Withdrawing from Syria is a grave mistake - Mitch McConnell op-ed

[Ada Lovelace]

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell repudiated Trump's decision to pull back troops from northern Syria, urging the administration to reverse course.

Mitch McConnell: Withdrawing from Syria is a grave mistake

Trump's decision to pull back U.S. troops, paving the way for Turkey's invasion, has sparked a fierce backlash from traditional GOP allies on Capitol Hill, who called it "catastrophic," a "grave mistake" and a "disaster in the making." While Trump has retained a cavalier attitude, the ramifications of his capriciously made decision has already had catastrophic results, much of which cannot be undone. McConnell has stated that privately and publicly he has disagreed with Trump's decision.

Edit:
I posted this farther down but wanted to add it to the OP:
I'm currently taking a course titled Presidential Decision Making in Wartime that analyzes how presidents approach the most consequential matters of war and peace, discusses how presidents oversee military operations once initiated, and considers how presidents can avoid embarking on objectives that are unlikely to succeed at reasonable cost. It is taught by Brett McGurk, the former Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL. He has resoundingly condemned the stunningly capricious decision and the callously cavalier attitude Mr. Trump has maintained towards our allies and innocent civilians caught in this humanitarian crisis.

Brett McGurk, Former Special Envoy For Coalition Fighting ISIS, Weighs In On Syria

 

[Aryeh Jay]

It says a lot about dear old Mitch if THIS is the first mistake he thinks that the President has made.

 

[mkgal1]

Easy for him to say that now (after Turkey has now gained that land because of that decision). Do you think McConnell is just trying to distance himself from Trump in order to not go down with him?

 

[Aryeh Jay]

Easy for him to say that now (after Turkey has now gained that land because of that decision). Do you think McConnell is just trying to distance himself from Trump in order to not go down with him?

I’m sure people will forget how closely entwined they are…

 

[Ada Lovelace]

I'm currently taking a course titled Presidential Decision Making in Wartime that analyzes how presidents approach the most consequential matters of war and peace, discusses how presidents oversee military operations once initiated, and considers how presidents can avoid embarking on objectives that are unlikely to succeed at reasonable cost. It is taught by Brett McGurk, the former Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL. He has resoundingly condemned the stunningly capricious decision and the callously cavalier attitude Mr. Trump has maintained towards our allies and innocent civilians caught in this humanitarian crisis.

Brett McGurk, Former Special Envoy For Coalition Fighting ISIS, Weighs In On Syria

 

[mkgal1]

He has resoundingly condemned the stunningly capricious decision and the callously cavalier attitude Mr. Trump has maintained towards our allies and innocent civilians caught in this humanitarian crisis.

It's awful that so many had to die in order for people to begin to take notice of this. That sounds like an interesting course (with a well-qualified instructor).

 

[Ada Lovelace]

It's awful that so many had to die in order for people to begin to take notice of this. That sounds like an interesting course (with a well-qualified instructor).

It's indescribably awful the suffering inflicted upon our allies, upon innocent civilians. The chaos and disrespect inflicted upon our own military. I could write thousands of words in a treatise of condemnation and still find that to be inadequate. There are no words to convey the level of shame of Donald Trump's actions. To clarify, McConnell is not owned a pat on the back for the op-ed; I was wanting to share what he wrote, not congratulate him for his belated and insufficient action.

Being in this course is the highest privilege of my academic career.

I'm currently taking on midterms and research so I don't have much time to be on here and share what Prof. McGurk has taught us but I very highly recommend reading through his Twitter feed where he's also linked to lengthier discussions. Brett McGurk (@brett_mcgurk) | Twitter

 

[mkgal1]

I’m sure people will forget how closely entwined they are…

You're probably right. My expectations of people have taken a huge dive the last few years - so I don't expect many people to hold much of this in their memory for long.

 

[Not David]

As someone who is taking Political Science I have some questions about the review of the professor:
It seems like he is not against withdrawing from Syria but doing it too soon?
It seems like the goal of the operation was staying there for ISIS, then why is the issue about the Kurds mentioned?
Why is there a problem if it is dealt between President Putin and Erdogan? How does that affect the US?

 

[Go Braves]

Glad Mitch was finally able to find his spine, put it to use.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

Glad Mitch was finally able to find his spine, put it to use.

It is almost as convincing as a murder who finds God after they are caught and convicted.

 

[TLK Valentine]

It says a lot about dear old Mitch if THIS is the first mistake he thinks that the President has made.

It says a lot about the gravity of Donald's blunder if he's finally gotten Mitch to turn on him.

 

[TLK Valentine]

It is almost as convincing as a murder who finds God after they are caught and convicted.

Didn't Chris Rock do a joke on that once?

"When did you find Jesus?"

"Right after the cops found me! They tossed me in the back of the squad car and there he was!"

 

[TLK Valentine]

As someone who is taking Political Science I have some questions about the review of the professor:
It seems like he is not against withdrawing from Syria but doing it too soon?

I would think too soon and with no notice to our own soldiers -- we've literally had to bomb our own base to keep sensitive intel and material out of enemy hands... and there's no way of knowing if we managed to destroy it all.

 

[sdowney717]

Easy for him to say that now (after Turkey has now gained that land because of that decision). Do you think McConnell is just trying to distance himself from Trump in order to not go down with him?

Syrian borders are an artificial construct of Britain, drawn by a ruler.
The map that caused a century of trouble

 

[cow451]

Glad Mitch was finally able to find his spine, put it to use.

It’s probably a rental.