Trump Pulls Last Troops Out Of Syria

[mark46]

This shouldn't surprise anyone. He has abandoned the Kurds to their Turkish and Iranian enemies, and Syria to Russia.
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Trump gets to help his friends in Russia by withdrawing, as he has wanted to for 2 years.
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I suspect that we will be doing the same in Afghanistan and Iraq in the next year or so.

 

[SeventyOne]

This reminds me of the time we were told that Obama pulled the last troops out of Iraq, when coincidentally, the very same week my stepfathers unit was deployed to Iraq for almost a year.

 

[cow451]

This reminds me of the time we were told that Obama pulled the last troops out of Iraq, when coincidentally, the very same week my stepfathers unit was deployed to Iraq for almost a year.

DoD has it’s own math.

 

[hıristiyanlık]

Turks are not enemies of Kurds. Kurds and Turks are brothers and sisters. There are millions of Kurdish-Turkish mixed families.

There are Kurdish soldiers in Turkish Republic's army, police, gendarme, special forces.

(A kurdish police special forces member is listening Kurdish songs in an armored vehicle)

 

[cow451]

Thank you, Comrade Putin.

 

[Nithavela]

Turks are not enemies of Kurds. Kurds and Turks are brothers and sisters.

Kurdish–Turkish conflict (1978–present) - Wikipedia

 

[Helmut-WK]

Make USA weaker again.
Why do I say "again"?

Trump has weakened the US from the very beginning, starting with promoting protectionism.
Protectionism is, in overall perspective, a negative factor for economy, but it helps weak economies against strong ones. So countries with strong economy prefer free trade, countries with weak economy prefer protectionism. So when Trump demanded protectionism and China voted for free trade, it was clear that (at least in self-image) USA (or Trump, to be more specific) and China agreed that now China is No.1 economy and USA #2.
This influenced the politics of other countries. China got more potential allies, the US less. Psychology is a factor in foreign relations, and presenting yourself as weak seldom helps anything in that area.

The retreat from Syria is the most recent step to make USA weaker:

• The Kurds are now fighting against the remnants of IS (or ISIS). Until now they were successful, though there are some "nests" that could resist them and their American allies. Without much US help, the Kurds will probably not defeat what is left from IS, it will stay in Syria and Iraq for some time.
• Turkey now threatens to fight against the Kurds, so they will have problems that are more urgent to them than fighting against IS. This is the very situation IS needs to recover from recent defeats and get new strength. Within 2 years we will hear of cities reconquered by IS ... remember how IS appeared "out of nothing" and conquered much of northern Iraq, almost to the gates of Baghdad?
  
• The Kurds will not trust the US another time. It will be rather like southern Iraq: In the first Gulf War against Hussein, the Shiites in Southern Iraq were encouraged by US to revolt, but then Washington decided it would be better to let Hussein in his place, lest Iraq would turn into chaos. In the second Gulf War, the Shiites took a deaf ear to calls for revolting, they don't trust the USA and rather lean in Iran. Well done, Bush ... I don't dare to foretell what power the Kurds will lean on in future, but certainly not the USA.
• Probably other groups or even countries will learn this lesson and be very cautious not to get trapped into an alliance with the unreliable USA.

All this just to save some Dollars ... a businessman that acts that way will get bankrupt. Oh, Trump did, and had to be rescued by Russian oligarchs. Well, this explains much.

PS: Some count the Iran-Iraq war as the "first gulf war", with this counting I wrote about the second and third gulf war, of course.

 

[Helmut-WK]

Turks are not enemies of Kurds. Kurds and Turks are brothers and sisters. There are millions of Kurdish-Turkish mixed families.

There are tensions between Kurds and Turks. Not between all of them, but e.g. between Erdoğan (Erdoghan) and Kurdish-nationalistic groups like the PKK. Erdoğan and his movement doesn't make much difference between those and other Kurds. See link from Nithavela for more. It doesn't help that a journalist who reported Turkey solding weapons to ISIS was arrested and convicted ... not of defamation, but of betrayal of state secrets!

 

[FreeinChrist]

Trump tweeted. That doesn't mean it is actually happened. The State dept and Defense are not happy.

 

[Douger]

This is very good news. I hope it actually happens this time.

 

[wing2000]

This shouldn't surprise anyone

...by all reports, the abrupt decision surprised the Secretary of Defense, the entire Pentagon and State Department. But hey, who needs those departments when the King can decide from his gut.

 

[wing2000]

...noting all the President's "Generals" are now all but gone from his circle of influence. Flynn, McMaster, Kelly (on the way out) and it increasingly looks like Mattis will be gone soon, or at least ignored.

 

[wing2000]

Trump's Air Carrier moment declaring ISIS is defeated....

Donald J. Trump on Twitter

 

[Allandavid]

Trump's Air Carrier moment declaring ISIS is defeated....

Donald J. Trump on Twitter

I wonder if he told the estimated 20-30,000 Isis fighters that they’ve been defeated...?

 

[Allandavid]

...by all reports, the abrupt decision surprised the Secretary of Defense, the entire Pentagon and State Department. But hey, who needs those departments when the King can decide from his gut.

What an incredible incompetent. One of the most dangerous times for a military force is when they are withdrawing from the field. Only an idiot would announce to his enemies that he is packing up camp...

 

[football5680]

Good. I don't trust our governments motives for being there.

 

[Helmut-WK]

What an incredible incompetent. One of the most dangerous times for a military force is when they are withdrawing from the field. Only an idiot would announce to his enemies that he is packing up camp...

Well, to be fair: It is a difference whether you tell you will leave in the next month or whether you tell the exact date a certain camp will be packed up.

But to declare ISIS defeated and to withdraw from Syria now is like declaring Nazi Germany as defeated and withdraw from Germany in, say, March 1945. It will take at least half a year to defeat ISIS so thoroughly, that a withdrawal makes sense.

 

[mark46]

I wonder if he told the estimated 20-30,000 Isis fighters that they’ve been defeated...?

The estimates are from 2,000-20,000 in Syria.

Trump just wants to pull out. He also is doing a major favor for administration friends in Turkey and Russia.

 

[camille70]

Putin has announced he is pleased with our president o ver this decision, so that's all that matters now.

 

[Kaon]

Trump tweeted. That doesn't mean it is actually happened. The State dept and Defense are not happy.

He is the president now; time to put the phone down and get off of social networks if he is going to post this type of stuff that could have an impact on the world.