Turkish troops moving into Syria

[Speedwell]

Are we really the only thing that stands between the Kurds and the Turks? How much do we have over there anyway? I'm really sick of all this defensive war stuff. If we are really defending the Kurds from the Turks then let's defend them. Let's bomb the heck out of all the Turks military machine, shoot all their planes out of the sky etc. Let's do this right and really out them out of business. All this "just holding them back" war does is cost us money and American lives. It's dumb.

Shall we withdraw from NATO first?. That way we can fight the European nations who are bound by treaty to come to Turkey's aid with a clear conscience.

 

[Nithavela]

Shall we withdraw from NATO first?. That way we can fight the European nations who are bound by treaty to come to Turkey's aid with a clear conscience.

Germanys not coming to anyones aid, our army has barely enough helicopters to crash them into each other.

 

[Silverback]

Are we really the only thing that stands between the Kurds and the Turks? How much do we have over there anyway? I'm really sick of all this defensive war stuff. If we are really defending the Kurds from the Turks then let's defend them. Let's bomb the heck out of all the Turks military machine, shoot all their planes out of the sky etc. Let's do this right and really out them out of business. All this "just holding them back" war does is cost us money and American lives. It's dumb.

We have about 1000 personnel on the ground, essentially a battalion of infantry, and a supporting six gun battery of artillery. There are also fleet units off the coast.

We are there to help finnish off the Islamic State, not to act as a military buffer to Turkey. That being said, our presence in Syria is a stabilizing factor, and has deterred Turkish adventures in Northern Syria, and keeps the Russians, and Iranians in check.

The Kurds have been with us since 2003, and have paid a very high price in blood.

We should not have given Ankara a green light, and should maintain our role as a stabilizing force in Syria, and unequivocally backed the Kurds.

 

[Nithavela]

If the USA hadn't been the thing holding back turkey, there wouldn't have been a telephone call to begin with.

 

[rjs330]

Shall we withdraw from NATO first?. That way we can fight the European nations who are bound by treaty to come to Turkey's aid with a clear conscience.

I see, so it's either fight a defensive war against allies of european countries, spend billions of dollars and American blood or get out of NATO. Or perhaps we just get out and not spend American Lives and money. Didn't we learn from Vietnam? What's the point of letting Americans die and spending our tax dollars for this?

I say yes, get out of NATO if our options are let Americans get killed for years and stay in NATO but heaven forbid, we can't put an end to it. At some point we have to say enough is enough and if NATO isn't going to do something then we are or we are getting out. One or the two. What's the point of throwing American lives away.

 

[rjs330]

We have about 1000 personnel on the ground, essentially a battalion of infantry, and a supporting six gun battery of artillery. There are also fleet units off the coast.

We are there to help finnish off the Islamic State, not to act as a military buffer to Turkey. That being said, our presence in Syria is a stabilizing factor, and has deterred Turkish adventures in Northern Syria, and keeps the Russians, and Iranians in check.

The Kurds have been with us since 2003, and have paid a very high price in blood.

We should not have given Ankara a green light, and should maintain our role as a stabilizing force in Syria, and unequivocally backed the Kurds.

What are our troops doing there? Are they being killed?

 

[SoldierOfTheKing]

Shall we withdraw from NATO first?. That way we can fight the European nations who are bound by treaty to come to Turkey's aid with a clear conscience.

The Europeans would be no more bound to support Turkey than they were bound to support the US in Vietnam.

We should not have given Ankara a green light, and should maintain our role as a stabilizing force in Syria, and unequivocally backed the Kurds.

The US is not and never was a stabilizing force in Syria. It's aim has always been to undermine the political order in Syria. The villain behind the mess that has engulfed Syria for all these years is not Turkey, Iran or even ISIS...

...it's the US. It was the US overthrow of Saddam Hussein that created the political vacuum in Iraq and the ensuing chaos that spread to Syria. The policy of Washington's bureaucracy - the very ones who are howling bloody murder about Trump's plan to pull out of Syria - have been for years determined to support terrorists aiming to overthrow the Syrian government. For that reason I cannot support any US involvement in Syria whatsoever. The US has nothing to contribute to a resolution of the civil war there. Hence any move to withdraw troops from US troops ought to be welcome under any circumstances.

We are there to help finnish off the Islamic State, not to act as a military buffer to Turkey. That being said, our presence in Syria is a stabilizing factor, and has deterred Turkish adventures in Northern Syria, and keeps the Russians, and Iranians in check.

It was sold to the American people as a fight against ISIS, but were seeing now that's not what it is at all.

 

[Speedwell]

I see, so it's either fight a defensive war against allies of european countries, spend billions of dollars and American blood or get out of NATO. Or perhaps we just get out and not spend American Lives and money. Didn't we learn from Vietnam? What's the point of letting Americans die and spending our tax dollars for this?

You were the one who suggested going to war with Turkey. I was just pointing out the ramifications.

 

[rjs330]

You were the one who suggested going to war with Turkey. I was just pointing out the ramifications.

That's my entire point. Either get out or go all out. There is no logical reason to stay in if we are not all in to defeat the enemy. If allies want help then we need to let them know that we are not going to help unless it means total victory over the enemy in as short a period of time as possible. We let the world know it. We are not going to spend any more American blood anywhere if it doesn't mean we are not going to do what it takes to utterly defeat the enemy. We can use our military might from the air to totally destroy the infrascture and military capabilities of about any country without boots on the ground. Let everyone know we are going to do that if we get involved. If they are not willing then we won't be involved. NATO needs to know this.