seems totally out of character for him so I’m not hopeful at all.
TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Russia; Syria; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: associatedpress; erdogan; jazzshaw; kurdistan; kurds; receptayyiperdogan; russia; syria; trumpnato; trymp; turkey
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To: SeekAndFind
I really really despise Hotair blog.
21
posted on
10/08/2019 7:59:56 AM PDT
by
KobraKai
To: DoodleDawg
>>How is it that the Kurds survived for centuries and in the recent decades without us having any troops in Syria?
Not well. Tens of thousands have died at the hands of Turkey and Syria and Iraq over the years.<<
And how many American citizens have died at the hands of “refugees” and illegal immigrants over the years.
But that doesn’t matter, does it? We need to worry about what’s happening halfway across the world instead.
an anonymous senior administration official
23
posted on
10/08/2019 8:01:19 AM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
To: SeekAndFind
Abandoning the Kurds.....
The last 4 damned presidents have abandoned US!!!
24
posted on
10/08/2019 8:02:24 AM PDT
by
GraceG
("If I post an AWESOME MEME, STEAL IT! JUST RE-POST IT IN TWO PLACES PLEASE")
To: SeekAndFind
The United States was supposed to be in Syria for 30 days, that was many years ago. We stayed and got deeper and deeper into battle with no aim in sight. When I arrived in Washington, ISIS was running rampant in the area. We quickly defeated 100% of the ISIS Caliphate,.....
....including capturing thousands of ISIS fighters, mostly from Europe. But Europe did not want them back, they said you keep them USA! I said NO, we did you a great favor and now you want us to hold them in U.S. prisons at tremendous cost. They are yours for trials. They.....
.....again said NO, thinking, as usual, that the U.S. is always the sucker, on NATO, on Trade, on everything. The Kurds fought with us, but were paid massive amounts of money and equipment to do so. They have been fighting Turkey for decades. I held off this fight for....
....almost 3 years, but it is time for us to get out of these ridiculous Endless Wars, many of them tribal, and bring our soldiers home. WE WILL FIGHT WHERE IT IS TO OUR BENEFIT, AND ONLY FIGHT TO WIN. Turkey, Europe, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Russia and the Kurds will now have to.....
...figure the situation out, and what they want to do with the captured ISIS fighters in their neighborhood. They all hate ISIS, have been enemies for years. We are 7000 miles away and will crush ISIS again if they come anywhere near us!
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
7:40 AM · Oct 7, 2019
25
posted on
10/08/2019 8:02:58 AM PDT
by
McGruff
(No one is above the law - Nancy Pelosi)
To: Sacajaweau
[ Turkey is a NATO ally. We can’t attack Turkey.
There are no good choices except to leave. ]
AND STOP NATO EXTORTING MONEY FROM US!
26
posted on
10/08/2019 8:03:04 AM PDT
by
GraceG
("If I post an AWESOME MEME, STEAL IT! JUST RE-POST IT IN TWO PLACES PLEASE")
To: GraceG
I heard that it was a total of 50 people- Does anyone know if that is true?
27
posted on
10/08/2019 8:03:07 AM PDT
by
Mr. K
(No consequence of repealing obamacare is worse than obamacare itself.)
To: Buckeye McFrog
President Trump is not going to abandon the Kurds.
He is doing exactly the opposite, which is the right thing to do.
We have very little in the way of ground troops in Syria as it is, not enough to make a difference in a conventional war against Turkey should they go that route.
Trump is pulling the rug out from under the status quo, which is endless war policed by American troops
He is trying to mobilize world support for a productive solution
The Kurds are not monolithic either. Some want peace, but others what endless war with Turkey due to history or the fact that they are paid proxy for hostile entities or countries like Iran or Qatar pushing their interests and ambitions in the region . So some Kurds are an obstacle to a peaceful
solution
Trump is trying to mobilize the world to try to force a solution
28
posted on
10/08/2019 8:04:26 AM PDT
by
rdcbn
( Referentia)
To: rdcbn
There is also a very good case to be made that President Trumps enemies wish to get him embroiled in a destructive war with Iran and are trying to maneuver him into one.
President Trump is forcing these people to go public in favor of military action. If we do use a military option, it will be at their demand and the demand of the American people and with popular support of Congress
The President will then go in with overwhelming force
This is kind of the way its supposed to be done
29
posted on
10/08/2019 8:10:32 AM PDT
by
rdcbn
( Referentia)
To: SeekAndFind
Unless we are going to take on Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria to get the Kurds their own country, what exactly are we going to do for them?
30
posted on
10/08/2019 8:12:30 AM PDT
by
Lurkinanloomin
(Natural Born Citizen Means Born Here Of Citizen Parents_Know Islam, No Peace-No Islam, Know Peace)
To: pollywog
Are there any other groups around the world the neo-cons wish for us to be a military for hire for?
It’s like some of you have learned nothing the past 16 years.
To: GraceG
The last 4 damned presidents have abandoned US!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bears repeating.
32
posted on
10/08/2019 8:15:56 AM PDT
by
Lurkinanloomin
(Natural Born Citizen Means Born Here Of Citizen Parents_Know Islam, No Peace-No Islam, Know Peace)
To: sanjuanbob
Headline is poorly framed.
As are almost all of them.
33
posted on
10/08/2019 8:16:20 AM PDT
by
Don Corleone
(nothing upsets the left more than the truth)
To: McGruff
WE WILL FIGHT WHERE IT IS TO OUR BENEFIT, AND ONLY FIGHT TO WIN...POTUS!!!
WASH, RINSE, REPEAT!!!!
34
posted on
10/08/2019 8:21:30 AM PDT
by
Don Corleone
(nothing upsets the left more than the truth)
To: SeekAndFind
They will have support from the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Those are the fun folks who actually defeated ISIS on the ground in Syria.
35
posted on
10/08/2019 8:21:59 AM PDT
by
sevlex
To: SeekAndFind
Well, train the Kurds to do the same thing and provide them with the weapons to do it.Just like that, huh?
To: rdcbn
Trust doesn’t need a military option.
Just his Twitter finger.
37
posted on
10/08/2019 8:33:37 AM PDT
by
mewzilla
(Break out the mustard seeds.)
To: Mr. K
I heard that it was a total of 50 people-
This morning some expert was interviewed by the local talk radio guy and he said there were only 24 people there........Then somebody made the joke that they were the "2 Dirty Dozens".......
38
posted on
10/08/2019 8:33:42 AM PDT
by
Hot Tabasco
(I'm in the cleaning business.......I launder money)
To: FreedomPoster
Theyre a tripwire, and they can act as Forward Air Controllers and bring down H*** from above in large quantities. Sure they can, but doing so is utterly unrealistic. What you are saying is that some forward air controller in Syria is going to call for air attacks against Turkey, a NATO ally. And then presumably US aircraft take off from Incirlik in Turkey, fly across Turkish airspace, and then bomb Turkish units. And then they turn around, shoot down any Turkish air force assets in the way and fly back to Incirlik where they US pilots go to bed in their barracks.
I haven't seen anyone make a realistic case about how any US military asset would be used against Turkey. Everyone acts like we could just start shooting down Turkish jets, or attacking their army and they wouldn't do anything in response - like attack our planes and pilots based in their own country.
If Turkey decides to attack Syria we could join forces with the Syrian government, and give them armaments to drop from their fighter jets, but I suspect there are not many politicians in DC who think arming Assad is a good plan.
To: SeekAndFind
“WE WILL FIGHT WHERE IT IS TO OUR BENEFIT, AND ONLY FIGHT TO WIN. He said it will now be up to the region to decide what to do with captured IS fighters, and warned of retribution in response to any future attacks.”
This is common sense and reasonable. IMO Trump wants troops out of these hellholes but will respond to any threats if necessary. This doesn’t necessarily mean he would never go back to Syria or wherever and kick their butts if needed ... but we just won’t stay there forever and ever.
The Left may portray this as Trump changing his mind. I don’t see it that way.
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