Last week, President Trump shocked many at a rally in Ohio by saying he expected to soon withdraw US troops from Syria. Tuesday, he doubled down on that declaration, telling reporters that he believes “it’s time” for the US to bring the troops home.
Exact timing isn’t clear, but Trump said a decision would come “very quickly,” and that he believes the fight against ISIS is almost complete. He added that he sees Syria as “a tremendous military success” and wants to bring troops back home.
While ISIS has lost materially all of its territory is Syria, and is no longer really the focus of any US operations on the ground, Pentagon and State Department officials have been suggesting for months that the troops would stay, transitioning to new military goals, including regime change.
Trump, however, is arguing that the US has been spending trillions of dollars in the Middle East since 2001, and has gotten nothing except death and destruction to show for it. So while many of the hawks he’s surrounded himself with are pushing back loudly against a pullout for any reason, Trump’s position seems to be a solid one, grounded in financial concerns.
This may be a defining decision for Trump, who has previously suggested his own instinct was to end the Afghan War, only to be talked into further escalation by his cabinet. In Syria, he may finally be standing firm on his own position, as his advisers have been pushing against the pullout for months, and Trump is still publicly in favor of it.
They just added 300 troops and a contingent of French FL. So ………
Time will tell. Trump is known to follow the advice he gets from the last person he has talked to. Let see if he does not receive a phone call from Netanyahu to reverse his pronouncement.
In order to stay, with russian,turk and Syrian forces closing in, would mean thousands of troops, in a terrible logistical situation. Coming soon, is a new status of forces negotiation with Iraq, which likely close the back door. Time to advance to the rear, and demand a peace prize.
Trump lives in a bubble of his own making. He has surrounded himself
with sycophants who only tell him what he wants to hear, while all the
time, Neocons and Zionists are driving us into an impossible “logistical situation” that will only lead to another f-ing war, this time with the Russians. That’s how the world ends, Dave, with a bang after all.
“Trump, however, is arguing that the US has been spending trillions of
dollars in the Middle East since 2001, and has gotten nothing except
death and destruction to show for it.”
To the UniPolar Hyper Power faction that was always a feature, not a bug.
“a tremendous military success” [sic]
After all, voters gave Trump a mandate to declare victory and get out, and he seems to be ahead of Nixon’s pace on Vietnam.
That’s what I’ve been hoping.
Let’s see what “his generals” think about that. Not to mention major-league moron Bolton.
In any case, more power and courage to Trump.
“We’ve defeated ISIS” says Trump.
Hahahahahahahahaha.
He says this while we’re building illegal military bases in Syria.
Is anyone paying attention anymore?
Hardly anyone has been paying attention since Sept 2001. Most are content to pull the covers over their heads, suck their thumbs, and whimper.
Some necessary context. There were 503 US troops in Syria when Trump took office. He increased that to 2,400. It’s now, we are told, at
2,000.
http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/12/06/pentagon-acknowledges-2000-troops-in-syria/
https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/04/03/trump-says-he-wants-us-troops-out-of-syria-quickly/
So. Obama, the commander and chief said he was going to close Guantanamo….. What happened? Same thing will happen here.
Admittedly, Trump is a changeable Guy, with one stated intention one day, followed by a reversal the next day. And then he has at least three sources of information or advice that he listens to: his White House advisors, the cable news networks, his family members, and the folks out there in Trumpland, his base.
We know what his generals will be telling him: more War. We can guess that the cable News programs will be confused, trying to resolve their conflict between pro-trump/anti-trump and pro-war/pro-peace positions. I suspect that his family members will support him in advocating for the Syrian pull-out, and for peace in North Korea, and for talking with Putin. And I suspect that the majority of people out in the country, both Pro- and anti-Trump will enthusiastically support peace on the Korean Peninsula, the Syrian pull-out, and to a lesser extent — considering his and Russia’s prior demonization — the face-to-face discussion with Putin.
Considering Trump’s unpredictability, I guess we’re just going to have to wait and see what happens.
Now Trump says if the Saudis want us to stay in Syria they’ll have to pay. Wonderful. The true Donald shows his colors. He’s not against war, he against war that doesn’t show a profit.