Trump orders rapid withdrawal from Syria in apparent reversal

[slick]

Russia and Assad have mostly killed civilians......Putin is pleased the US Military cut and run...The Kurds will be the next target of Assad's thugs

A stalemate that had been in place for four years finally ended in July 2016, when Syrian government troops closed
the rebels' last supply line into Aleppo with the support of Russian airstrikes. The Syrian government victory was widely
seen as the turning point in Syria's civil war. It was called "Syria's Stalingrad" it was won by Assad & Russia.

The people of Aleppo after the fall:

May 2017 New York Times Magazine report from "Aleppo after the Fall" described the public experience in formerly rebel
controlled East Aleppo as "a chaotic wasteland full of feuding militias—some of them radical Islamists—who hoarded food
and weapons while the people starved" and quoted local sources as "no one is 100 percent with the regime, but mostly
these people are unified by their resistance to the opposition" and people having experienced "a rebellion that is corrupt,
brutal and compromised by foreign sponsors".

 

[Gaius46]

I don't understand the left's outrage. They were outraged at the war in Iraq and took our military out of that and immediately put them in Afghanistan. The left just want to be anti-Trump and that is all there is to it.

A. I'm not on the left.

B. I'm not outraged. Just pointing out the lack of basic competence that the President continually displays.

 

[Gaius46]

So, he withdrew our troops from Syria after having talked about a withdrawal for 3 years and when the day comes, every Syrian war supporter is having a hissy-fit. (grin)

What a lot of people have forgotten, and that includes Miss Lindsey, that Obama sent troops - and Trump continued on that - to Syria for our men to train the groups the US was supporting.

The training is done ... everybody now stands on their own two feet.

So, did Congress officially declare war on Syria? If they never did, then there definitely would be no need to get their approval to end something they never approved in the first place.

Nope Congress didn't declare war. I'd point out that without a war declaration sending combat troops into Syria - yes I know they're "advisors" but being old enough to remember Vietnam I don't buy that they only advise - is questionable but that horse left the barn a long time ago.

If I'm not mistaken the Chairman of Joint Chiefs recently - as in this month or last - said the training mission was about 20% complete. Did they wrap up the other 80% since then?

Again I'm not having a hissy fit. I didn't want our guys there in the first place but, as I said to another poster our President's lack of competence is on display yet again.

 

[slick]

"... According to data from the Costs of War project at Brown University, cited by Quartz Wednesday, the U.S. has already budgeted more money for Syrian operations in 2019 compared to 2018. The Defense Department expects to spend roughly $15.3 billion in Syria next year, the highest level yet, with the State Department accounting for another billion in foreign aid. ..."

Cost of War in Syria Is Rising | The Fiscal Times


$17 billion for one year alone ...

2 years worth would give us a beautiful border wall with a huge, gilded gate ... for legal immigrants to get through.

Trump Defeats ISIS In Months — After Years Of Excuses From Obama
https://www.investors.com/politics/...-in-months-after-years-of-excuses-from-obama/

It's over for ISIS because of Trump's shifts in policy. Russia, Assad & the Kurds can easily deal with the stragglers left in the area.

The result of this shift seems pretty obvious. In July, ISIS was booted from Mosul, and shortly after Raqqa was liberated. For all intents
and purposes, ISIS has been defeated. Trump did in nine months what Obama couldn't in the previous three years.

Trump's critics will insist that victory was inevitable, given that Obama had severely degraded ISIS over the previous years,
and that all Trump did was continue Obama's strategy.

But the bottom line is that while Obama preached patience, Trump promised a swift end to ISIS, and then delivered on it.

 

[Moderate Right]

A. I'm not on the left.

B. I'm not outraged. Just pointing out the lack of basic competence that the President continually displays.

What is displayed is the bottom line - the country is doing quite well.

 

[Barnacle]

Nope Congress didn't declare war. I'd point out that without a war declaration sending combat troops into Syria - yes I know they're "advisors" but being old enough to remember Vietnam I don't buy that they only advise - is questionable but that horse left the barn a long time ago.

If I'm not mistaken the Chairman of Joint Chiefs recently - as in this month or last - said the training mission was about 20% complete. Did they wrap up the other 80% since then?

Again I'm not having a hissy fit. I didn't want our guys there in the first place but, as I said to another poster our President's lack of competence is on display yet again.

I don't know, but from the looks of it we were sliding into a war with Iran.

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/...m-top-military-and-national-security-leaders/

 

[Rogue Valley]

I don't know, but from the looks of it we were sliding into a war with Iran.

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/...m-top-military-and-national-security-leaders/

Which Trump has been begging for by abandoning the P5+1 nuclear deal.

 

[Logician Man]

I know that one of Trump's campaign promises was to get us out of Syria and voters voted him president. Who runs the country anyway, voters or GOP Senators? But, it is nice to know that you have such high regard for GOP Senators. Did you have that same high regard during the Kavannaugh hearings?

Is that a YES or NO to the actual question posed?..Or are you just going to stick with the deflection and dodge and concede the argument?

 

[truthatallcost]

Oh please. We liberals could see what trump was playing at. He announces that ISIS has been defeated and his base will cheer and celebrate. When ISIS gains in power and starts murdering more innocent people in Syria and around the world - trump will come out and and order more troops to fight ISIS and his base and scared Americans will happily vote for him again in 2020.

This is what dubya did and trump is following his playbook to the letter.

I don't entirely disagree with you Joan. This is what you get from ousting 'extremists' like Steve Bannon, in favor of Jared Kushner and John Bolton. Oops.

Who cares about all the innocent people who will be KILLED because of the actions of Assad, Putin, trump and ISIS.

You seem to be forgetting Barack Obama, whose administration shipped weapons that wound up in the hands of radical Islamists. Those Islamists then used our weapons to slaughter Christians, women, children, old men, and any member of an Islamic sect that differed from Salafi Wahhabism. How convenient to omit the key bungler of the Syrian civil war.

 

[Plus Ultra]

Why am I not surprised the critical left, long the bastion of pacifists, is opposed to this move by Trump too?

 

[marke]

Putin and trump are best friends. Putin and Assad are best friends. Therefore it is very obvious putin influenced trump's decision re withdrawing troops from Syria. Or would you like me to draw you a picture?

Draw a picture of Obama bowing to his benefactor in Saudi Arabia.

 

[marke]

Trump is Putin's lil puppet. Putin has the infamous 'pee-pee tapes.'..Trump dare not cross his puppet master's path..

Trump withdrew from the INF nuclear treaty with Russia against Putin's wishes. Is Putin likely to nuke the US for that? Who are pals now?

 

[Saladin4]

I don't entirely disagree with you Joan. This is what you get from ousting 'extremists' like Steve Bannon, in favor of Jared Kushner and John Bolton. Oops.



You seem to be forgetting Barack Obama, whose administration shipped weapons that wound up in the hands of radical Islamists. Those Islamists then used our weapons to slaughter Christians, women, children, old men, and any member of an Islamic sect that differed from Salafi Wahhabism. How convenient to omit the key bungler of the Syrian civil war.

That is a Lie...Just What About What About Obama Bull****

 

[holbritter]

looks like it. however, i have supported withdrawing from all conflicts in the Middle East for some time now, so i'd be a bit of a hypocrite if i didn't support this. no more undeclared wars.

Respect.

 

[Mr Person]

And now we see why.



ISTANBUL — Turkey will delay a planned offensive against Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday, citing talks with the U.S. president and other officials after the administration’s decision this week to withdraw all U.S. troops from the country. Erdogan, who had threatened an imminent military operation in areas where U.S. forces are present, said that he welcomed President Trump’s decision to pull out of Syria, where about 2,000 U.S. troops are partnered with Kurdish-led fighters battling the Islamic State.

“We welcome those statements with pleasure and an equal amount of caution,” he said of Trump’s announcement Wednesday, adding that an operation would take place “in the coming months.” “Our phone call with President Trump, along with contacts between our diplomats and security officials and statements by the United States, have led us to wait a little longer” before launching the offensive, he said. [The biggest winner of Trump’s Syria withdrawal? Turkey.] He also said that Turkey will have the right to move against “terrorists” in northern Syria after one month, which “we think is enough [time] for the U.S. to withdraw,” Turkey’s state broadcaster reported.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...ae527c46d18_story.html?utm_term=.04c18e82b876





Once we involve ourselves, we take on a duty to do the thing right. Instead, we're handing our Kurdish allies - without whom we may not have beaten ISIS back or if we had it would have taken a ton more American blood - over to the Turks for slaughter. And we know Trump likes to buddy up with the Erdogan's of the world. Maybe we shoudn't have been there in the first place, and just let that area of the world deal with its own problems. (But on the other hand, ISIS is partially made up from old Al Queda scum). But we were there, we asked for help, we received help, and we owe it to the Kurds to make it right. Instead, we're betraying them to their deaths.

I would not be in the least bit surprised if Edrogan had specifically asked for this favor.

 

[joko104]

What? No perpetual war to cause a perpetual civil war in another country? How unAmerican!

 

[smallvoice]

With as much time as I had in the military, I can tell you you are incorrect in your position.

............and once again - you're absolutely wrong. Gee what a surprise.:roll::roll::roll:

 

[Thoreau72]

Russia and Assad have mostly killed civilians......Putin is pleased the US Military cut and run...The Kurds will be the next target of Assad's thugs

Pure propaganda that Russia and Assad have mostly killed civilians.

The USAF have mostly killed civilians in the process of doing Israel's bidding. The White Helmets are terrorists, but the western media has not a clue.

 

[smallvoice]

Why should we believe you? You even claim to be a Conservative, and you certainly are not one.

Oh no, this is not a liberal in the white house so it can't be cut and run.

Plus recall the repub congress didn't authorize Obama to go into Syria just so they and you

always come with this Obama is a weakling story when it was Obama's 28,000 sortees by our great navy

that really drove ISIS to starvation with all of their Toyotas the W gave them...left in pieces.

 

[truthatallcost]

That is a Lie...Just What About What About Obama Bull****

Wahhabi?

 

[cpwill]

Thank you for the sanity. I agree - I don't believe ISIS is defeated either.

Neither does anyone else who studies them. There's a whole list of reasons Mattis resigned, and the entire NSC told Trump this was the wrong decision, and that's one of them.

 

[cpwill]

AQ was based in Afghanistan and Pakistan and both nations (among others in the region) are still populated with like minded folks. The idea that a US military "presence in the region" is going to make the Jihadis give up is simply insane.

Oh. But you think they will give up if we pull out and hand them a strategic victory, teaching them that we can be taken on and beaten? You think that making them the Holy Warriors Who Defeated The United States of America is going to reduce their ability to successfully message and recruit?

How many external operations has AQ pulled off from Afghanistan since we invaded?

Anyone that is honest will say that Afghanistan is no better now than it was 17 years and trillions of US dollars ago.

Unless that person is aware that Afghanistan has a government now based on self-rule, women have basic human rights, education systems, exist, so on and so forth.

But that is a strawman. We are not in Afghanistan to make Afghanistan into Germany.

 

[Barnacle]

And now we see why.
...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...ae527c46d18_story.html?utm_term=.04c18e82b876

Once we involve ourselves, we take on a duty to do the thing right. Instead, we're handing our Kurdish allies - without whom we may not have beaten ISIS back or if we had it would have taken a ton more American blood - over to the Turks for slaughter. And we know Trump likes to buddy up with the Erdogan's of the world. Maybe we shoudn't have been there in the first place, and just let that area of the world deal with its own problems. (But on the other hand, ISIS is partially made up from old Al Queda scum). But we were there, we asked for help, we received help, and we owe it to the Kurds to make it right. Instead, we're betraying them to their deaths.

I would not be in the least bit surprised if Edrogan had specifically asked for this favor.

"Saudi Arabia and the UAE have sent military forces to areas controlled by the Kurdish YPG group in north-east Syria, Turkey’s Yenisafak newspaper reported.

The paper said the forces will be stationed with US-led coalition troops and will support its tasks with huge military enforcements as well as heavy and light weapons.

Quoting the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the newspaper reported that a convoy of troops belonging to an Arab Gulf state recently arrived in the contact area between the Kurdish PKK/YPG and Daesh in the Deir Ez-Zor countryside.

This comes at a time when Ankara is preparing to launch an expanded military operation with the Free Syrian Army against the Kurdish PKK group in the northeast of Syria.

... There are fears of Arab-Turkish confrontations that will be the first of their kind on Syrian soil."

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20181122-saudi-arabia-uae-send-troops-to-support-kurds-in-syria/



May 2018 - "Saudi, Emirati and Jordanian military officials visited an international coalition military base in the Kurdish Syrian region of Kobani yesterday, according to local sources. ..."

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180531-saudi-uae-kurdish-military-meeting-in-northern-syria/


Time to use the WaPo for it's real intended purpose: to wipe **** off.

 

[TU Curmudgeon]

Yes Trump withdrew from the Syrian peace talks last year to the amazement of the military and State Dept.. Part of his Make America Weaker pledge to Putin no doubt. Assad invited the Russians in not Obama. I do not want the Kurds to be massacred because they allied with us to fight ISIS. Don't you think that sets a terrible precedent for our other allies? Don't you think Trump might have consulted the military before taking this step?

The Turks were planning an offensive to wipe out the (according to Mr. Trump, non-existent) ISIS and "Kurdish terrorists".

The Turks had a chat with Mr. Trump and put that offensive on hold.

This will allow a period of stability so that the American troops can withdraw gracefully.

Once there are no longer American troops on the ground to witness what happens, the Turks will very likely commence their offensive to wipe out the (according to Mr. Trump, non existent) ISIS and "Kurdish terrorists".

Needless to say, America's Kurdish allies are not overly pleased with this development because the Turks aren't likely to be overly meticulous about checking the ID cards of any Kurd they find carrying weapons.

Fortunately the Turks don't have to much of a worry about logistics because Mr. Trump has promised to support them in their offensive to wipe out the (according to Mr. Trump, non-existent) ISIS and "Kurdish terrorists".

Mr. Putin is in full agreement with Mr. Trump's plan to bring peace and freedom to Syria

 

[Barnacle]

The Turks were planning an offensive to wipe out the (according to Mr. Trump, non-existent) ISIS and "Kurdish terrorists".

The Turks had a chat with Mr. Trump and put that offensive on hold.
This will allow a period of stability so that the American troops can withdraw gracefully.
Once there are no longer American troops on the ground to witness what happens, the Turks will very likely commence their offensive to wipe out the (according to Mr. Trump, non existent) ISIS and "Kurdish terrorists".
Needless to say, America's Kurdish allies are not overly pleased with this development because the Turks aren't likely to be overly meticulous about checking the ID cards of any Kurd they find carrying weapons.
Fortunately the Turks don't have to much of a worry about logistics because Mr. Trump has promised to support them in their offensive to wipe out the (according to Mr. Trump, non-existent) ISIS and "Kurdish terrorists".
Mr. Putin is in full agreement with Mr. Trump's plan to bring peace and freedom to Syria

See post #249