‘Did Erdogan blackmail the president?' (1 Viewer)

[Rogue Valley]

Wesley Clark on Trump’s Syria withdrawal: ‘Did Erdogan blackmail the president?'

Syrian Kurds fighting together with US forces in Syria.

12/24/18
Wesley Clark, the former commander of NATO's forces, on Monday questioned whether Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan blackmailed President Trump into his decision to remove U.S. troops from Syria. "There doesn’t seem to be any strategic rationale for the decision. And if there’s no strategic rationale for the decision then you have to ask, why was the decision made?" the retired U.S. Army general and former NATO commander said on CNN's "New Day." "People around the world are asking this and some of our friends and our allies in the Middle East are asking, did Erdoğan blackmail the president? Was there a payoff or something? Why would a guy make a decision like this? Because all the recommendations were against it," he added. Trump last week announced that the U.S. would withdraw its roughly 2,000 troops from Syria, a decision that prompted the resignation of Defense Secretary James Mattis. The decision also elicited concern among lawmakers, who have said that removing troops will aid Russia and Turkey in the region. "What does this say about the foreign policy of the United States? That we're not reliable? That we make strategic decisions based on no strategic logic? What kind of person is driving the helm? That’s the issue," he said.

Because Trump has such a transactional nature, there could also very well be a quid-pro-quo agreement with the Turkish dictator Erdogan. Trump gets Erdogan to back off from his pressure campaign against Saudi Arabia for the murder of US resident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Kingdom's Turkey consulate. In return, Trump withdraws US forces from Syria and agrees to look the other way as Erdogan slaughters the Syrian Kurds, dependable US allies in Syria since 2014.

Related: Turkey Edges Closer to Attacking Kurdish Stronghold in Syria

 

[joko104]

Lack of war, ending any war, or ending the Cold War all drives the Democratic Party, the party of war and death, crazy. If the DNC had it's way we'd still have half a million troops in Vietnam.

 

[Geoist]

Lack of war, ending any war, or ending the Cold War all drives the Democratic Party, the party of war and death, crazy. If the DNC had it's way we'd still have half a million troops in Vietnam.

It is like you guys have completely forgotten the days neocon nation-building.

 

[beerftw]

Wesley Clark on Trump’s Syria withdrawal: ‘Did Erdogan blackmail the president?'

Syrian Kurds fighting together with US forces in Syria.



Because Trump has such a transactional nature, there could also very well be a quid-pro-quo agreement with the Turkish dictator Erdogan. Trump gets Erdogan to back off from his pressure campaign against Saudi Arabia for the murder of US resident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Kingdom's Turkey consulate. In return, Trump withdraws US forces from Syria and agrees to look the other way as Erdogan slaughters the Syrian Kurds, dependable US allies in Syria since 2014.

Related: Turkey Edges Closer to Attacking Kurdish Stronghold in Syria

I am pretty sure I mentioned this before the erdogan blackmail topic came to be, but turkey had been threatening to invade a few weeks before this whole thing went down. Trump not only had to worry about possible all out war with russia over syria, but it became the possibility of all out war with turkey as well, turkey is part of nato and the second most powerful nato member, so war with turkey and even russia would not only tear nato apart but give russia quite an edge,


He likely decided such a breakdown was not worth it, to position america in a lose-lose situation by breaking apart nato sending erdogan into russias arms granting russia near complete control of the black sea plus access to the mediterrainian to control as well. Sometimes you need to look at the big picture and realize leaders are not making choices over such small conflicts, but making such over a whole of a region.

 

[Rogue Valley]

I am pretty sure I mentioned this before the erdogan blackmail topic came to be, but turkey had been threatening to invade a few weeks before this whole thing went down.

Turkey did invade Afrin canton February-March 2018. Hundreds died. Erdogan only stopped because of a US blocking force at Manbij just east of Afrin.

Now that force will [conveniently] be removed by Trump.

 

[Mr Person]

Lack of war, ending any war, or ending the Cold War all drives the Democratic Party, the party of war and death, crazy. If the DNC had it's way we'd still have half a million troops in Vietnam.

^
They spend 8 years accusing Obama of being weak on terror, of palling around with terrorists, of creating ISIS by pulling out of Iraq, yadda yadda - and that's after several more years of attacking Democrats for opposing the Iraq War, puffing themselves up on what big tough patriots they are for supporting the war and our torture program - and now they're going to try to run their mouths about how the Democrats are supposedly the "party of war"?

I wish I could still be surprised. Such well-studied dishonesty.



The Democrats have spent all that time trying to get us out of pointless conflicts the people you vote for started without actually making the situation worse. You spent all that time slandering them for it. You're only a born-again pacifist because you feel that that is what is necessary to defend Trump. If he had instead ordered another 20,000 troops in, you'd be cheering him on for it.

 

[Phys251]

Lack of war, ending any war, or ending the Cold War all drives the Democratic Party, the party of war and death, crazy. If the DNC had it's way we'd still have half a million troops in Vietnam.

You have clearly forgotten about this monster:

 

[Mr Person]

You have clearly forgotten about this monster:

Oh, they'll just claim Cheney was a "RINO", or perhaps claim they never voted for Bush. They'll type anything.

 

[Amelia]

Ergodan and these other autocratic leaders don't need to blackmail Trump to get what they want.

All they have to do is flatter him and he laps it up.

Ergodan smiles at Trump and bingo bango, new policy is enacted without running it by the Pentagon first.

 

[Rogue Valley]

'We Will Curse Them As Traitors': Syrian Kurds React To U.S. Troop Withdrawal Plan

There goes that. The most dependable US ally in the Middle East.

Gone. On a Trump whim.

 

[jnug]

Ergodan and these other autocratic leaders don't need to blackmail Trump to get what they want.

All they have to do is flatter him and he laps it up.

Ergodan smiles at Trump and bingo bango, new policy is enacted without running it by the Pentagon first.

What a comforting thought for our adversaries in the world. All you have to do is make a call to Donald and muse a bit about your intentions in this case Turkey's intentions in a region and Donald will just cut and run.

As for the chance of all out war with Russia, people should get real. Neither Russia nor the US would have gone to all out war over Syria. Putin certainly would not have been STUPID enough for that. Though you cannot be sure about our guy AT ALL! All bets are off with regard to what nonsense that peabrain might concoct.

Trump today tweeting that "Turkey will take care of ISIS for us". Based on what Donald? You can bet that Turkey will slaughter our allies the Kurds if they cross the border into Syria. That is the one you can take to the bank.

 

[Mr Person]

'We Will Curse Them As Traitors': Syrian Kurds React To U.S. Troop Withdrawal Plan

There goes that. The most dependable US ally in the Middle East.

Gone. On a Trump whim.

No worries. Their reticence will be the Democrats' fault the next time the GOP starts a war there. People don't matter and neither do words.

 

[Rogue Valley]

No worries. Their reticence will be the Democrats' fault the next time the GOP starts a war there. People don't matter and neither do words.

US soldiers in-theater I have spoken to are very bitter. They've been in the suck with the Kurds for a long time.

We're going to regret this betrayal down the road. When [the defeated] ISIS begins to attack the mainland US.

 

[Mr Person]

And I want to be clear: I argued against an Iraq invasion since 2002, which is when I started hearing ominous noises from the Bush admin. They came to fruition in 2003. But once we're there, we own it. You break it, you buy it.

We need to do right by the Kurds. This is a ****ing travesty.


PS: We're good at travesties. Do you know that quite a few Afghanis who helped us during our spat with the Taliban were sent through 2-3 years of immigration red tape but got slaughtered by the Taliban while waiting, in direct contradiction of what our troops told them?

Did you?







We will rightly be seen as faithless and untrustworthy for decades. It will hurt. And God DAMN anyone who turns around to blame "liberals" or "leftists" for it, which inevitably they will do. Probably the same sort of people who let their dogs' **** in the snow on my morning running path because nobody can see it when it happens....but then the turds have to be dodged when it melts.

 

[Mr Person]

US soldiers in-theater I have spoken to are very bitter. They've been in the suck with the Kurds for a long time.

We're going to regret this betrayal down the road. When [the defeated] ISIS begins to attack the mainland US.

I can't measure the cup of woe/bitterness I'd be draining if I had served and then he did this.




FFS, we ask people to die young on some sandy hill, in some trench, in some jungle. We ask them to bleed and die in the **** and mud. And then "**** it, we're out, because CiC changed hands"?

It was for nothing...

I'd rather we not have been there, but damnit we went there. We bought it. We fix it.

 

[Deuce]

Lack of war, ending any war, or ending the Cold War all drives the Democratic Party, the party of war and death, crazy. If the DNC had it's way we'd still have half a million troops in Vietnam.

I see what you did there

 

[independentusa]

Lack of war, ending any war, or ending the Cold War all drives the Democratic Party, the party of war and death, crazy. If the DNC had it's way we'd still have half a million troops in Vietnam.

Wan't it the GOp that got us into the war in Iraq and Afghanistan? Maybe I am wrong but it seems like it was their leadership and lies that got us into the two wars and not the Dems.