The U.S. did not remove ISIS, Kurdish fighters with U.S. assistance did. You can’t defeat an enemy from the air unless you bomb everything that moves. That wasn’t an option. If President Trump had ordered to bomb everything that moved, he would have been removed from office with 80+ senators voting for his removal.
The U.S. used the Kurdish fighters to defeat ISIS and then threw (or has decided to throw) them to the lions (the Turks). That’s dishonest in the extreme. The U.S. has always known that the Turks hate the Kurds. If the U.S. has never wanted to guarantee the Syrian Kurds some sort of protection, it should not have used them.
Would you prefer if President Trump had sent U.S. ground troops (not only some special forces) against ISIS? Or would you prefer if the ISIS caliphate in Syria still existed?
What I am saying is that the territory which is now contested by both the Kurds and the Turks is newly freed land. It’s not the area which is the Kurdish homeland, but an area in Iraq and Syria invaded by ISIS. The Kurds control it because Iraq is unable to do so given their problems in the south with Iran. Syria is also unable to regain control of the area. Therefore, what is now happening is a redrawing of national boundaries. Turkey does not want the Kurds to control territory along their eastern border because of past terrorism against them by Kurdish fractions. It is not an unfounded concern.
I agree, therefore, with the President that this is not a fight that entails US national interest. American resources shouldn’t be used to redraw the map of the Middle East. The Kurds have our financial support. They have been trained and have probably even better fighting ability than the Turks. They have tons of military equipment. The Turkish government also has been given limitations by the US government.
Finally there is the question of captured ISIS fighters, many who are Europeans. Those nations have refused to repatriot them. The Kurds are guarding them now; but are unable to do that long term w/o US troop involvement. That is not sustainable. Turkey has agreed to take control of the prisoners. The President has decided that is the best solution and I also agree.