Turkey has been a dreadful ally.
1
DT: Oh, golly! My Republican sycophants don’t like this decision. Could I, in my great wisdom, possibly have made a mistake? Never mind, then. But, it did take everyone’s attention away from the impeachment investigations for a day. And I am still the center of attention.
3
Didn't Trump already try this stunt in December 2018?
I guess Putin told Trump in a recent telephone call that he needs to do more to destroy our nation's reputation with allies to whom it promised protection.
3
Now we know that Trump prefers ISIS to the Kurds. Of course he would. Wait until he REALLY seizes power in this country...
Come. On. Democrats.
3
The threat of impeachment seems to be affecting Trump to behave more recklessly than usual - which most of the time is over the top. His claim that withdrawing troops out of Syria and endorsing dictator Erdogan is putting America first is so bogus when in reality it's putting America last. What ally will trust us from here on out?
How far does he have to take down our democracy plus continue to erode our Constitution before the GOP Senate
wakes up and chooses country over party?
6
Trump: " if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!).”
I have to wonder exactly how many Kurdish ally deaths finally crosses the line of "being off limits"?
6
When Trump acts in a contrarian fashion, the ole 1976 movie "All the President's Men" should always be invoked:
"Follow the money".
7
As another commentator said on another article, W.W.P.W. What Would Putin Want? That is what the Present Man in Office will do.
5
Here is a sensible suggestion. Cuba would like to see America leave Guatamno Bay vacated by America. America could declare Guatamno Bay, a Refugee Republic and settle the 2000 foreign fighters there. Just a thought.
I don’t think we need any more prove to impeach Trump. Most of his policies benefit our adversaries or enemies and harm our loyal supporters.I am not quite sure if this is because of his ignorance or is it by design.
4
The Kurds have been fighting for years to achieve autonomy and the Turks have fought them for as long. In giving Erdogan permission to go after them, he is ordering their destruction. And this is after the Kurds were the primary fighters against ISIS. Trump does it again. Loyalty goes only one way.Leopards don't change their spots.
7
Whether at home or abroad, Trump policies have one clear goal: do whatever Trump wants. Regardless of cost to former allies, long-term strategies, or the best interests of American citizens.
1217
But, who’s telling Mr. Trump what he ‘wants?’ He doesn’t appear to me to have the strategic geopolitical skillset to know what he wants.
As an aside, what happens to Kurdish interpreters and partners?
On a personal level, if someone makes me a promise, then not only drops me but leaves me hanging, I cross them off my Christmas card list. Forever.
76
@itsmildeyes I think the Kurds’ problems are far more serious than Christmas Card lists!!
17
@Hey Now Now the problem is not the goal, but the consequences and those consequences are summed up in one word : death.
Death for thousands and thousands of innocents.
43
The solution is to have NATO handle it. (I'll pause here while those of you who don't get the snark can google the list of NATO nations.)
Once again, we can appreciate George Washington's comment about avoiding entangling alliances. When NATO was composed of only western democracies and was a bulwark against only the Soviet Empire, it made sense. But now the Soviet Union is gone but NATO has not only not been been disbanded, but it has expanded into countries which are only useful in entangling it (and us) in other people's wars. From a NATO stand point, Trump was only doing what is right by a fellow member state. Unfortunately for greater Kurdistan, it is not a member state.
We should have gotten out of NATO long ago. We should have gotten out the day after the red flag came down off the Kremlin.
6
@Thucydides
The Soviet Union lives on in the mind and machinations of Vladimir Putin. Reasonable people can debate whether it was wise to expand NATO to include the eastern regions of the European continent but disbandment of NATO would have been exactly what Putin and his ilk wanted.
6
@Thucydides The Soviet Union was a substantial threat to Western democracies for its entire existence, but it was a lumbering, failing, predictable threat. The day the red flag came down (as you put it) the Soviet threat was replaced by a more dangerous threat to Western democratic values and stability which, under the arch-kleptocrat Putin, has become significantly less predictable, more agile and less containable. The threat is then increased exponentially by the leverage that Putin appears to have over the current incumbent of the White House, leverage which threatens all the members of NATO.
The US may yet need its allies.
4
Wouldn't mind seeing you leave, if this is the reliability the US has for its partners. Then again, maybe judging your country by its leaders actions is not the best idea, as is taking your comment seriously.
1
At present, the US Commander-in-Chief is an inept moron, who has strategic or tactical capabilities. He moves illogically and ineptly. He has no moral convictions nor does he care how many people die as the result of his instability. Only the US Congress has the power to wage war. Why aren't they stopping this nut? If Trump lets the Turks kill all the Kurds, will Trump next pull us out of South Korea?
2
This surprise decission by Trump, to unitaterally withdraw U.S. forces from Syria, leaveing our Allies the Kurds subject to attack by Turkey, leads me to think this may be one more "Quid Pro Quo" this time between Trump amd Erdogan? The shadow diplomacy of Trump and Pompeo needs to be seriously investigated. It would not surprise if Sondlund and Guilliani might be involved in this too. Regardless, this is another blow to our National Security, and a blow to American crediability.
1
The WH has to do a better job at keeping their phones away from their little baby so da liddle baby can't go talking to da big world leaders. A little bit parental oversight, please!
1
This is the First Decision since he became POTUS that I agree with. I thought he was incapable of learning. I still hope we will get rid of him in 2020.
1
The Armenian Genocide revisited on the Khurds! With Trump's imprimator, however, the blood is on America's hands in this instance.
Ever since Putin, Erdogan and Rouhani met in Nov. 2017 this writing has been on the wall. Indeed, they openly conspired again in April 2018 and Sept 2019, without so much as a murmur of opposition or media light.
Some even suspect that the recent Iranian aggression in Saudi Arabia was a cover for Trump who has endorsed the division of Iraq among Turkey, Syria and Iran. A quid pro quo for Russia and Putin for meddling on Trump's behalf.
The press ignored it, the Democrats buried their heads, and the Republicans quaked at the thought of challenging the nazi in their midst.
Well....now you've got a holocaust in the making.
Vichy, the bunch of you. Sic semper tyrannis!
Vichy Republican's are the worst traitors including: McConnell, Graham, Hatch, Cotton, Perdue, Paul, Gaetz, Nunes, DeSantis, Collins, McCarthy, Meadows, Ryan, Sessions, Christie, Rubio, Hunter, Marino, DesJarlais, Reed, Elmers, Barletta, Cramer, Shuster, Miller, Duncan, Palazzo, Zeldin, Trott, King, Burr, Issa, Walden, Zinke, Jordan, Babin, Chabot, Conaway, Hensarling, Price, Smith, Carter, Stutzman, Yoho, Farenthold, Fischer and that imbecile, Gohmert.
This whole lot needs to be ousted.
Treason, Traitor, Trump.
6
Putin’s Puppet, Trump, continues to implement their plan to convert the world to the fiefdoms of dictators, each free to exploit the majority of their people, reward their foolish backers so long as they are useful, bully weaker nations, joyously wallow in their riches and cheering sycophants, and ignore the consequences to humanity’s future. Just as Trump is allowing the destruction of the Kurds, he will ignore Barr and McConnell as soon as they are no longer useful to him, and he will ignore his voters as soon as he declares elections as fake, and he will limit rewards to only his armed white supremacists showing him the same loyalty that the Nazis gave to Hitler. Of course, wounded or retired Nazis will face the same absence of healthcare and Social Security as the rest of our population.
May the voters in November, 2020, save us all by electing Democrats so overwhelmingly that Putin’s Puppet will be unable to carry out his plans!
2
Shameless betrayal again of the Kurds. And signing off on Erdogan who is also cozying up to Putin, This stinks,
Trump, coward, liar and untrustworthy,
America now coward, liar and untrustworthy,
How much more are we to take or allow?
5
Of course Trump would not do this just to distract from the second whistlerblower.
Divide our country into warring camps.
Dump our most steadfast allies.
Trump is destroying America and everything we stand for.
Exactly as Putin wants.
Trump = Treason.
4
"President Endorses Turkish Military Operation in Syria, Shifting U.S. Policy"........
Just whose side is Donald Trump on?………..
Someone please take President Trump out to a military cemetery - especially Arlington National Cemetery -- have him look at the row upon row of white marble grave stones, ask forgiveness and repeat the following:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Officeof President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
1
Why would any ally now trust the US? What a betrayal of the Kurds. Once again, Traitor Trump does Putin's bidding
2
The only rationale that could be behind this move, from the little dictator's predictable, despotic machinations is that Erdogan is the kind of autocrat that trump is jealous of. What is Turkey's dictator-wanna-be doing for America's dictator-wanna-be behind the scenes? Is there real estate deals for Kushy here? Of all groups to throw under the bus, he targets the Kurds who have fought so hard to contain and stop Bush and Cheney's illegitimate child, ISIS. Trumpty Dumpty best not underestimate the Kurds. They will not forget that he just gave them the middle finger, and no matter what prison he ends up in, they will not soon forget him or his vile family of grifters.
2
The President of the USA is a man who tweeted today, “As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!)"
This man is beyond unwell. This is a full-blown breakdown of the mental capacities. For the sake of world peace, you Amaricans have to remove him from office, and fast!
8
Boy, we really need to see those tax returns...DJT is going all out to advance Putin's agenda...something smells bad, really rotten.
2
Typical Trump. Once you have nothing he needs you are tossed under a bus. Or maybe something more sinister..... I wonder has Turkey promised to find dirt on Biden?
The Kurds fought Isis like demons and as a result we did not have to send as many troops. Now this ignorant President simply pulls the rug out and opens the door to his dictator friend to attack them. What a betrayal and so typical of the pathetic human Trump is. Who would ever believe the USA again? It's so shameful. Our credibility is at zero.
2
And yet again our so-called president allies himself with a wanna be dictator over the advice of the military & intelligence agencies of our country! Perhaps all of them (Putin, Duarte, Kim Jong Um, etc.) have promised to come to his aid when he is ousted in the U.S.! Scary thought!!!
I too was deployed in OIF and the Kurds are the only sane actors in the entire area! Fierce, loyal fighters. Not at all the religious fanatics that surrounded us daily. The Turks have been trying to exterminate them for many a year and they just may get their chance now. I was sickened when I heard the news.
It's as if the goons of the world are pushing their 'wish lists' upon POTUS because they know his time may be up and they will never have this chance again in their lifetimes - a simpleton in the WH to do their bidding for a few favors, a few trinkets.
3
This is just another ploy to take Americans’ mind and the press from focusing on the impeachment inquiry. When will this conman run out of ploys to deceive the Americans and wake up his base to seeTrump for what he is, a conman and liar, unfit to lead this country.
The only one that benefits from this asinine shift in American policy in Syria is Russia.
Donald J. Trump must have gotten his marching orders from Putin. There is no other sensible reason to describe this farce! Where are our military Generals and what were their recommendations to Trump?
1
Unbelievable.....unbelievable.... without Kurds the world would have still been fighting ISIS... It is a shameful deed.
It is stabbing in the back of your friend when he was fighting for you. The Turkish government is thirsty of Kurdish people's blood. They want them out of the region. They will do what they did to Armenians... another genocide. And the US government will watch quietly... or better sell weopens to Turks and make money out of another innocent people's genocide. Yet another shameful act of this president.
1
This is not the first time the US has left the Kurds hanging. They are simply pawns to be used in the minds of various US administrations. This time it is worse because...well. because Trump!
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/02/world/middleeast/kurds-syria-turkey.html
1
Too bad Kurds have no place to build a hotel.
2
SDF is detaining, without much help from outside, ca 60'000 hardcore ISIS prisoners, more radicalised everyday they spend in the cauldron of huge camps. The incentive to get rid of them, without further ado is now great and this release will be a tremendous resurgence of the ISIS power of nuisance. Unbelievable shot into the US foot.
2
Hmmm, let’s see, who besides Erdogan will be happy with this decision? Are his initials V.P.?
1
The hats that Trump supporters should be really wearing are MRGA, Make Russia Great Again, or MPGA, Make Putin Great Again, hats.
ANOTHER dictator befriended, ANOTHER ally thrown under the bus.
Trump's sad presidency is now just a big bonfire now.
The dozens of fires he set are consuming him.
The Syrian/Turk/Kurd/Putin fire just exploded. It's a bonfire, and the flames will be licking the USA long after the Buffoon-in-Chief is gone.
Abandoning our best allies in the Middle East, when they hold 10,000 ISIS fighters and run a camp of 70,000 ISIS sympathizers?
Trump has made some dumb moves, sure, but National Security wise, this is the worst by far.
3
Thank goodness there was never a genocide of Armenian Turks in from 1914-1923. One and a half million murdered by the Turkish State. Now it’s the Kurds turn. Turkey would murder all of them to prevent a Kurdish State. Will the world step in once this massacre begins? The USA certainly will not. We have abrogated our Super Power status by having a Russian Stooge as President. Questing. Maybe the Kurds beat the Turks. They are fighting for their lives, their families and their culture. More shame to this bogus administration.
3
Most untrustworthy nation.....The US
2
Who said bipartisanship is dead in America?
When it comes to keeping the US War Machine going everyone seems to agree.
Despite all of Trump’s faults — and there are major faults –he gets credit for his reticence to fully deploy the imperialist machine and his desire for a rapprochement of sorts with Moscow; two virtues he should be cautiously lauded for. These relatively peaceful positions of his are his unforgivable sins in the eyes of the militarist-imperialist ruling class.
Comparing the two timelines between Obama and Trump: at this exact point in time, Obama was about six months into fully annihilating Libya, turning that nation into a miserable failed state. Trump has yet (yet, who knows what’s coming down the road? Marcus, Singer and Adelson may still be able to muscle him to bomb Tehran) to do anything nearly as grotesque as the Hillary-Biden-Obama rape of Libya.
It’s fascinating that the current Ukraine-impeachment imbroglio immediately jumped into the mass media right after Trump refused to bomb Iran and fired Bolton — a committed war hawk who’s dedicated to the most bloodthirsty wing of the Zionist power configuration and Washington military machine.
"In a major shift in United States military policy in Syria, the White House said on Sunday that President Trump had given his endorsement for a Turkish military operation that would sweep away American-backed Kurdish forces near the border in Syria."
In a related story President Erdoğan of Turkey proudly announced the redevelopment of Hagia Sophia to be known henceforth as Trump Hagia Sophia Hotel And Casino.
1
Trump himself admitted in 2015 that he may have a bit of a conflict of interest. How low have we sunk as a country?
Also some fun facts:
From Twitter: "Thank you Prime Minister Erdogan for joining us yesterday to celebrate the launch of #TrumpTowers Istanbul!" Ivanka wrote in April 2012. The construction—made up of two conjoined towers—is one of seven current Trump Towers locations.
Also from last year:
“The Justice and Development Party [AKP] government should seize Trump Towers,” he said in a statement on Aug. 2, referring to the Turkish franchise of Trump Towers located in a commercial district of Istanbul.
“The AKP should also halt the $11 billion passenger plane purchase from the U.S.,” the statement said.
I almost feel sorry for Lindsey Graham today. He made his Trump bed. Now he's got to watch while Turkey exterminates Kurds.
Siding with another tyrant. Wonder what he's getting for it?
once again, we shaft the people who support us and fawn over the people who undermine us
1
In exchange for what, DJT? Pax, jb
In totally unrelated news, Turkey provides evidence of Biden wrongdoing.......
1
Why do we have to referee every dispute that goes back centuries? Every time we get involved keeping two warring sides apart we fail to solve the conflict and things go from bad to worse. It's time we stepped back and the Turks and the Kurds fight their own battles. No more putting American boots on the ground.
This action by Trump shows clearly he is unable to act as a leader. His removal from office cannot come too soon. Yes, the American forces accomplished very little of lasting value in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. They do not understand how their inability to comprehend the complexity of this geographic area has trapped them in this situation.
1
Trump has successfully destroyed our alliances around the world in less than three years. My uncle lived with the Kurds while building the first telecommunications lines across the region. They remained family friends for life.
What did Erdogan promise Trump for him to sell out the very people who helped defeat ISIS - another tower over Istanbul? And isn’t this exactly what Putin wants?
We will never recover from this betrayal.
4
Getting out of Syria shows sanity.
US military and its mercenaries/contractors should never have been involved in Syria.
Trump campaigned on bringing the troops home.
His voters and many other citizens want the troops home.
What right does the US have to be in Syria.
Russia and Iran were invited by Assad to defend Syria from the US attempt to take over.
ISIS was essentially created by the US as a reaction to the US invading Iraq.
Secretary of State John Kerry admitted in a leaked audio that the US thought ISIS would be useful in ousting Assad.
[google John Kerry leaked audio]
Now ISIS has metastisized around the globe due to US actions.
The US and the countries involved need to talk with ISIS and find some common ground and calm.
Everyone has gotten addicted to the thrill of the fight.
Reality has proven the US can't "win", but it is wasting tax dollars that the US desperately needs for domestic uses.
In this area sleazy, racist Trump is the sane one!
The Establishment, the Washington Foreign Policy Establishment and the Military Industrial Complex have wanted to depose Trump from the moment he was elected, fearing he really would "bring our troops home" and have too much willingness to find ways to get along with countries the US Establishment, MIC et al intend to dominate, with US interests ruling the world.
The Kurds need to resolve their issues with Assad, hopefully bargaining support for Assad in return for some autonomy.
Cheers to Trump's audacity and courage!
The Republicans are commenting about the withdrawal of troops from Syria. But, the Republican's won't be able to site reports from intelligence department since they have complained about the CIA and the FBI. You can't pick and choose what reports you like, or don't like, especially since the reports they don't like report Trump's abuses. It's time for the Republicans to say whether they believe in our intelligence agencies, or not. If they do believe in our intelligence agencies then say so with one American voice, or start getting your information from Ukraine and China. Some people need to step up and support America.
2
Why is the world so surprised that Donald (draft-dodging Trump) has ONCE AGAIN shown our faithful and trusting allies just how undependable and untrustworthy he actually is?
There is no telling what kind of incentive (bribe) the Turks promised to pay him to shamelessly betray our trusted allie and loyal partner the Kurds.
2
This is what happens when we have a president who doesn't have a clue about history, or Middle East complexities. He is so easily lead around by the nose, by strongmen, dictator types that he yearns to impress. Our weak president wants so badly to prove to these tough guys that he's tough too, he's become their patsy. I don't know what Trump understands other than what Trump needs.Trump doesn't understand loyalty is a two way street and abandoning the Kurds to almost certain death is an abomination. Without the Kurds many more Americans could have died. Yes, I know this cooperation also benefitted the Kurds, but we shouldn't make promises we refuse to keep. I don't have an answer to the turmoil in Syria. I do know that the USA should not betray its commitments as it would tell the world we are not trustworthy. What happens if we need help or others to stand by us?
4
For the "patriotic" Republicans defending the Iraq war: It's great to see you supporting the naked betrayal of one of the only parties that was rightfully grateful for the intervention, and perhaps the only semi-progressive Muslim culture in the Middle East, so that the President can try to change the subject in the current news headlines. This is certainly better than if Hill had won, what with Benghazi, pizzagate, email servers, and what not.....
2
Wowo, is Trump stepping back from this decision due to Republicans out cray? Will he reverse by this evening?
Seeing the picture of Turkish army's fearsome three long barrel artility pieces, first thought to my mind is that the Kurds really need to immediately start an investigation on Biden's sons and daughters so they can get some Javelins.
7
that is pure and simple cowardly betrayal of the force that brought down ISIS! The US can't be trusted anymore! the US is selling out its partners! Get out of the Middle East and Europe!!!
4
This is reprehensible, abandoning longstanding allies. Trump yearns for the approval of despot Putin, endangering the world. There are no adults, no rational, diplomatic people in the Oval Office — he is unfit and erratic, proving it on a daily basis. Trump is incapable of envisioning a future beyond his own selfish, narcissistic needs.
4
He’s doing anything to take attention away from his impeachment! He’s a criminal!! Hiding his taxes etc. he needs to be brought to justice!!’
2
One way or the other, Donald Trump is going to find a way to appease Vladimir Putin.
3
If anyone had any doubts as to this country being run by a mad despot, wonder no more
5
Making America Great Again- what a ridiculous lie.
3
This is a win win!
Trump sees better business in Istanbul. And his boss Putin takes Syria.
2
This ignorant man strikes again at reason and decency, catering to another favorite dictator. He has no world vision supporting US foreign policy and listens to no one. What havoc he continues to employ. Where are the decent republicans? Vote him out Nov/2020.
4
Bush Poppy left the Kurds high and dry after Desert Storm. Now this. We will have another deadly foe with a grudge. Congratulations.
3
So Trump's parting gift to President Warren will be the third coming of ISIS.
2
It is possible that Trump's decision to hang the Kurds out to dry has more to do with his 2020 re-election and little with the US policy in ME.
We have seen him on the news these days. He appears unhinged: the way he reacts to questions; the way he screams at journalists. The man is obviously all consumed by the prospects of losing the 2020 election and must be thinking about that every second of the day. After all, to a narcissist there is nothing more devastating than public humiliation of an overwhelming defeat (i.e. rejection by all).
My guess is that someone has shown Mr. Trump an election poll indicating he is way behind Biden and others. Then he must have concluded that his unpopularity must be due to his administration failure to fulfil his election promises - it is never his failure, as he is always "perfect". In short, he is behind for his promises to fix the health care problem, immigration, border wall, or bringing back US soldiers home, are not kept.
Clearly Mr. Trump attributes his 2016 election victory to the intervention of few foreign countries. So his first instinct was to go to that well again - by asking Ukraine, Australia, and China interfere in 2020 election. But the House managed to block that route quickly. So, now he wants to fulfill his promises on his own. The one decision he has free-hand on is ordering the US military out of Syria. That is what he is doing, regardless of consequences for the US national security or the US reputation.
2
Why People Are Apathetic And Perhaps
Should Be, For Example:
I feel morally that the Kurdish people ought not
be abandoned, though I realize the Turks are still of
NATO, and so DJT has another dilemma, but am semi comforted that I am not having to
decide any thing about dynamic politics.
With the exception of Korea, we have essentially abandoned every former ally who fought for “our interests” since the end of WW II. Good to have in our corner when it was convenient, but easily disposed of when it became too troublesome.
I assisted with the removal of US personnel from both Phnom Penh and Saigon in 1975. We left behind many former military and civilian “allies” to die. That anyone trusts us to live up to our commitments is beyond belief, especially given current circumstances in Washington.
4
Are we in a fantasy world? We back both sides, but allow one to attack the other? How can this end well?
Mr. Trump, who obviously has learned nothing about the military during his years in office, is playing both sides against each other. It makes no sense.
We must hope that the impeachment inquiry goes fairly quickly so that we can remove Trump sooner rather than later. If he is not removed, he will be further emboldened.
1
At first it doesn't makes sense then I thought... It is the Art of Deal the US government will give Turkey what they bargain for. So that the US can impose bigger sanctions on Venezuela. Remember as a right now Turkey is one of the few governments that are helping Venezuela.
@El Santo As a Venezuelan, I hope your speculative reasoning has some grip. You cannot expect anything from this man (Trump): many words and little action!
A successful Kurdish nation will help keep us out of the Middle East for a long time. Worth our time and support now. A future with Turkey, Iran, and Russia calling the shots? Big trouble.
3
General Mattis, resigned his position in the Trump Administration over the issue of withdrawing American forces from Syria, and the abandonement of our Allies in the region. The Kurds, have been the largest and strongest Allies in the region. They have done all the heavy lifting with our limited support to drive the ISIS fighters out of Iraq and back into Syria. The Kurds, suffered the largest casualties in those fights. Make no mistake about it, ISIS is not totally defeated. Even though they have lost most of the terroritory they had occupied, due in large part to the Kurdish fighters.
Turkey, has long considered Kurds to be terrorists. Many Kurds once resided in Turkish Armenia. Shortly after WWI, Turkey attacked the Armenians, and the Kurds that lived there, leading to the Armenian genocide, forceing many Armenian families to flee to the West, and Kurds to flee into Iraq and Syria.
The Kurds are literally fighting for their lives and have been doing so since WWI. They suffered gas attacks from Saddam Hussein. Attacks from Turkish forces. Attacks from Iranian forces during the Iraq and Iran war. They are an Indpendentent people, that in my opinion deserve their own country in both parts of Iraq, Syria and Turkey. They will fight for it and we are abandoning them again. Shame on U.S.. This BETRAYAL of them, will never be forgiven by them, and without them, the U.S. will loose a large part of our influence in Iraq, as well.
3
The message to potential allies in future conflicts is clear: Think twice. We need you for a while, then we will let you down and support your enemies.
2
Did all those U.S. forces come down with a bad case of bone spurs at once? I didn’t know that bone spurs were contagious. This is a complete betrayal of the Kurds who fought Saddam with us. The U.S., I should say Trump, can’t be trusted.
3
Question is, Trump getting a deal from Erdogan, such as building a hotel in Istanbul or Ankara financed partly by the Turkish government? Good deal.
2
We should trust our generals even after they got us into Vietnam
Korea
Syria
Iraq
...
btw, Condi proclaimed we should stay in the Middle East til the job is done. Even if it takes another 18 years. Hey, she pointed out -- the Korean War hasn't ended.
1
For further quagmire in Middle east.
Erdogan is as clueless as Trump.
Turkey has a small land piece inside Syria since WWI, it is considered very sentimentally important.
However, Erdogan's dream of resurrecting Ottoman hegemony in the region ended losing even that small piece of land.
Trump is right to leave the fate of the region to regionals, but they do not have any clue how to do it either.
Only Russia has experience and power structure, the rest of the regional countries understanding their neighbors is not better than a fish understands the scuba device.
For that good luck.
Mayhem is awaiting as usual.
1
Why is Trump being allowed to unilaterally make military decisions that will enable genocide of the Kurds? Are there absolutely no controls on our authoritarian dictator? Is there no crime against humanity that he can't commit with impunity?
3
If the US wages war with Turkey, who will NATO support?
'Mr. I Demand Your Loyalty' shows that he, as a representative of the USA, has none. I wonder what Trump's backers will say for themselves after they discover (or should they ever realize) that they are on the wrong side of history once again. Trump has discarded the Kurds, you know the people who Saddam Hussein gassed? The same group of people who other presidents have allied with in our supposed War Against Terror. It's another disgusting turn of events by this president.
1
As with most US “wars”, it is not about the winning or losing, it is about the vast sums we get to waste trying.
Stop the insanity.
1
A bone-spur strategy worthy of a bone-spur strategist.
One the other hand: "Plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." -- -- - D. D. Eisenhower
1
This is exactly why no one trust the US.
3
Was this the quid pro quo that secured Erdogan's silence regarding the Saudi's brutal murder of Jamaal Khashoggi?
2
To stab a vital Allie in the back as the coward Donald J. Trump has done as our president is unconscious-able and a stain to all Americans. Once again “The Donald” has broken our once trusted word of gold as he did with the Iran Nuclear Deal.
A very sad day for America indeed if he doesn’t reverse course and change his mind to defend the Kurds as we have promised. Add another item to his many investigations of what under the table deal Trump has with Erdogan!
Shameful!
1
This article only reconfirms the Worldwide reputation of the United States as a treacherous ally certain to abandon the field when needed most. Donald Trump has also reconfirmed his preferred ‘strong relationship’ with the most bloodthirsty tyrants & despots in the World - North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, Phillipines’ Rodrigo Duterte, Saudi Arabia’s Prince Salman, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Turkey’s Reccip Erdogan... In freely choosing Donald Trump as their President, the American people have exposed their darkest side to the Democracies of the World.
Abandoning the Kurds is a disgraceful betrayal.
2
Let me not be the last to point out that the only motivation of President Trump which makes sense of why he would so cavalierly and cynically abandon the Kurds as allies is that Vlady wants it to secure his Syrian satrap.
Vlady, of course, reminded The Donald that he could forget about Trump Towers in Moscow, St. Petersburgh, and all the little Stahns if he did not get out of the way of that Nobel Peace Prize candidate, Erdogan.
Also the suggestion by Vlady that the pictures to back up the Steele Dossier would be inconveniently mailed to the New York Times -- and Penthouse! -- was no doubt a clarifying moment for The Manchurian Candidate in Chief.
2
Such a joke that he sees himself as being wise in any way.
If you ever had any doubts about trump’s pathological narcissism...
“As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!),”
Strongly suggest reading George Conway piece in the Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/10/george-conway-trump-unfit-office/599128/
2
Once again, Putin benefits. He has long wanted the US out of Syria, and to show the US as an unreliable ally, a paper tiger not to be taken seriously on the world stage, and Trump as an easily manipulable fool. Trump’s kowtowing to Erdogan also raises the question: so what is the quid pro quo here? what did Trump get from Erdogan in return?
3
Strongest ally of USA in Middle East has always been Turkey. But USA made a big mistake of supporting bunch of Kurdish terrorists against the second largest army in NATO. So Trump is correcting that mistake. Without Turkey, USA stands zero chance against Iran, ZERO CHANCE!!!!!!!!!
@Carlos Keep smoking. Turkey is a friend of Iran. And never has been an ally. Turkey is a mass terrorist and genocider.
Along with the shiny new hard-right wing Supreme Court now open and ready to sweep away all of your precious progressive values, you can also add betrayal and genocide to your “eew, I just don’t like her/waah, the DNC was mean to Bernie/meh, they’re both the same” vote against Hillary, you third-party/stay at home voters.
Both Bush and Obama supported the Kurds and Clinton was on record as continuing their policy too. But instead, you voted for this and I will never forgive you.
Selling out foreign policy just to get a single weekly news cycle away from impeachment.
1
If you are all so worried about human rights and Kurdish people's freedom, why don't you accept some of 3.5 Million Syrian refugees (some of them are also Kurds) whom Turkey has been boarding, feeding and educating, to your own countries and show your HUMANITY!
As usual, as always, acting in favor of other dictators.
America, please make impeachment happen and make it quick.
1
Again, our president supports our enemies over our allies. In his ads he claims to be a “tough guy”, but he’s really just a coward who believes that the bullies rule.
No surprise here. Trump is loyal to nobody that doesn't actively line his pockets. Lindsey Graham will tweet his objections along with the other Republican traitors, but in the end he will do nothing to protect the Kurds not to mention our country from this evil, corrupt and treacherous illegitimate President.
1
This fraud and his traitorous regime have spent almost three years dismantling OUR government, breaking OUR laws, stacking OUR courts with political hacks, and destroying OUR longtime alliances, all while cozying up to murderous dictators and rogue regimes.
Putin couldn't have done a better job of destroying America if he was sitting in OUR White House himself.
And our Republican "representatives" disgracing OUR congress sit on the sidelines and cheer.
We did the same to Hungary and in the Bay of Pigs. America is an unreliable ally. Trump has proven that in spades.
1
That our foreign policy hinges on the deranged, uniformed, and probably compromised interests of a tiny cabal of people is asinine. I want to know in whose interests this administration is acting. And the first step is to understand how beholden trump is to Russian money.
1
In all things Trump, just follow the money trail!
2
Long overdue! Finally there is an understanding in the White House that it is not "Kurds", but rather the terrorist organization YPG that America supported all these years.
You cannot back one terrorist organization (YPG) in the fight against another terrorist organization (ISIS). Both are TERRORIST! Both should be eliminated.
Payback for an ill advised tweet over the weekend regarding Bahceli?
And when Turkey invokes article 5 of the NATO treaty, when SDF attacks over the border, what then? Will Tush Trump drop some daisy cutters on our former Kurdish allies?
Wasn't there another former US ally who, when the US no longer supported him, began plans to attack the US? What was his name... oisama, Usama..
How long before the Euphrates Volcano gathers Asian carp to distribute in the US Great Lakes?
The president believes everyone who is not a US government official. Putin, MBS, Kim Jong-un, Erdogen. It is like we elected an enemy. It's great that the GOP loves these despots as well. Half a nation of traitors who love dictators and hate democracy and our allies. These are not very fine people.
2
When I read some of the comments here I have to wonder if the Times reader’s hatred of Trump have caused them to lose all sense of reason. What would you have us do, engage in war with Turkey? IMHO, war with Turkey is not on the agenda, isn’t war against Iran the target?
Kurds/Syria has no oil! Get it?
1
Notice how Putin always wins whatever Trump does? Trump is a Putin puppet. To be clear our President is Putin’s puppet and Republicans are just fine with that.
3
Under the rule of the loathsome Trump, no one, not even allies, can trust the US.
I can only wonder how much cash Erdogan put in Trump's bank account to get the UY to abandon the Kurds. Shame.
2
King Trump decides whatever he wants. What’s your excuse for this one, Republicans?
2
Lindsey Graham’s chickens are coming home to roost. How much longer will the Republicans allow this infantile colossus of ignorance to sabotage US foreign relations? Or is it simply that Erdogan has something on Biden?
1
This decision: shameful, embarrassing, disgraceful, sickening and unforgivable.
1
The Kurds have been the most steadfast allies we have had in these last 20 years of war in the Middle East and now Trump stabs them in the back? Unbelievable! Nothing like proving to the world that our word is worthless. This reckless, ignorant, betrayal is yet another reason why Trump needs to be removed from office immediately. The damage his 2+ years of infamy have inflicted on our National reputation will take decades to recover from - if possible at all. What a fool!
7
It really is this kind of foreign policy deceptive behavior that is constantly and consistently hurting our reputation abroad. Our government's behavior, from either political party, has be un-trustworthy for a great part of the last 50 years. We are going to abandon an ally, but even worse: approve the behaviour of what is an inspiring theocracy. We are going to ditch the only true ally we had in the region and align with with an unofficial dictator that Erdogan is.
How incredibly stupid and blind! Shame on us!
1
Hey, totalitarian strong men have gotta stick together!
3
He's losing it, cracking under the impeachment pressure. Time to get him out before he does something really super stupid.
1
Headline in Haaretz, a progressive Israeli newspaper: "As Far as Trump Is Concerned, the Kurds Have Done Their Job and Now Can Go to Hell." Israelis tend to be blunt but this headline is simply direct. Trump has taken action, once again, that brings shame to the USA. But it seems that "birds of a feather flock together," in this case, would-be dictators in what appear to be democracies. We probably can't blame Stephen Miller (portrayed as a snake in a recent Saturday Night skiit) so I guess we'll have to hold Mike Pompeo co-responsible for this one.
3
Very well. Best of luck to our Kurdish partners--remember your training and victories--you are the better force here. Give them hell.
1
“Trump distraction syndrome”, but this idiotic version will cost lives possibly including U.S. military personal when they have to go back in to clean up again. This time they will have a bigger target than before for this policy change in Syria will create more new enemies. This is what happens and the price that will be paid when we have a draft dodger as our president with no experience and is a coward. The only thing it seams that matters is the almighty dollar and what’s in it for him and his family. Human lives be damn. Disgraceful!
2
Good move mr trump. Distract distract distract. Let’s keep our eye on the impeachment balls.
1
Why exactly do we have a Congress if it seems like one person gets to make all the important decisions with zero oversight?
17
This will definitely cost Trump the active duty vote. They have this thing called loyalty, something Trump only has to himself.
10
Whatever actually led to this decision, it's important to note that the President of The United States is receiving direct cash payments from Trump Tower Istanbul and has a financial incentive to stay on Erdogan's good side.
12
@Austin Degitz clearly worth investigating
1
It's increasingly clear that there is no coherent policy -- foreign or domestic -- in the Trump Administration beyond helping those countries that serve his personal agenda. The incoherence will only increase along with his impeachment meltdown.
It's sad to see we are no longer the trustworthy champion of the underdog.
I'm waiting for the day when Trump finds his agenda in conflict with his supporters and he turns on them. -- thegamesmenplay.com
6
It would almost seem like Trump wants ISIS to gather strength so that he can scare the American public into supporting him. At this point, with the Kurds as an example of what it means to be a U.S. ally, it will appear that no country in the world can count on the U.S.
8
This is a specious argument, and typical of the utter cynicism that has allowed the Great Pumpkin's ad hoc decisions and Twitter pronouncements to pass as a foreign policy doctrine.
True enough, the United States has, in the recent and not so recent past, been entangled in misguided adventures to "make the world safe', whether for Democracy or for large oil companies. However, as the cornerstone of NATO, we waged a cold war for nearly 50 years against an adversary intent on imposing its authoritarian ideology around the world. The measure of success of this engagement is that most of Europe today is constituted by Western-style democracies.
At the same time, what the future holds-- the rise of strongmen, from Putin to Erdogan and Assad-- is foreshadowed by the abdication of American leadership in support of democratic institutions. To argue that, because our motives have not always been pure, we should disengage from actively promoting freedom throughout the world is the equivalent of abandoning the ideal itself.
5
While Turkey may deserve a safe zone, esp if it functions as humanitarian corridor, the US betrayal of the Kurds is a shame that will echo in history especially if we do not guarantee them safety and rights to their lands, esp after all they have dont to defeat ISIS. Trump's way of dealing with authoritarian leaders is profoundly undemocratic and a great recruiting tool for extremism of all sorts. I hope military women and men, esp veterans, will raise their voices in concern.
6
Betrayal, a breach of trust, is a central stance in the policies of this White House.
Mutual trust among comrades is an essential element of battlefield success.
Forces can react to betrayal in unforeseen ways.
4
The leverage over the world regional politics which US established post WWII is dead and gone.
This was started in fact very subtle during Clinton administration, but G.W.Bush unsuccessful Iraq mission sealed the fate, Obama was just kept the agony. Trump is finalizing the death.
Post Trump US presidents will never find themselves in the same leverage superiority which Post WWII presidents enjoyed.
Now on US would like to do some things, , they need to get quite long way to convince people , this will be money , aid but in a extortionist way.
We are in the 21st century geoplotics anymore.
20th century post WWII geopolitics is history.
1
While some might applaud Trump's pro-isolationist approach to foreign policy in the middle east, they're not seeing the bigger picture. The situation is admittedly complex with no easy solutions. But anytime the U.S. has taken an isolationist position in the middle east, it's come back to haunt us. Some might argue that 9/11 was one such example of this.
Trump's has become the poster boy for adversaries like Putin and groups like ISIS. His short-sighted decisions, such as bailing on our agreement with Iran (with nothing to replace it with), have often played right into the hands of Islamic hardliners and extremists, . The chaos of Trump's administration, along with his impulsive and questionably motivated foreign policy decisions are gradually chipping away at our national security, making us more vulnerable to the threat of foreign adversaries and terrorists, home and abroad. As qualified national security experts like Mattis leave, as trump undermines our intelligence agencies, as he alienates and betrays our allies, (the Kurdish forces), our enemies grow stronger and more dangerous to the U.S. The guys who Trump panders to, like Putin and Kim Jong Un, have made no secret that they don't want to just weaken the U.S., they'd destroy the U.S. if they could.
With trump in power, and his Republican lackeys who protect and enable him at all costs, I worry for our country's safety and security. Our country cannot risk another 4 years of trump ... it's not safe for any of us.
1
Once again our president sides with authoritarian and oppressive regimes over those enclaves that are pushing for a more moderate middle east. MBS, Erdogan, Putin, all are dictatorial leaders looking to stifle democracy in their countries and cause trouble abroad. It is sickening to see our closest allies in this fight be effectively abandoned, the US will suffer the consequences from this, mainly the effects of a far more radicalized middle east. Once again our president sides with authoritarian and oppressive regimes over those enclaves that are pushing for a more moderate middle east. MBS, Erdogan, Putin, all are dictatorial leaders looking to stifle democracy in their countries and cause trouble abroad. It is sickening to see our closest allies in this fight be effectively abandoned. The US will suffer the consequences of this abandonment, mainly the effects of a far more radicalized middle east.
2
Sometimes I wonder if NYTimes readers only have long term memory measured in weeks. No one remembered Obama bowed down to Erdoğan and re-affirmed the Armenian Genocide is pure fiction. No one remembered Syria is have been a Russian ally for decades. No one remembered Obama and Hillary’s call to overthrow Assad. No one remembered the US sending anti-tank missiles to ISIS and almost sent anti-air missiles.
The US leaving is just return things status quo ante bellum except the Kurds have a lot more weapons, experience and international recognitions. The US is never going to extend its illegal entry in Syria indefinitely nor build a nation for the Kurds. The current US presence is already as illegal as it is.
The Kurds will have to fight for their own nation if they want it that bad. They can also go back to Assad to form an united front against Turkey which desires the whole of Syria.
@AmateurHistorian
Sorry. You're dreaming.
I suggest you take the time to look more closely into the Kurd's history with both Haffez & Bashar al-Assad and Turkey.
So, basically, he is looking for a distraction from the impeachment revelations that have been bleeding out for a couple weeks now.
4
just another of 45's foreign policy debacles, motivated by his desire to change the subject away from his impending impeachment.
4
Trump's short-sighted foreign policy decisions, such as handing Syria over to someone like Erdogan, or bailing on our agreement with Iran (with nothing to replace it with), have often played right into the hands of Islamic hardliners and extremists. The chaos and incompetence of Trump's administration, along with his impulsive and questionably motivated foreign policy decisions, are gradually chipping away at our national security, making us more vulnerable to the threat of foreign adversaries and terrorists, at home and abroad. As qualified and experienced national security experts like Mattis leave in droves, as trump undermines our intelligence agencies, as he alienates and betrays our allies, (in this case, the Kurdish forces), our enemies grow stronger and more dangerous to the U.S. The crisis at the southern border will be the least of our national security problems.
The guys who Trump panders to, like Putin and Kim Jong Un, don't want to just weaken the U.S., they'd destroy the U.S. if they could. They've made no secret of this. Yet Trump only enables them. Why?
With trump in power, along with his Republican lackeys who protect and enable him at all costs, I seriously worry for our country's safety and security. Our country cannot risk another 4 years of trump ... it's not safe for any of us.
VOTE in 2020, as if our lives depend on it ... because it very well might.
2
Trump is cementing his reputation among world leaders that his promises are written on the wind.
1
How many more times the American Presidents and policy maker will betray and abandon the Kurds who truly have no friends. From 1946 and 1975 to Iran and Iraq was through the first Gulf war tp present day Kurds have been betrayed. What is new is Trump is doing with little concerns for American interests let alone the fate of Kurds in Syria. What a shameful act.
1
So, in the future, who will ever side with us, knowing we’ll throw them under the rug when it suits .... well, not us, but him.
Is this part of a calculated effort to undermine any conceivable leadership the US might have have in the world? Seems to be working.
obama was wrong to pull out of iraq and leave a power vacuum. americans saw the devastating results of that decision and have learned from his mistake.
trump knows there won't be any power vacuum this time, however. by kicking the kurds to the curb, he's allowing russia to move in.
any doubt 45 is a russian asset?
1
@Beckjord
Here's an idea.
Start with Bush and the WMD that weren't there and not Obama.
Another thing.
The Russians don't have to "move in" -- they're already there.
We should never have been there in the first place. All of our forces should be removed from foreign bases. Our fatuous attempts to control the world sine the Second World War have failed again and gain. We have not helped any of the nations where we have intervened. We have destroyed them.
1
Great to see lindsay graham feeling betrayed by trump...finally he can join the rest of us...
This is Trump's message to the rest of the world:
You can't trust us.
Did anyone not read Trump's tweet at 11:38 am today? "... if Turkey does anything that, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I've done before!)." The man is insane and how he hasn't already been dragged kicking and screaming out the White House front door by the entire Congress is beyond me and most of the sane world.
1
An evolving degradation in the educational level of the average American guarantees future inept governments characterized by poor leadership and judgement.
When will the republican senator wake up?
trump is deserting our former allies and leaving them open to slaughter. He again chooses to back a ruthless autocrat and upends our foreign policy. Absolutely amoral.
As much as I feel for the Kurds it's time to cut the cord. For a time we had a mutual interest but that time is past. This isn't the first time the US has been accused of abandoning them. For all those who say no one will ever trust the US again have forgotten that George Bush Sr. encouraged them to rebel against Saddam Hussein and did nothing when he bombed them into submission. Trust is one thing but mutual interests trump trust or the lack thereof.
The middle east is a cesspool. It's time to let any fool who wants to wallow in it do so. The only thing that will change is the places he dead will be sent to be buried.
It's quite simple. Erdogan threatened US troops who might stand between them and the Kurds as peacekeepers, and Trump blinked and like a big dog frightened by a snarling smaller one in its backyard ran home with his tail between his legs.
The Turks are ethnic cleansing bullies and have long been such bullies. I feel sad for the Kurds, but my sadness is tempered by the fact that they served as henchmen for the Turks in the genocidal cleansing of Armenians from Anatolia in 1915. As an Armenian priest is reported to have said at that time, "we are breakfast for the Turks, the Kurds will be their lunch"--or words to that effect.
This is terrible. Why this decision?
My mind runs directly to "what's in it for Trump?" Sorry, I can't help it. There is the pandering to isolationist Americans angle. Wall us in, wall us in, wall us in, etc.
There is the arms merchant angle. Turkey might cut a deal to buy American if we let them slaughter a now former ally. Shakey morals but that fits Trumpism to a T.
Then there is the personal benefit angle with Trump branded raki replacing all other brands, and minaret shaped Trump towers in Istanbul and golden monuments of the "great leader" astride a sherman tank (his favorite). Oh, and golf courses!
I can envision a blend of all three, but nothing without the third. Trump's getting something out of this.
Disgusting.
Just because he can. This is Trump’s foreign policy.
This is distraction du jour. Those poor people. We put them in harm’s way because Trump needed to feel in control and powerful today. Shame. SHAME on us for electing this terrible man to the most important position in the world. History will not judge us kindly.
Possibly orders came down from the top (i.e. Putin himself)?
I am astonished by the jeering of left commenters and their violent moral position advocating permanent war. There is no American interest either way in this disagreement. Let the local leaders figure it out. Perhaps Kurds don’t need our support as they attack third countries. What is their endgame, conquering Syria or Turkey? Why would we involve ourselves? The less we interfere, the better. All sides deserve our best wishes.
3
The Kurds country includes portions of Turkey, Iraq, and Iran. Saladin who evicted the Crusaders was a Kurd. The Kurds have been allies of the U.S. for decades and have kept their promises with us.
Allowing them to be subjected to genocide is what the stable genius is doing.
Like it or not we are part of a global community and our prosperity cannot persist if we withdraw. After the Napoleonic era, the European empires let North America alone. We became wealthy and developed in to great state under that protection. Now we are leading a world order that allowed many states to prosper. Tearing it down is just mindless.
@rjs7777 Trump Groupies defend Trump no matter what he does. Trump just gave thousands of Kurds a death sentence. What "deal" did Trump make with Erdogan? Trump does nothing without profit for himself.
Syria is the purview of Russia and by abandoning our allies and our own presence there, Trump is aiding Russia which was deterred by our presence.
6
Trump is the most effective mole Russia ever had.
This is what happens when we have a president who takes his foreign policy advice from Tucker Carlson, who has been agitating for an American withdrawal from Syria for month and attacking anyone who disagrees. I think it was Tucker's constant critiques of John Bolton that got him fired. Tonight he'll lionize Trump, draw simple minded conclusions about Syria and make the president think he did the right thing.
5
Wonderful, this is the US of today which simply betrays its erstwhile allies and will watch happily from the side-lines when the Turks slaughter the Kurds. Why would North Korea, Iran or anyone else for that matter trust the US to keep its word or that any offer made is valid for more than 5 minutes. I hope Trump supporters treat their friends with more respect but these days you have to question their standards.
5
Trump continues to serve Putin's agenda. At last, some conscientious Republicans object. It is chilling to realize how much damage Trump can do in his remaining months. Perhaps he must escalate his pro-Russia maneuvers to assure their help in 2020 as his reputation degrades.
Farmers are suffering (losing family farms), business investment uncertain, tariffs stall, and global negotiations, with North Korea, Afghanistan & China have yielded no US benefit. Many regions are in states of civil unrest- Eastern Europe, Ukraine, UK, Hong Kong are threatening the global economy and coherent social order.
Trump's policies so contrary to America's national interest can only be understood as his pandering to Putin.
4
“...Mr. Trump’s decision goes against the recommendations of top officials in the Pentagon and the State Department....”
tRump has said he knows more than the generals and he has “proven” it again. His arrogance and ego are boundless!
3
What Trump is doing is not fair for the Kurdish fighters but I don't care. We have wasted enough American lives and taxpayer money on these never-ending religious wars. Trump is doing the right thing.
1
This Kurdish organization has been not just pro-American and pro-democracy, it has been our most reliable ally against ISIS in Syria. They have fought for years on our side, effectively and at some cost. Now Trump is showing them, and the world, that allying with the United States is not wise.
Oh, and about ISIS? Back in March Trump told us that ISIS was "100% defeated" and "completely eliminated". Since Trump was, as is his habit, lying, and ISIS is still around, wouldn't it make sense to keep a valuable ally that fights? The Turks won't fight ISIS - they never have, not even before Islamic fundamentalists took over the Turkish government.
2
This opens the floodgates for Turkish atrocities against the Kurds, long an American ally. This is a betrayal. Noted in Scandanivia. The U.S. cannot be trusted.
3
Trump's loyalty is to one thing: money. There is nothing else sacrosanct or inviolable ... except maybe privacy for his tax returns. Dollars to donuts there will be a lavish Trump plaza going up in Istanbul soon.
1
There is treason afoot. Trump has been recalling troops and preparing for war against us here. I warned you repeatedly and you ignored me. In light of your failure to warn the public, I suggest you advise your readers that their best coarse of action is to leave the nation for safety.
A pattern emerges:
1. Projection- this month Trump is being driven solely by a concern about corruption and abuse of office and the public trust - by others. See also a fable about man in a glasshouse.
2. Obsfucation - Trump just keeps throwing different stories out there to see what sticks or what the GOP will latch onto to give him cover. This constant massive effort to bend fantasy into a form of reality, changing moment by discrete moment, little to no coherence in narrative, it is exhausting, even from a distance.
3. Diversion - Issuing wild pronouncements of new policy in increasingly more dramatic and perilous ways, Syria is just the latest example of an effort to change the narrative. See, a squirrel!!, or a dog with a fluffy tail! This activity accelerates when under pressure.
4. Continue using a virtual firehose of nonsense, fantasies and poorly developed policy to overwhelm and swamp the body politic, like adding sand to a gas tank.
5. Rinse and repeat - hourly or as needed.
Dems, please protect the whistleblowers and keep at it.
2
This a common problem; what to do when a treaty-toting ally (Turkey) has begun heading into un-democratic territory, affecting a people who have been an in-the-trenches ally.
The hard-headed nationalist part of me says, once the smaller, not on paper, ally has outlived its usefulness, you ditch them. 1, 2, done. The quick and dirty approach to diplomacy.
The sense-of-decency and enlightened self interested part says, you quietly and big-stickly give the 3 S's to your official ally; you Scold 'em, School 'em, and then Secure 'em. First you let them know what they did wrong and what you want them to do. Then you teach them them why and how they should comply. Last, you demonstrate how you are going to help them secure against whatever they view as their problem. In this case, the Turks are afraid of a Kurdish uprising and terrorist activity in their own country.
The enlightened self-interest approach typically costs less, takes longer, and requires a savvy, experienced, team of diplomats and military types. The art of the possible. Messy, frustrating, riddled with compromise and hail-Marys. But jaw, jaw, jaw, beats (and is cheaper than, in many ways) war, war, war, whether your own troops are actively engaged or not.
2
Trump always agrees with the last person he spoke to. That's a red flag shared by all terrible leaders. He'll give you anything you want so long as you praise him. That's a red flag shared by all narcissists.
2
Yes. "Because you know I'm all about that base, 'bout that base...yeah it's pretty clear I ain't no size two". With apologies to Meghan Trainor.
Any deaths of Kurds the real Western Allies unlike Erdogan, at the hands of Turkey will be on Trumps head. His betrayal will live in infamy, and be rightly despised by fair thinking Americans of all political persuasions.
3
The endless futile and bloody interventions issue is my main priority, and on this issue, Trump appears to be a lone voice of restraint. So it will have to be Trump.
instead of military aid, 45 will be sending thousands of buses to the region for the kurds to throw themselves under.
1
Why would our allies trust us in the future after such a betrayal. This is what happens when someone with no moral compass is put in a position of great power. This news is sickening and sad. And worst if all, people will die... people who fought by our side against ISIS. How does this make any sense at all?
3
Trump has become unsound of mind, erratic. He must be relieved of command immediately and he would be in any branch of our armed services.
1
Another Trump betrayal of allies and our own troops. What a nightmare.
1
It is amazing how many warmongers read the NYT.
We should absolutely pull out of Syria and Afghanistan and Iraq and all other middle eastern countries.
Trump is exactly right.
The deep state is afraid of losing one of their money makers.
1
Simply put, this is something that will work well for Putin.
2
Once again, thanks to Trump, the US buttresses its place in the Hall of Shame. History will remember that the American people allowed this abomination.
2
A horrible mistake made by a horrible person for whom abandoning allies means nothing. When would his power-addicted supporters realize this destruction must be stopped?
1
He will change his mind tomorrow.
1
This quote from Trump is printed today in the Times without comment:
“As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!),”...
We are apparently now so accepting of such language, sounding like a king or perhaps a crazed king, that it is printed without comment. For me, that's "normalizing" behavior that's very abnormal.
4
In a debacle of an administration this could be the worst decision so far. If I were an ally, of any stripe, I'd never trust the US again. Horrible
1
This is just wrong, strategically and morally.
It shows that the USA cannot be trusted. The Kurds have helped us battle ISIS. Now, Trump has deemed them dispensable. We have used them and now they are to be tossed aside like garbage.
I think of all those Trump voters, the DoJ, the cabinet and the GOP who enable such cowardly, deceitful and stab-in-the-back policies. We cannot consider this as simply another Trump deed.
Just who are the bad guys?
It is looking a lot like we are. We, of the liberal side, will be tarnished because we cannot get our act together and lead this nation in the right direction.
We cannot be the good guys if we allow things like this to continue. Because you know as well as I do, when the Kurdish bodies begin piling up, we will have helped in putting them there.
You can't give into such vicious, craven conduct and be considered a moral nation.
2
Shameful!
Trump’s recent action to abandon the Kurdish fighters we’ve fought and died along side in Syria is yet another dangerous message we are sending to America’s allies around the world — America can no longer be counted on as trusted and steadfast friend.
2
Notice to the world, NEVER back the United States. Ever. You will be left out in the cold.
3
"Putin made me do it." More "adhering to the enemy, i.e. treason by the Electoral College mistake.
1
Trump has destroyed relationships around the world on so many fronts. We have a huge Kurdish population in America that are citizens. He has no idea what he is doing.
4
Grab the feinting salts!
Lindsey Graham expresses slight dismay with President Trump!
"I hope I'm making myself clear how shortsighted and irresponsible this decision is in my view,"
Oooh, such stinging words for Trump... "short sighted", "irresponsible"!
Oh, but wait...that's just from Lindsey's "view".
5
This is shameful. The Kurds took the bullet for us in defeating ISIS. They have been our staunch allies for years.
They seek a homeland in northern Iraq. They are now being led to the slaughter by Trump’s backing of the murderous Turkish regime.
The Trump regime is woefully inept & grotesque.
4
Does this mean that Erdogan has agreed to investigate the Biden's?
3
Isn't this the kind of wild, ignorant, dangerous behavior that so many of us were afraid would occur, once Trump grew desperate?
3
One thing is for sure, Trump knows how to make enemies for America.
2
This could well be a gathering genocide. Hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees will be marched back into Syria from camps in Turkey, where they will fall into the hands of ISIS and Assad. Tens of thousands of them will be slaughtered...
...and Trump will propose a summit with Assad.
1
Me thinks trump is clearing the way for Putin to help Erdogan. Both are interested in eliminating ethnic groups that cross existing national borders of their respective countries. trump is opening the door to a bloodbath similar to the Armenian genocide in the early 1900s. And, on top of that, these Kurds helped the US during the Iraq war on ISIS!
I can't say it enough. trump is Putin's puppet.
4
Another example of Trump caving in to a tyrant leader. He is playing into the hands of Erdogan, ignoring the long history of the region and allegiances. Trump is as dumb as a stump when it comes to foreign policy, but he needs to appear "decisive" in the midst of an impeachment inquiry, Erdogan must have been piling on the flattery his weekend in a phone call, because look where we are on Monday morning.
2
It seems that once again, the US will throw the Kurds under the tank.
3
So now Turkey is going to be looking for dirt on the Biden family? I also have to wonder what kind of dirt Turkey has on Trump.
And poor Lindsey Graham is all in a tizzy over this decision. Welcome to reality Lindsey!!
1
Maybe Erdogan booked the Dictator Suite for a month at a Trump Hotel and got the policy he wanted. Maybe he has the Joe Biden-Ukrainian - gas company- server- email info that TRUMP IS LOOKING FOR? Now he has permission to exterminate the Kurds, and create a humanitarian disaster on his border filled with a million Syrians. Then he can steal all the world aid that he will ask for on its way to Kurdish Syria. PROBLEM SOLVED!
3
Trump never served.
He understands absolutely zip about anything military.
"Hello! Yes, Mr. John McCain please!"
1
There must be a new TRUMP International Hotel coming to Turkey. Kurdish guest are advised to seek accomadations anywhere but HERE.
2
Wow, according to the accompanying article, withdrawing from Syria is a bridge too far even from the Republicans! Now maybe a few of them will see the crazy.
1
THis has to represent one of the greatest betrayals of all time by our Country. Without these Kurds, both fighting men and women, we would have never defeated ISIS. How could this happen? What did Turkey promise? To lay off MBS? The lying, the deception, the betrayals of this President is destroying decades of work that started with the end of WWll and making the USA the country that must be feared and protected against, and the feckless, cowardly Republicans sit silently by and watch this criminal administration destroy us.
2
Which White House personnel authored this strategy?
Would not be surprised by a forthcoming announcement that a Trump Tower will be built in Istanbul!
2
This might be one of Trump's final gifts to Putin before he's run out of office by the impeachment process. In turn, Putin will hive Trump a cozy penthouse in Sochi.
2
Graham. He cannot criticize Trump’s act without finding a way to bring Obama into the picture as a comparison with how bad the act. Sorry, Lindsey, Obama has a conscience. Your buddy in the White House has not.
2
This very stable genius has just created a more unstable Middle East.
Genius!
1
That trump Tower is going up in Istanbul after all. The Republic of Trump is alive and profitable.
2
What do you suppose Erdogan promised in that phone call?
2
Quoting Rep. Gallego from this story: "The Kurds will never trust America again." Neither should any other of America's allies if they are smart.
A shameful, cowardly move on our nation's part and, as one Kurd put it, a stab in the back.
3
Why, given this impulsive and poorly thought out decision, would anyone trust what this country promises? Let's see, this isn't the first time the Kurds have taken it on the chin. Following Desert Storm, didn't G.H. Bush suggested the Iraqi people take things into their own hands after the Revolutionary Guard had been battered by the US and allied forces? Didn't both the Shi'ites in the south and Kurds in the north rise up? However, because of the cease fire between this country and Iraq, the Revolutionary Guard managed to quickly pull itself together and slaughtered the Kurds and Shi'ites, who had (mistakenly) been hoping that we would have provided support for them. Granted, this is a much simplified account of what happened, but given the current occupant of the WH - who can't even tell the truth about the weather - why would anyone ever believe any guarantees offered by the US? This will truly be one of Trump's enduring legacies. Sad.
3
My guess is pretty soon Turkey will be finding some "dirt" on Biden or the origins of the Russia investigation.
He’s going stand aside to let a friend be killed. Nice move. Nobody will forget this betrayal, allies and enemies both.
3
Obama started the Syrian civil war by backing ISIS and the Kurds to overthrow Assad. That failed but no way to put the genie back in the bottle. Turkey won’t give up the area gained by ISIS and Kurds won’t go back to Assad so now you have this ugly mess.
The Kurds know what they are in for so no need to feel bad for them. They went nation building and that don’t always work. And hey, they aren’t giving up yet. They might conquer eastern Anatolia and finally get their own nation. They have proven to be way better fighter than the Turks.
Poor Kurds, their job of defeating ISIS is mostly done,so they can now be left to the mercy of the ruthless Turkish dictator.
When will they learn to insist on payment first i.e. independent Kurdish stat, before spilling their blood for the West.
Can it be that there is another quid pro quo here?
Like Turkey falling silent on the Khashoggi murder conversationalist which would be good for the Trump's Saudi friend ? Or maybe Trump Towers ...
The US "foreign policy" is a joke.
1
I guess this should be a warning to any people who should ever think to trust the United States again?
Did it not occur to the unnatural monster in the White House that instead of betraying the Kurds, and greenlighting more war, the USA might work for peace?
2
He will turn on anyone, won't he?
4
Trump is now gives Turkey it's blessing to invade another country and kill our allies.
Somehow, his followers will justify this.
2
If I were the Kurds I would release all ISIS prisoners.
3
Dear God - the Kurds are the only ones who have been able to keep a lid on Isis. What a fool move!
5
Probably because Putin n told him too.
3
Does this mean a new Trump hotel in Istanbul or Ankara? There's got to be something in it personally for Trump to do such a callous thing as trash the US' only reliable Muslim ally.
4
So after 1,000s of Kurds died fighting ISIS, Trump just throws them "under the Bus" or "under the Tank" or "under the Personnel Carrier"!
If it were not for the Kurds, many more 1,000s of Americans would have died fighting ISIS, which has been mostly destroyed -- due to the Kurds!
And the Kurds are Sunni Moslems -- the same brand of Islam as ISIS!
No one will trust America after this! People will say "you betrayed the Kurds, so why should we fight alongside of you?"
4
One can only shudder at the thought of what his Trumpness got in exchange for abandoning our allies to his dictator buddy Erdogan - some more dirt on Democratic candidates?
1
So, does Turkey have any dirt on Biden's kid?
Maybe a gas pipeline worth investing in?
"Now, Mr. Trump’s decision goes against the recommendations of top officials in the Pentagon and the State Department who have sought to keep a small troop presence in northeast Syria to continue operations against the Islamic State, or ISIS, and to act as a critical counterweight to Iran and Russia."
If you missed it, the key word in the above statement is "Russia". I would like to know if, during the last three years, Mr. Trump has taken a single decision of his own that negatively impacted Russia or Mr. Putin. Whatever steps he has taken against Russia, has been under unrelenting pressure from he US Congress.
5
We too often have engaged in interventions with little understanding of the local politics and almost no understanding of the long-term ramifications. Americas involvement in our immediate sphere of influence during the 19th century and internationally in the 20th century proves our lack of long-term critical thinking with some narrow exceptions. But by kowtowing to the pathological fear or hate of Kurds by Erdogan and a desire on his part to compensate with a powerplay to diminish internal dissent due to economic mismanagement and a deteriorating economy will bode poorly for our own security.
We have now entered an era in our foreign policy where the thinking is so short term if not transactional it now puts us in a position that no country will trust any agreement with the current government. We now have to plan for the threats that a reconstituted and emboldened ISIS will both look like and be capable of without allies in the region.
2
Last I checked Turkey, a NATO member, is an ally and friend of the U.S. This decision to pull out of Syria is yet another campaign promise fulfilled. And I'm still not clear as to why Assad must be defeated by...why was it?
1
This is certainly Trump’s outrage, but it’s worth exploring the left’s response to this. Will they only take this as an opportunity to paint Trump as an irrational, irresponsible leader? Or will the presidential candidates make a pledge to commit troops to the Kurds? For years, the left has been coasting on foreign policy by taking up a no-exceptions pacifist stance. But one can be against reckless invasions of sovereign nations like Iraq and be for military protection of a worthy ally against an autocratic regime. The Kurds are brave, and they are one of the few groups of people in that region that isn’t steeped in religious extremism. In fact, their society is astonishingly secular and socialist-minded. The Kurds are worth protecting, even for a long time. They’ve been betrayed too many times before, and Kissinger is undoubtedly smiling at Trump’s latest betrayal. The left should pay attention.
2
Vince, this notion of the “left” is getting old. We aren’t really in a civil war now. It would be great to see less stereotypes and more respect being paid to military and experts in the field of foreign policy. We have an inept leader who knows so little about foreign policy and history it’s staggering. Oh, and those unknown calls to foreign leaders. Hmm, impeachment in our near future?
1
I saw this in 2016 before the election. Trump is a partner of the old line Russian-Soviets and the Turks are their friends. As a result, Trump will follow where he is commanded and do what he, as a good foreign agent, is told to do. I supect he justifies all his mistakes as the moves a powerful and assured person would make-getting all the encouragement he needs from his Eastern allies.
If America does nothing to aid itself-it must maintain the old European-NATO relations-and this seems what Truimp is desirous of destroying, as Washington and the media watch and quietly comment, as if they were watching a a putting contest.
2
The people of Kurdistan have no sectarian conflict.”
Notably, Christians within the Kurdistan Region have joined the call for Kurdish independence.
If civility, tolerance, and adherence to international norms are prerequisites for gaining national sovereignty, Kurds are more qualified for independence than Iran or Saudi Arabia.
2
It seems like this is not the first time we have betrayed the Kurds. Trump's outstanding characteristic is that you cannot trust him. I hope our allies have his number.
1
A very complex situation- but think about two points. First, this is most welcomed by Putin. And then there is the reality that this is NOT a reduction of overall US presence in the area, just a juggling.
Erdogan is just the sort of brilliant and aggressive man who walks all over the current US leaders. He cannot believe his good luck. I have no faith in the intelligence or integrity of this administration, and it's motivations. I see a shift from keeping the EU as our ally, to appeasing Russia, Israel, and SA.
Who exactly is guiding our policy? Any big donor sleazy enough to pander to Trump- here in California big farmers are donating $$$ and demand maintaining sanctions on Iran- why? Pistachios?
Those commenters here who condemn US military presence in Middle East, and interpret this move as admirable- please get back to us about US investment in SA miltary, and the eagerness we see US threaten Iran with military strikes.
1
Trump did tweet today that "I, in my great and unmatched wisdom" would come down on Turkey if they took things too far against the Kurds.
No one with any wisdom at all would claim that they are the wisest person on earth. Time for the 25th Amendment.
3
With a strategic thinker like Trump who knows more than the generals, what could possibly go wrong?
1
This decision that Trump justifies on the basis of cost could end up being far more costly than maintaining a US military presence to keep the peace between our allies the Kurds and our NATO partners the Turks. ISIS will be loosed on vulnerable populations in the mid East and Europe, possibly requiring more US military presence. It is impulsive and disregarding of his own government as well as our allies, but Putin approves.
1
"Mr. Graham said he would also introduce a nonbinding resolution asking Mr. Trump to reconsider his move, which he called “shortsighted and irresponsible.” The president’s assertion that the Islamic State has been defeated is “the biggest lie being told by this administration,” Mr. Graham added."
Glad to see the shock of this betrayal of the Kurds is shared by some of Trump's major apologists. Trump's cornerstone policies are built on being shortsighted and irresponsible,- among other things. At least the Senator has acknowledged that this administration is built on lies, with this one the biggest. Good point Senator Graham!
Turkey will go there and stay for the next 40 years.
Then will claim that people there are turks and Annexation will happened .... meanwhile EU and US will still arguing that Turkey is an ally country and NATO shouldn't lose it .......
I am heartbroken and disgusted that we are leaving the Kurds to the "mercy" of the Turkish government, which has made no secret of its intent to slaughter the Kurds in Northern Syria. No matter your politics, how can you justify abandoning our allies like this? And to add insult to injury, in an overnight tweet? And one other point, further destabilization of the region, which is not in our national interest. Help!
3
Why would any country ever, ever be our ally in the future?
5
Didn't the Kurds helped protecting the US interest? Weren't they allies?
I believe the answer is yes to both questions, which means Trump is betraying them in favor of the worst kind of dictator.
2
Trump seems to be carrying out his promises to Putin. It's a terrible situation for the allies of the United States now and in the future.
It's clear that Moscow dominates in the Middle East, and America's promises and support are worth nothing. This will lead to very serious problems in the longer term for America.
2
What country would ever trust the United States of America again. "We've given them a lot of money..." That's his only moral standard. Money.
4
Yet ANOTHER capricious decision that ultimately benefits Putin's Russia and further destabilizes world order.
Our national security is being simultaneously eroded and demolished by Trump. I have strong suspicion that Erdogan is returning the favor in some capacity that personally benefits Trump.
Meanwhile, the Republicans sit mutely by, trying to determine the direction of the political winds so they can hang on to power.
1
I wonder how all the vets feel about the nothingness that has been accomplished over our years in the Mideast. Our final action is to betray our ally who has been fighting for an independent state. What an incredible waste !
By the way, thanks for your service...
This is just the last of many betrayals of the Kurds by every group with which they have been allied.
I have to imagine the “strategic” rationale for this involved Erdogan and his cronies buying Trump condos and staying at Trump hotels.
There was no consideration of America’s interest. Just consideration of how Trump and his greedy children can line his pockets.
Every high-ranking official in the DOD should resign. This is outrageous.
2
Enough of Trump's telephone diplomacy with nobody in the room to advise him or reveal what actually was said except by a courageous whistle-blower well after the fact. He disregards advise from "his" generals because he sees his own chummy relationship with Erdogan to supersede all else. Erdogan and other leaders take advantage of the US in exactly the same way; flatter Trump in private and he does your bidding no matter the consequences to the US or its allies. This is treacherous activity from the so-called leader of the free world. Impeach then prosecute this vile man.
1
Could this short-sighted move be the product of a crush? Like Putin, Kim, and Duterte, Erdogan is the authoritarian type that Trump is so infatuated with. Trump is throwing the Kurds under the bus to appease Erdogan.
My goodness. This is lunacy. The unhinged and untethered Individual One, desperate now that formal impeachment hearings have begun, is acting against the advice of his own Pentagon, his own State Department, and most Syria experts. Allowing Turkey to do as they wish would abandon our best allies in the region. Trump is almost certainly doing this in order to please the undemocratic, brutal Erdogan. Was Erdogan able to exert improper influence over the narcissistic Mr. Trump? it sure looks like it. This will please Putin as much as it should displease sane, decent, thoughtful Americans. In fact, this is directly contrary to our interests. It expands Russian influence. It destabilizes the region. It jeopardizes our ability to form alliances. Finally, ISIS is "gathering new strength" right now. Recall that Defense Secretary Mattis resigned because of this lunacy. Congress must step in and stop this immediately. Trump is our greatest national security risk. And he is the greatest worldwide risk for the global prospects for freedom and democracy.
4
Facing so much pressure at home, Trump turns to Ertogan for some love and reassurance that he is "the greatest." Ertogan, recognizing a like-minded ego-driven despot, manipulates Trump to defy his own knowledgeable officials to upend American policy. Trump has no concern for American history, nor American future. He is only concerned about himself.
2
It was once said, Trump is an agent of Russia. Does turning Syria over to Putin qualify?
What should be concerning to Americans is that Trump is willing to use their sons and daughters, serving in the military in the Middle East, as pawns in his sick game to deflection attention from himself and his criminal activity.
Trump's enablers, the Republican Congress and Mitch McConnell, will bear the responsibility if Americans are killed and if there is a wholesale bloodbath against the Kurds who have helped and worked with the U.S. military.
Trump, who is mentally unstable and desperate, needs to go before he touches off a major war in the Middle East through his words and deeds.
1
“Mr. Trump’s decision goes against the recommendations of top officials in the Pentagon and the State Department.”
This is a textbook definition of a “Loose Cannon”.
2
Betrayal has been the hallmark of the Trump Kingship from its beginnings. Our national values were the first to go, followed by the rule of law, and now the abandonment of our allies. Pretty soon the US will no longer be considered a trusted ally by anyone. Israel look out, as you are next on the list hit list.
1
US intelligence will have told Trump about the help Erdogan’s given ISIS in the past, but I’m sure he’s dismissed them because Erdogan flatters him whenever they talk.
Morally and strategically this is a truly terrible decision. The Kurds will suppress ISIS and similar groups with an effectiveness that no other group in that area can match. We’ve also made commitments to them that everyone can now see were designed to make it easier for the Turks to massacre them.
Unless the goal is to regift territory to ISIS and persuade every potential ally that the US is fundamentally untrustworthy, this decision makes no sense.
2
He' worried his time is running out, so he's hurrying through his list.
Small wonder if our "friends" are skittish--once again, we promise and do not deliver. For folk who parrot the "land of the free home of the brave" ad infinitum, we cannot for the life of us make promises to allies and follow through.
The Kurds are now left to the mercies of the Turks.
And our government (us, in other words) feels no shame.
That is the final shame.
1
Then presumably Turkey will be dishing dirt on the Bidens as a quid pro quo for abandoning our allies?
1
Trump believed MBS instead of Erdogan (both dictators) in the Khashoggi murder because it suited his interests, and now he'll help Erdogan for the same narrow reasons instead of the most reliable but vulnerable Kurd allies. In each case he goes against the recommendations of American officials who *know better*! The weak always lose in Trump's world, and alliances mean nothing when he's ready to throw anyone under the bus.
1
Trump stands with another dictator, blindsiding our allies, the Pentagon and state department and intelligence agencies. It's like a game of Survivor in which Trump's only aim is to be the last-man on the island.
the headline will have most people, especially trump supporters, yawning.
trump betrays our allies to a brutal dictator and ISIS, likely result regional war, possible genocide, strengthening of ISIS, who BTW, are not at all defeated.
NYTs and other free news have to do so much better conveying Trump's actions without the euphemisms.
To be expected: More support for anti-democratic dictators and strongmen.
I wonder if General Mattis will find it in his power to at long last speak up, loud and clear, now that the betrayal has been fully consumated....
How tragic!
2
Is there even any room left under the bus for all of the people who have been tossed there by Trump?
2
Turkey is in no way an ally of the US anymore. The Kurds are a true ally, good people, and give hope to the Middle East and Its stability. We should build them gradulally from within based on their needs after vetting by our government, and protect them from without.
1,000 Us troops and no combat deaths are an indicator of our success in Syria.
It is unfortunate that we have a presdident that cannot play a winning hand for our country for the few ones he has had.
2
Big league distraction from the Impeachment Inquiry.
Just ask the Pentagon- they were surprised too.
1
Mr. Trump: While you’re on the topic of the time coming for the US military to leave a place where it no longer has any business remaining, perhaps you should consider having the current commander in chief of the military leave the White House.
1
If the Kurds had some dirt on the Bidens, Trump would send foreign aid, and also place sanctions on Turkey.
Welcome to Trumpistan's America.
Oh, no. Could he really be putting lives at stake... just to divert attention from his current scandals? (And to pick up the electoral boost generally gained by a POTUS at war on foreign soil?)
1
The only funny thing about this humiliating sell-out of an ally will be watching Republicans try to figure out how they’re going to knuckle under further. You’d think they’d learn the lesson that Trump will ALWAYS sell out his allies and supporters, but nah.
Look at Lindsey Graham: I usedta be stupid enough to think that at least he was principled if if I loathed his principles, but now I’m going with Lindsey “Bloviate” Graham. Or maybe Lindsey “Nonbinding Resolution, That’ll Show Him” Graham.
1
The reason that Trump and the GOP exist in their current deformed manifestation is due to the fact that they have no leadership. They are like wolves hunting in a pack, there is hierarchy, but it's basically each animal for himself. This is the GOP. There is no leader, there is no ideological vision, there is only decay and political malignancy. And now the cancer has metastasized to threaten our very democracy. It is time to stand up to this threat and fight back with the truth. Stand! Or, we will lose this country to fascism and autocracy. Now is the time!
2
Perhaps Sen. Graham would like to spend some time talking about what he views as the administration's OTHER big lies?
This decision is terrible. Turkey will slaughter them. The United States has had a loyal ally in the Kurds. Is this what we do to our friends?
3
Who will ever trust the U.S. again?
2
100 years ago, a state-sanctioned massacre occurred which lead to the definition of Genocide. This massacre was the genocide of the Armenians by the Turkish. To celebrate 100 years of the first Genocide, I guess it is time to again attack the current largest minority of Turkey. And again, the world watches and lets it happen. How is next? The Orthodox?
I'm guessing the Kurds couldn't find any dirt on Biden? Or maybe Erdogan promised to? Nothing would shock me anymore.
I guess Turkey will be investigating the Bidens any day now.
1
So now we are compelled to ask ourselves, what kind of sleazy payoff from Erdogan did Trump get in order to stab the Kurds in the back?
Donald Trump: "How much damage can I do before I'm impeached?"
2
He’s wagging the dog so much, that dog is dead.
Expect more and worse before impeachment.
Having a safe place for Syrian refugees to go doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.
Ah, Trump now says Erdogan is "a friend of mine." Apparently the Turkish President stroked Trump's narcissistic ego. That's all it takes, you know.
1
trump will do ANYTHING to deflect from his impeachment investigation
What loyal ally won't he betray?
Nations bordering Russia, beware, lest you be the next Ukraine.
May the Kurds stand their ground.
Distraction? And did I read somewhere an Ivanka tweet celebrating the new Trump Hotel opening in Istanbul? Just asking for a friend...
Back in July Trump quizzed Nadia Murad on precisely what she did to deserve a Nobel prize. His critics pounced on this as Trump just jockeying for his own Nobel. The President told her that he was “very familiar” with her people’s’ plight and “the area” and he would “look into it.” Nadia Murad suffered captivity and rape and witnessed her families’ obliteration. She lives to tell, to bear witness to the world that genocide lives. Having “looked into it” Trump has decided to relinquish Syria to the Soviets and the Turks. The Peshmerga are our front line allies against ISIL. They led us to Osama bin Laden and they captured Sadam Hussein. So to anyone who thought that Trump would emulate or utilize Nadia to get his own peace prize. Ha! The opposite. And the “reason they hate us” is born yet again.
1
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
John F. Kennedy
P.S. Nah, forget about it. If it doesn't serve my interests we are not interested in it. Anybody got dirt on Biden? If so I can cut you in on some insider trading.
Donald J. Trump
2
So much for loyalty . . .
The Turkish government is a supporter of terrorism.
The Kurds are our allies.
Mr. Trump is giving aid and comfort to our enemies.
1
@Jonathan Katz Giving aid and comfort, again.
Hmmm. Is there a Trump Tower in Istanbul that has been advised of difficulties with Erdogan's government? Or are there plans to build a Trump Tower in Istanbul which might need some easing through the bureaucracy?
18
For quite a while now, it's been clear that the Trump administration does what it wants, by executive action or otherwise, ignoring established military policy and judgment, our country's policies regarding allies in the world and national diplomacy, and Congressional advice, consent and mandates. This decision regarding Kurds is the latest.
Political philosophy and ideals are no longer important. All that matters now is "transactional" deals.
It is time to take back the reins. Whatever your party, members of congress, stand up and say enough.
13
My predictions for Trump’s impulsive policy of dumping of our Kurdish allies so Erdogan can assert control over N Syria:
1. It will not bring any benefits to N Syria.
2. It will inflame Kurdish separatism in Turkey.
3. It will destroy US credibility as a reliable ally in any future regional conflict.
4. It will not end our military involvement in the region, merely postpone it or shift it to another locale where the unresolved tensions among Turkey, the Kurds and Assad are sure to surface again.
8
@LizziemaeF 5. Russia and Iran will rush in to fill the void!
Pence is meddling again in the religious affairs of other countries, intent upon supporting Turkey as the host of Orthodox Christianity in that entire region of the Middle East. Giving the nod to Erdogan is Pence’s way of fulfilling manifest destiny which has new life among end-time fundamentalists, like Pence, so soon after the Ukraine Church schism from the Russian Church. After all, it was Istanbul that decided the schism in Ukraine should go forward. Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan, et.al., do understand the prime mover for Turkey’s incursion is the Christian Church at Istanbul...fully supported by Trump and Pence. It is a modern crusade launched by Trump’s Look-Out Foreign Policy Numero Uno, i.e., when the Trump Admin stands aside and betrays an ally by yelling loudly, ‘Look Out!’
2
@Dan Holton I offer that Miller, the architect of the Ethnic Cleansing of America program, has a hand in this given the Kurds may be erased and no longer a problem for Trump's new best friend.
1
@Dan Agreed. Miller’s program also has its foundation in religious and ecumenical dogma, especially in the Western creeds that Pence follows. They have issues with non-white skin colors, see them as other, and promote religious conflict (Ukraine/Russia) and blood wars (Kurdish/Orthodox Turkey); not even to mention the outbreaks of hate and killing in the US.
@Dan Holton Turkey has a n islamist agenda -hardly orthodox christianity! just the patriarch is in Istanbul and he was always there just like the pope is in ROme from the time it was called Constaninople. The Christian church has no power in Turkey and the patriarch even had to bless Erdogan's Afrin invasion -or else-. Erdogan supports every islamist movement, be it ISIS, HAMAS, moslem brotherhood or the jihadists in Libya with turkish aid and advisors.
Yes, this region of the World has always been and will remain complex. We had short sighted leaders who got us involved in this endless struggle. But, no matter what, the Kurds were our Allies in this. It is immoral to turn our backs on them and not protect them. This is another example of Trump being directed by his leader, Putnin. What color will the Trump MRGA hats be ( make Russia great again) for the 2020 campaign. He certainly has not made America great.
6
Ethnic cleaning - that is what Erdogan will do to our allies the Kurds - with the full support of Republican President Donald 'Individual 1' Trump and the members of his party. This is how we treat those who have fought and died with us. It is criminal to subject the Kurds to this. What present U.S. ally would ever trust us now... This is not on just "Individual 1' but the entire Republican Party. Who wins out of this, Erdogan, Iran and guess who else? Putin, yes it always comes back to Putin with our president...
5
The Kurds are most responsible for the defeat of ISIS with the support of US air power, communications and special forces.
Trump is aligning his foreign policy with Russian interests.
8
Abandon the Kurds - a proven ally for what? Turkey is not an ally at this point - and will probably never be an ally as long as Erdogan is in power.
5
I assume some quid pro quo has already been delivered to the Trump administration by Turkey? Who would like to place bets that the quid pro quo concerns U.S. elections?
4
It is useful to remember that Trump has a hotel in Turkey, and that this will benefit Russia. Trump only does what is useful to Trump or Putin.
4
Trump's foreign policy = One step forward, two steps back. You can bet that the Iraqis in Baghdad are just waiting to jump into this situation.
The personal/presidential divestment from Trump Towers Istanbul -- how did that end up? Not sarcastic rhetoric but an actual question & request for info. I'm trying not to be so cynical as to suspect American policy's being sold off for brand name ownership payments.
3
Can't avoid thinking this is nothing else than a way to distract from the impeachment inquiry.
4
More instability, violence and chaos courtesy of an unstable President and an obsequious, corrupted Republican party, no matter the cost, no matter the outcome, so long as they win and keep their power--that's all that matters. Woe to anyone else. Take note.
1
I am no expert on the Middle East, but this sudden abandonment of an American ally is an act of treachery.
6
America will no longer ever be able to "preach" democracy and anti-corruption to anyone or any nation after the election of 2016 and now this. Day by day, we're turning into an authoritarian state led and supported by people who don't like be told what to do but will put the boots to other people's necks when it serves them.
3
At this point it must be conceded: Vladimir Putin is one of the greatest propagandists of all time. As the president of a corrupt country with an economy the size of Italy's, he has succeeded at installing his own puppet as President of the world's most powerful nation, the United States. Not only that, he has persuaded almost half of America's citizens to:
1) Back Trump's pursuit of a foreign policy that blatantly benefits Russia's long-term interests at the expense of U.S. interests.
2) Hate and distrust the FBI and CIA, Putin's lifelong adversaries.
3) Eagerly embrace foreign meddling in U.S. elections.
Putin literally owns the GOP now. Absolutely astounding.
11
No surprises here: Trump stiffs a loyal friend once again. Maybe the Kurds can sue in court.
2
"The future does not belong to globalists. The future belongs to patriots," Mr. Trump said in one of the defining quotes of his speech in UN. Well, today we found out also that “all patriots are equal, but some patriots are more equal than others.” That is why Turks are the bigger patriots than Kurds, Israelis than Palestinians, Bamars than Rohingyas.
3
Syrian Kurds will soon be getting help from Russia. It’s to Russia’s interest to keep everyone at each other’s throats in the Middle East. The down side for Russia is Islamists and nationalists in the Caucasus.
At the same time by creating a so called “safe zone” Turkey’s Erdgan is attempting to shore up his political fortunes. However, this move will probably lead to more terror bombings in Istanbul and Ankara. The public will hold Erdgan responsible.
2
This is outrageous!! These are the troops that helped us, fought by our side and were promised we would be there for them.Our Country has lost any trust by its actions and breaking of agreements , no one trust us and with good reason. We undermine allies such as France, Germany, Ukraine and we support dictators such as Saudi and turkey.m We try to make things better for Putin.
2
The Kurds deserve better than this ... they did more than anyone to defeat ISIS and they are doing more than anyone today to keep them at bay. The the US couldn’t have found a more loyal ally in the entire region. Now Trump is abandoning them. The evil of this man knows no bounds.
6
Trump has to be the most venal man on the face of the earth. Nobody with any kind of conscience could sell out our allies like this. It's appalling.
5
Once again we abandon the Kurds.
What’s most interesting is trump has zero military (daddy sending him to reform schools doesn’t count) or international diplomacy experience and most of his staff are clowns yet he ignores the advise of the pentagon and state dept
They need to start recommending then opposite of what they really want. I suspect with trump he’s so damaged mentally he intentionally goes against these agencies to boost his fragile ego .
1
The only question on my mind is what is Trump getting out of this? Is it cash, dirt on Bidens, or something else 'of value'?
3
@Jim Mc As mentioned above, Trump Tower, Istanbul!
So Trump gave Turkey's islamist extremist Erdogan, permission to invade Syria to kill kurdish fighters, who have been aligned with US forces. Wow.
4
If the SDF Kurds now have to turn all their attention to Turkey's maneuvers, it seems quite likely they won't be able to oversee the tens of thousands of people being held in the Al-Hol camp, which has received extensive coverage lately due to the out-of-control influence of ISIS members there. So those ISIS hordes (most of them Europeans) will be released to spread their destruction again across Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Europe.
As usual, Trump just does what the dictator he last spoke with told him to do.
3
As we sow our seeds of treachery against our allies the Kurds who fought bravely and died turning the tide of aggression against ISIS when we could not, we will one day reap the bitter harvest earned by this cowardly abandonment of the brave Kurds.
3
Are we to presume that Erdogan has the goods on Biden?
2
Crazy!
Turkey regards 60,000 battle hardened troops of an organization inflicting terrorist attacks killing thousands in Turkey, as a problem.
Turkish leaders sure are super sensitive!
Ok, so they have a million plus Syrian refugees they’d like to send back.
Why can’t they just be more generous, patient and understanding like us?
Remember people of Turkey:
1. Your problems are your problems
2. Our problems are your problems too.
Got it?
1
@AJ What parallel universe are you in? Attacks from the YPG/SDF oon Turkey is 0. Not a single bullet. Turkey is the one that attacked and occupied Afrin with its jihadists FSA mercenaries. Plus, when Erdogan was gleefully expecting Kobani to fall "within days" to ISIS, he was not concerned about a "terror army " at his borders. ISIS was after all his creation. As for the refugees, first, Turkey CREATED these refugees by supporting ISIS and every jihadist organization they could find. Second, Turkey is the reason the refugees cannot go back because they continue supporting the jihadists in Idlib. Last, these refugees do not come from the SDF-controlled areas because these are the ONLY peaceful, safe areas and now Turkey wants to destabilize them
1
@Felix Chandler
My “parallel universe” dear fellow, is known as reality.
Check it out: it’s really interesting!
1
But it's to save US taxpayers money, remember?
@Sean Yup. Pour those savings into more golf trips that will further expand the economy-of Trump's wallet.
You can expect to see a new Trump Tower in Istanbul. Such is the state of venality of the Trump administration and the Republican Party.
2
So Putin told him to do this. Yes, that's what happened.
2
Dear Democrats: it’s a longshot, but try to draft Mattis.
1
Another US president throws our Kurdish allies under the bus. Disgraceful.
3
America has no business being in Syria. For once Trump is right. If the ignorant and foolish Bush2 administration hadn't gotten us involved in Iraq there would be no ISIS, and no troops is Syria today. Sure Saddam Husein and Assad were monsters. But they were Mid-east monsters created by Europe a century ago, they were not monsters of our making.. We can do no good in those countries today. Our presence is a recruitment tool for ISIS. All those Congressmen who criticize Trump for wanting to get us out of the region we should never have gone into in the first place, should take up arms and go themselves into the conflict instead of sending other peoples kids to fight the fires Bush2 ignited.
2
Trump is poisoning the well. Why should any nation or group agree to work with us in the future, when we throw them under the bus and hand them over to tyrants?
2
US pulls out, at the very same time Russian Special Forces crossed the Euphrate just north of the Syrian Oilfields, now held by the Kurds and a vital line of "income" for them.
Probably all a coincedence and not the result of a phone call from Trump to Erdogan and after that Erdogan to Putin.
The Kurds are set to be "decimated" again, after all the good work they did fighting ISIS and in 1991 fighting Saddam.
4
Ergodan’s Turkey is growing closer to Russia. Trump gives them what they want. I’m not surprised.
1
And support Putin's allies.
He’s throwing our allies under the bus, plain and simple.
This to appease a dictator now more closely allied with Putin.
Unbelievable, this guy. Tell me again about the people who love Trump and this “country?”
5
Of course this decision by DJT was in no way influenced by the Trump organizations presence in Istanbul.
Any "many people are talking" about the new buildings being considered by DJT in Ankara.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_Towers_Istanbul
3
Slowly but steadily , the US is proving to everybody (from their democratic allies to their autocratic counterparts) how much an alliance with the US is worth. Israel and the Saudis have their multi billion armies to stand up from themselves . For the people of Kurdistan it might be too late. So long , hopes of democracy in Syria.
10
There are only a few hundred US soldiers, and the fighting will be brutal. The Syrian refugee camps are being radicalized, Turkey has to move or they will be importing a really serious problem. But the Turks are in for a surprise, the Kurds are battle hardened and with the backing of Iran militias, this may not turn out as most commentators here think.
5
Might the headline be:
"US betrays its Kurdish Allies,"
or maybe:
"Trump sides with Putin. Delivers Syria to Russia"
The loud and clear message delivered byPutin is that he can easily manipulate Trump. He has demonstrated the US can no longer be trusted and promoted the clear lesson that it is better to form alliances with Russia than America.
Any wild guesses as to whether the Kurds will align with Assad?
13
This is a bad policy decision. And I say this as someone who spent many years living in Turkey. I understand why the Turkish government is doing this. They have been fighting the PKK for decades in that region plus they have had to absorb around 3 million Syrian refugees who have come over because of Assad's war against his opposition (mostly Sunni) and also against the Kurds (who are also Sunni).
The Turkish government wants to take control over an area in northern Syria to create a buffer zone between Syria proper and Turkey. But, in doing so, they will expose the Kurds in that area to potential attacks from themselves (in the name of crushing the PKK) not to mention stifling any reasonable request for local autonomy by the Kurds.
The Kurdish population in southeast Turkey has been asking for cultural autonomy for decades - the right to teach children in Kurdish in school (they all learn Turkish automatically); the right to have local elections where they can express their Kurdish heritage; the right to have television stations that broadcast in Kurdish; and so forth. However, the military, particularly, in Ankara sees these requests as smokescreens for demanding an independent Kurdish state.
Yes, many in the PKK want an independent Kurdistan that spans parts of Turkey, Syria and Iran. But, the majority of the Kurdish population do not want an independent country. The U.S. needs to act as a broker, not just leave that region to the whims of just Turkey.
8
@MVT2216 "The Turkish government wants to take control over an area in northern Syria to create a buffer zone between Syria proper and Turkey" Bull. The turkish government wants to a) genocide the Only sane, secular, democratic force in the region and b) install its jihadist proxies who Erdogan has supported everywhere in the world. In so doing he has discredited the US, given an 'ottoman slap' and appeared strong to his population while pursuing his goal of reestablishing the Ottoma empire, his time nuclear- armed.
1
Trump, the Butcher of the Kurds.
Is this the epitaph for American policy in Syria?
We have abandoned the Kurds repeatedly in the past, the Northern Alliance Afghanis in the 1980s. It has come back to haunt us. The Kurds have been unexpectedly good allies despite this and we have not reciprocated well.
10
So, we betray our ally, the ally which did most of the fighting.
Who will ever trust us again?
11
The Kurds have been a faithful ally in our fight against ISIS. They are democratically oriented, pro-Western, support women's rights, and are a beacon of hope in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, Turkey, a supposed NATO ally, decides to use Russia's S-400 system in contravention of agreement. Turkey actively curtails freedom of press and assembly and has a rich history of abusing minorities.
Now President Trump effectively rewards President Erdogan by deciding to withdraw American troops from northern Syria, leaving the Kurds exposed and in jeopardy.
The message to allies, present and future, is that we cannot be trusted. This decision by our President is hugely damaging to our credibility.
Following his actions on Ukraine, it is past time for this President to be removed from office.
12
What exactly does "sweep away" American-backed Kurdish forces" mean? Please be clear about what abandoning these forces will actually do to them.
6
@skfinkel It means genociding the Kurds, destroying the only sane, secular and democratic force in the region and giving the region to Erdogan's jihadist allies. In short the next genocide with the US's wink and nod
1
There are some compelling reasons to question whether the US should be embroiled in the middle east but it is. So yet again, the US abandons its allies because its expedient.
WHY is the US so keen to support budding dictator Erdogan? One would think that a secular, west-ward looking Turkey would be an important partner int he region. Instead we have Edogan who seems to want only one thing, to grab as much power as he can and to shift Turkey towards dictatorship.
7
It's beyond me how anyone can justify a move such as this. This transcends the divisions between liberals and conservatives, this is about loyalty and basic human decency. It doesn't take a genius to figure out how this unravels - the Kurds realize that they can't trust American leadership, our absence in a still very volatile region creates a vacuum, radicalism rises, guerrillas and terrorists end up using the very training and weapons provided by us against the US and its allies in the region, rinse and repeat.
Haven't we watched this movie before?
10
There is only one way to make sense of Trump’s foreign policy, and that is by asking the question: Is this something that would please Putin?
The answer is always yes. Shift the blame for interference in the last election from Russia to Ukraine? Yes. Destabilize the trade relations of US and China by pursuing a pointless trade war? Yes. Get out of the way of Russian interests in the Middle East. Yes. (Perhaps I should say, “Da.”)
I started out as skeptical about the claims that Trump was under Putin’s sway. But after years and years of bizarre policy choices that ONLY make sense when viewed through that lens, I just want him out as soon as possible.
Trump is rambling, incoherent and inconsistent in almost everything. But the one consistency? Everything devolves to Putin’s advantage.
11
Do you think Trump might ever think the state department, defense department and the intel communities might actually know something and he should heed their advice?
7
The U.S. is clearly proving to be governed by an authoritarian on both the domestic and foreign fronts. Will we soon be obliged to chant "Long live the King?" Depose him as expeditiously as possible.
5
So, what information did Turkey offer to manufacture against the Bidens? That might explain this sudden change.
5
The chaos of Trump's administration, along with his impulsive and questionably motivated foreign policy decisions, are gradually chipping away at our national security, making us more vulnerable to the threat of foreign adversaries and terrorists, both at home and abroad. Trump's foreign policy decisions with respect to the middle east have played right into the hands of Islamic hardliners and extremists, such as his attempt to ban immigrants from Muslim countries or his decision to bail on our agreement with Iran (with nothing to replace it with). As qualified national security experts like Mattis leave, as state department officials resign, as trump alienates and betrays our allies, (in this case, the Kurdish forces), our enemies grow stronger and ever more dangerous to the U.S. The foreign leaders who trump panders to, like Putin and Kim Jong Un, don't want to just weaken the U.S., they would destroy the U.S. if they could .... they've made no secret of this. With trump in power, along with his Republican lackeys who protect and enable him at all costs to the U.S., I seriously worry for our country's safety and security. Our country cannot risk another 4 years of trump ... it's not safe for any of us.
4
Once again, Putin is beside himself with delight. Trump is working out well beyond what Putin had imagined when he backed him for President. What else could Trump give him? Perhaps Alaska since it's really closer to Russia then the US and they could probably do something with all the oil up there.
5
Thank goodness we have a "very stable genius" making these sorts of crucial foreign policy decisions.
5
Just when you think the Trump regime can't get any worse or more flagrantly cruel, it does.
We aren't on a slippery slope to dictatorship and authoritarianism, we are on speed dial with Trump.
So our allies lose and Putin wins. Why would that be? We better find out fast. And which side is the Republican Party on, anyway?
This is yet another test for just how patriotic the GOP really is. Any bets???
7
If there is a choice to be made between an autocrat and an ally, Trump will always choose the autocrat.
8
What is it about these sketchy world leaders and Trump? Is he that hellbent on pleasing them so much so that he is willing to jeopardize what little stability there is this corner of the Middle East? Maybe he should have a chat with George W. Bush about "is it ain't broke, then don't fix it..."
5
Only feasible rationale for this move is to placate his political base and to ingratiate himself with another suspect leader. Sadly, the Kurds have been there for us and this is their reward for being an invaluable ally. Trump's ability to see the ramifications of his decisions is sorely lacking as he is likely to see the resurgence of ISIS in that area, yes the same ISIS he announced we had defeated - perhaps ISIS is really an acronym appropriate to Trump... In Swamp I Swim.
1
I can’t help wondering what kind of help Erdogan promised Trump in the presidential election in exchange for this sudden policy change.
7
Sounds like Trump is clearing the path for Russian forces. Wonder what phone calls he got this weekend and from whom? Perhaps Putin suggested this, and if not, Putin will still be happy. His pal Trump.
2
With impeachment under way, Trump knows he has nothing to lose. This decision to abandon the Kurds will be the first of many such decisions as Trump cashes in his chips before he is shown the door.
3
The U.S. is going to continue to pay dearly for letting a game show host fraud by the name of Trump into the Oval Office.
Americans are not safe while this convicted fraudster remains in office.
6
Has a kurdish prosecutor refused to investigate the Bidens ?
3
It appears no one on this planet can trust us as long as this man is in the white house. It is indescribable that we would abandon the Kurds! ISIS will be back because of this betrayal sooner rather than later and no one will help us next time, and they shouldn't. For the past 2.5 years we prove over and over we can't be trusted. It is appalling. I know we are better than this but it will take time for anyone else to believe in us again.
3
The "blowback" for not living up to our Faustian deal with Osama Bin Laden was the terrorist attack on the WTC. This time, instead of just double-crossing a wealthy Saudi, we are deserting an organized force of allies who have lost tens of thousands of lives helping a common cause. We are once again proving to be as treacherous and unreliable as mercenaries. For American citizens to sit back and believe "they hate us for our way of life" must remember that how we do foreign policy is a part of "our way of life." It's not democracy, and free speech that encourage our enemies to line up with hatred, it's blatant acts of betrayal like our leaving the Kurds to die. While Americans never know, never make the connections, or just don't care about what our military does abroad, history and the families and countrymen of people we betray remember and we will reap all that we sow.
4
Trump is throwing the Kurds to the wolves. The Kurds have been our allies and have done more to fight ISIS than any other ally. Why is Trump doing this? Did Erdogan promise him something or is this for Putin or both?
3
Blood on his hands. That of Kurdish allies he has unilaterally betrayed, that of the minority populations - including the Yazidi-in the corner of Syria he just yielded to Turkey, and that of the untold many thousands who will be killed over years to come as the violence he just unleashed begets more cycles of conflict.
3
It can’t be said enough: 45 has properties in Turkey. Conflict of interest.
6
Did anyone really think that Trump would not side with the autocrat against our allies? This is just one more of his infatuations with dictators. It will definitely harm the US reputation, but that reputation is already so soiled that this is a relatively small downward increment. It simply confirms what the rest of the world has already concluded.
2
After the Paris Accord withdrawal, the Iranian agreement pull out, the trade rules reversals, and now this betrayal of the Kurds. who will ever trust our word again?
We have become the big bully in the international schoolyard and no one is around to stop us.
1
I want a transcript of the call between the Stable Genius and the Turk!
4
I remember when Republicans castigated Obama for pulling troops out of Iraq. Seems a long time ago.
1
Morally bankrupt. It will require decades to recover from the damage done in three years. Trump's behavior is strictly short-term transactional. What benefits me in the moment. Promises and alliances are made to be broken if he can't see a benefit in the moment. If a soldier in the field abandoned their post the way Trump abandons allies, Trump would be the first to shout that they should be shot for treason.
2
Trump seems to be running foreign policy independently of our top military and congressional leaders. I think that's called dictatorship.
8
It is incomprehensible that Trump would make a personal deal with Erdogan to "get out of the way" of Turkish invaders intent on slaughtering the Kurdish allies who sacrificed thousands of lives to help defeat the ISIS terrorists that neither the U.S. nor Iraqis could defeat. The blood of the Kurds will be on everyone who voted to put this traitor in office. They will own it, and when the horrific images start to flow in, they should be forwarded to every Trump supporter. It is a shameful time to be an American. This will certainly come back to haunt us, when ISIS once more rises in the Syrian and Iraqi desert and images of beheadings are once again displayed across the internet. Don't expect the Turks, Syrians, or Russian "advisors" to confront them, and the Kurds will be holed up in their own territory.
3
What ally is going to trust the word of the USA? Trump does not act for just now, but for future presidents, too.
3
Wait, so to be clear, we've invested likely millions if not billions in the Kurds, and now will allow Turkey to wipe that all out. Forgetting the humanitarian travesty (which the GOP never really cares about anyway): this is literally a waste of every dollar we've invested there (which theoretically the GOP does care about). It's like the farm bailout all over again!
3
I was deployed @ outset of OIF and was sickened to hear this news. The Kurds are the only stable outfit in this region -- and we return their steadfast support with this betrayal! The Turks hate the Kurds - the Kurds may meet the same fate as the Armenians - genocide.
And for all we know, Trump is doing this at Erdogan's request. Trump holds investments in Turkey but not in Syria and certainly not in Kurdish territories.
Republican Senators best think long and hard when this impeachment vote lands on their sorry heads. And woe be unto them, if they allow this oaf to stay in office.
6
Who would be a friend and ally of the US after this betrayal. Sticking a knife in the back of the Kurds to satisfy an autocratic Ottoman sends a signal that no group should be willing to fight and die for the the US. Besides a betrayal of strategically important American principles of freedom, democracy and self determination (not principles Trump is familiar with I guess), it will, in future cost the US immeasurably in lives, treasure and respect. Future mothers with thank you Mr Trump for putting their sons and daughters and husbands in harms way. A critical and massive betrayal, for who and what? Trump should be using its power, prestige and global respect to bring the Kurds and Turks together. More shame and betrayal by this President.
7
Trump campaigned on "bringing the troops home".
The Establishment and its media, the Washington Foreign Policy Establishment, and the Military Industrial Complex all love Forever War, and they have done their best to oust Trump before he could "bring the troops home".
Trump may be a sleazy racist, but his instinct for a less militarized foreign policy, and one that seeks to find common ground, not dominance is to be cheered!
Go Trump!
No to the Establishment's beloved Forever Wars!
1
@Lucy Cooke I'm all for ending the endless wars. However, one just doesn't yank forces out without taking into account the results of our actions.
1. At this point, there is no indication of an overall plan to disengage worldwide, probably because there is no plan. Trump cannot think tactically or strategically.So, I wouldn't get too excited about a Trump "promise".
2. The first thing we do (if there is even a plan) is to throw the most reliable ally in the region to the wolves? There are many other ways we can get on with disengagement from the ME war zone, including insulating ourselves from energy shocks that continuous war brings. We still prop up the 9/11 bombers' country, Saudi Arabia. We should have a withdrawal plan that, as far as it can, minimizes the effects of our withdrawal.
Those are merely three of multiple ways we can begin to disengage from endless war.
But no, Trump tosses the Kurds to the Turks, for God knows what reason, and you think that is great??
Seems like Trump cannot bear for anyone who has been successful as a dictator not to like him.
1
This is not just us getting out of endless wars. This is a betrayal of the Kurds.
3
We’ve all learned that with friends like America, who needs enemies?
4
Trump throws the Kurds under the bus. Who can rely upon Trump? No one.
4
As Trump knifes the Kurds in the back/front, one of our most reliable and effective allies in this particular fight, one has to wonder what Erdogan offered in that phone call? Perhaps Trump gets a Trump branded hotel on the Bosphorus Straight or patents for Ivanka or dirt on the Bidens? The Kurds have suffered more than enough at the hands of the Syrians and Turks, now add us to the list. Reprehensible company we keep courtesy of Trump.
5
This sends a strong message to our allies: Don't trust the United States of America!
5
President Trump is not the only one to betray
Kurds. Late president George H Bush in 1991
encouraged Kurds to rise up and overthrow
Saddam Hussein. They rebelled and America
provided no support. Kurds were crushed.
Kurds should know they are friendless.
They are used and betrayed.They should
stay way from aligning with any western power.
3
Foreign policy is all about trading favors. I know what the Kurds are doing for the US, they are fighting the terrorists who want to attack us again some day. What, however, is Turkey doing for the benefit of the US? Does anyone know, because I can't think of anything?
2
@rs: Better think of what Turkey is doing for the benefit of Trump.
This decision is so full of callousness and lack of respect for our allies the Kurds! When nearly every corner of the Democratic world has spoken out against, our President chooses to ignore! He should worry more. I believe American Presidents are immunized from being hauled before the Hague post WWII. But in the case of causing Genocide, Mr. Trump may just find the political winds here and pressure from NATO allies to bend if directly causing yet another Genocide on our planet!
I've become too cynical in the age of the Trump! I truly hope that this is not one of The President's unnecessary distractions! If I see one news story showing Mr. Trump welcoming home Troops at Andrews and then tweeting about being the only President able to get them home, I'm selling my T.V!
4
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell on Sunday urged GOP members to "get a grip on itself" and said President Donald Trump's foreign policy is "in shambles." How right he proved to be.

5
No one man has done so much damage to this country than Trump and caused so much needless suffering and death.
Trump doesn't care. And neither do any of his GOP enablers.
May history condemn them all.
3
The Kurds have been loyal allies of the US and sacrificing them to Erdogan is betrayal. The Kings, Emirs and Princes in the MIddle East must be very worried and Putin may soon fill Trump's vacuum.
1
Looks like we have just gotten another enemy.
Another ally thrown under the bus, do we have any left?
3
This is a step in the right direction. The U.S. involvement in the region including Iraq, Afganistan, and Syria did not improve the lives of its inhabitants. Rather, conditions have gotten worse for the vast majority of the people. So, the U.S. withdrawal will give them a chance to sort out their differences and find common ground to live together.
2
Or there with be a Kurdish genocide or mass displacement. As the US shows the world time and time again - we’re only your alloy until it’s inconvenient for us.
2
@Haci Withdrawal is good, but throwing the Kurds to the Turks as the very first thing we do??
I have no problem with letting the ME sort out its differences among themselves. However, we;ll need a plan to contain the chaos (refugees), we'll need a plan to counter the disruption in oil supplies (renewables and nuclear are not ready at this moment), and we should at least get the one reliable ally we've had recently out of the way of the Turks.
Turks were waiting for this opportunity to kill Kurds. Kurds were our allies.... what happened?? ... now we don't need them any more?? Turks will slutter them. There will be no peace in the region rather another war... wait and see.
At the end of the day, is Bashir a better choice for Syria than the trauma of a civil war? Yes, he is a brutal dictator, but after toppling 2 regimes (Iraq and Libya), it appears that brutal dictators are better than the alternative (ISIS).
GWB believed that inside of every Iraqi citizen was an American heart yearning to be free, but it seems like the reality is that the citizens of Iraq and Syria just want to install a more conservative and religious based dictatorship.
9
@James
To some extent Assad was forced to be a brutal leader in reaction to the US effort to destabilize Syria in order to do regime change since at least 2006, as explained in a diplomatic cable leaked in 2012.
The US was promoting Sunni rebellion in Syria for a long time. Foreign encouraged insurgencies to not bring out the best in any leader.
2
Uh, we’re about ten years too late to avert civil war in Syria.
@Lucy Cooke
Not really. Bashar al-Assad is doing little more than following in the footsteps of his tyrannical despot of a father Haffez.
Do some research.
Madison's works on the tyranny of endless war have played out over the past 18 years. Rather than reflexively lambast Trump for getting out, because I disagree with the GOP on most issues, on this one he's right. The very fact that the center left and right are attacking him is proof. The $6 trillion mistake has to end and that includes everything from Yemen to Iran.
4
@Northcountry Running away and burying your head in the sand will not eliminate the threats to ours and the other democracies around the world. I agree that violence and war are pathetic at changing minds, but there are good alternatives and we can employ them.
We can also stand by our word to people like the Kurds. ISIS is a horror and the Kurds stood up to them and fought hard with the assurance that we stood with the Kurds. Now to abandon them to death and destruction is cowardly.
2
Perhaps you could direct me to Madison’s great treatise on being childishly flattered, ignoring the experts, giving a guy like Erdogan what he wants, kissing up to KGB colonels, and selling out our only real ally in Syria.
1
When I heard this on the morning news, all I could think of was the image of the people on the roof trying to catch the last helicopter out of Vietnam when the Americans pulled out. At least there was a peace process before that action and the people knew what to expect although they were surely terrified at that moment. Here the Kurds have supported American troops valiantly in our effort to defeat Isis. I wonder who will ever trust us again to stand with us or even believe the word of American leaders in the future.
33
This will be simply one more nail in the coffin of the US’s reputation for strength and integrity. Donald Trump has befouled and degraded every aspect of our government. It will take years to undo the damage.
3
At least nobody will trust the Trump administration again !
It happened on a Monday.
The United States had an ally in war. A trusted ally that fought for years against a common enemy. More than ten thousand of them died. 157 Americans also gave their life.
While the war was going on, their ally also fought another enemy that killed many more thousands of them during that same time period. Many more would have died had it not been partly protected and supported by their American ally.
Then suddenly, a grumpy old man decides that the ally who, for years, died for his countries cause, are of no use for him. He tells the enemy of his friend that he does not care about his, now former, friend anymore. He knows very well that they are enemies.
This grumpy old man is the leader of the "free world," the President of the most powerful country this world has, to our knowledge, ever seen. A country that since its beginning, has profiled itself as a champion for peace, democracy, decency, and human rights. The leader of a country which controls the biggest military alliance in the world.
He knows that his decision will kill thousands of his former allies and might even be the start signal for a genocide. Not many in the country he leads agrees with his decision and he does not really bother to explain it either.
Life goes on. For some.
26
Lots of speculation here about Trump's motives. My guess is it's just another impulsive decision made on the spur of the moment, with scarcely any strategizing or deep reflection, and without bothering to consult the "great military" or what remains of the State Dept. It might have been as simple as a few words of flattery from Erdogan. Trump really is that shallow.
21
@Jomo
Don't forget Recep Tayip Erdogan is also the kind of strongman dictator Trump so unabashedly admires.
Then add to that the fact that Turkey just purchased a Russian surface-to-air missile system, thereby thumbing their nose to the EU and NATO - and you see another reason why Trump may have come to his dreadful decision to abandon the Kurds.
1
@Jomo Where would anyone get the idea Trump even has the capacity for strategizing or deep reflection? Look up "shallow" in the dictionary and you'll find his picture.
Let's see, first Turkey defies the US by buying a Russian missile defense system - even though its part of NATO - and Trump does nothing. Now, in defiance of all our allies, our military and congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle, Trump agrees to pull our troops back so that the Turks can have a clear path to annihilate the Kurds - who up until last night had been our main pillar of support - and significant advancement of US goals in Syria.
When do we face the fact that Vladimir Putin has succeeded in placing a Russian operative in the White House?
40
@Harry Not quite accurate: Trump sides with Erdogan and blaims .... Obama. As if Turkey needed the S-400 to defend itself against the nonexistent syrian, iranian, lebanese and kurdish air forces!
@Felix Chandler Thanks for you useful addition further supporting my point!
There was a time when American diplomatic promises had great value, at least until the end of 2016. There was an unwritten rule that new administrations would follow through on agreements and promises made by previous administrations. Trump threw all of that out of the Window. Now American promises are worth zilch, nada, zero - in other word NOTHING. For future Presidents it will take decades to repair the lost of trust in the United States, if it is at all possible. Now we lost the most important tool of diplomacy, which is the weight of our word and promises. The only thing we have left is the strength of our military - which should only be used when diplomacy has failed to ensure our interests in the world. God help us all - we are sailing in a very unstable and unpleasant future.
14
If a spokesman for the Kurds had arranged to talk to Trump two minutes after the Erdogan call, I'm pretty sure POTUS would have reverted back to his earlier position.
7
@Lee perhaps not, Mr. Lee of NM - POTUS has no financial incentives to back the Kurds. But he does with Turkey.
@Lee
No. He prefers strongmen and bullies.
I never heard about any "friend" or "ally" as untrustworthy and unreliable as the Trump US is towards the Kurds.
As a Danish citizen,I will from now on argue for Denmark leaving NATO asap; why be a member of a defence alliance when NATO's by far strongest military can't be trusted to do anything it should?
The Kurds lost 15,000 fighters, young men and women, fighting a war that was in the US interest too. Now they are stabbed in the back.
20
@Per Kassow Why doesn't Denmark take 3.5 Million refugees in Turkey then? No seriously you should take them. Will they stay in Turkey forever or jump onto the boats to cross to EU?? That safe zone is needed for those people to return to Syria
1
@Per Kassow
Of course it's your decision to make, just don't underestimate Russia's desire to regain its former Soviet dominance over the Balkan states -- your neighbors.
Trump is an abomination.
NATO is not.
1
@Carlos Because Turkey CREATED these reufgees by supporting ISIS and every jihadist organization to start with? And because the reason they cannot go back (they did NOT come from SDF held territories which are safe and sane) is that Turkey supports their jihadist allies in Idlib and elsewhere. This is not to say that the EU is not idiotic by paying a mass murderer to bury his victims (or Erdogan who creates refugees to keep them from coming to Europe)
As of this morning, every American ally understands that the U.S. cannot be trusted to keep its word.
21
@Frank
The sad thing is, all our important allies had already worked that out already.
1
@MrC The leader of Finland, with the look on his face while meeting the dotard in the offal office said it all...this Trump guy is unhinged and cannot be trusted.
What was the quid pro quo and how did Trump benefit?
20
Did he get anything in return for this betrayal?
13
@mp
Certainly is a coincidence that today the ruling also came down for the Manhattan D.A. to gain access to 8 years of Trump's taxes, don't you think?
1
This is deplorable.
The Kurds have been loyal allies to the US against terrorists and borne the brunt of the fighting. They also have a right to self-determination. They are not terrorists as the Turkish government alleges. However, the Turkish government is about to unleash a campaign of terror on Kurdish men, women and children
14
yes... I am an Armenian and I know that.... yet another genocide in the region will happen because Turks hate Kurds and they want them out of their sight. US president betrayal is frustrating . Shame on you Trump.
2
I wonder how trump will financially profit from this decision.
19
Trump's foreign policy seems chaotic until you consider the widely-held belief that he serves Putin's interests rather than our own.
Seeing the recent rehabilitation of George W. Bush's reputation (in contrast to the current kakistocrat) made me ponder, and I decided that W was still the worst POTUS since he has so much unnecessary blood on his hands. Trump seems determined to catch up, and I'm wondering if the compliance of a spineless and immoral GOP extends to enabling genocide, betraying our allies, and appeasing our enemies.
8
So...was this particular phone call also put in the secure server? What was the quid pro quo from Erdogan?
12
We allied with the Turkish Kurds to defeat ISIS in Syria. The US supplied the air power and the Kurds did the dirty work of combat on the ground. The Kurds spared US ground forces from having to fight and die in Syria to defeat ISIS. It’s ironic that Trump now abandons the only ally since World War II that fought as hard as US troops. Shame on Trump for deserting the Kurdish forces in Syria to the unmerciful Turks. No country will ally with the US in the future when we can abandon them on a whim.
11
What's the problem? Historically, the Turks have always treated the Kurdish people well.
I’m assuming you are being facetious. If not, check the Wikipedia pages on this subject. It’s not pretty.
This president is incapable of making an independent assessment that does not wildly favor himself. All of his motives are suspect. Someone else needs to be in charge of this.
9
Trump probably struck a deal with Erdogan.
"I'll let you slaughter the Kurds and you can; a) meddle in the upcoming election and help me win, b) let me build the best Trump resort in Istanbul, c) give me sanctuary after I'm forced from office".
Whatever the deal you can be sure its not about Making America Great Again. Its about Donald Trump.
10
Trump just accomplished the impossible. He got the word "impeachment" out of today's headlines. He had to throw a bunch of allies under the bus to do it, but hey, it was worth it!
9
In exchange for Trump's selling out the Kurds, did Erdogan promise to investigate the Russia "hoax" or back off on pressing the Saudis on Jamal Khashoggi's murder and dismemberment? What will be left of our country's honor and principles, by the time the pseudo author of "The Art of the Deal" is done selling them to the highest bidder?
9
This will give our country a black eye. Throwing these fighters under the bus for Erdogan. The outcome of this will be a disaster and cost many lives. We should be supporting the Kurds.
4
People are going to be killed and painfully maimed Let's not sanitize the horrors of war with words like, "swept away."
5
Lindsey Graham, you total hypocrite:
"If I didn't see Donald Trump's name on the tweet I thought it would be Obama's rationale for getting out of Iraq," the South Carolina Republican told Fox News' "Fox and Friends" during a telephone interview, after the president posted a series of messages on Twitter about the pullout."
7
If you were a political/militia in the middle east who would you rather have as an ally: the US or Russia?
1
So trump abandons our Kurdish allies in Syria after the Kurd's lost nearly ten thousand fighters assisting us in destroying ISIS. What would cause this terrible human being to do this to a friend of American interests in the Middle East. I can only view this as an act of an evil man and I hope the Senate Republicans think about this as the consider impeachment. What other friends around the world will this man destroy.
10
So, what payoff did the Turkish dictator give Trump in exchange for betraying America's most loyal allies in the region?
Is Ivanka getting some new trademarks? Will a new Trump Tower go up in Istanbul? Or is the Turkish government going to loudly announce a gaudy "investigation" of Joe Biden?
3
@Felix Hm. [Googles....] A little online research indicates that there's already a Trump Tower in Istanbul, and that it's been the subject of conflict-of-interest controversies. Quelle surprise!
This should come as no surprise given the long history of U.S. rampages and abandonment abroad. The Kurds need to quickly make an arrangement with Assad and put their independent country hopes away for another day.
1
Wonderful. Support a tyrant in Turkey while throwing our faithful allies who have fought so bravely our foes, ISIS, under the bus. Trump has no honor and will cut the throat of a friend as quickly as an enemy if it suits his purposes.
6
The US has become a second rate country without integrity, like our amoral corrupt President.
8
Perhaps now Turkey will be enlisted to dig up "dirt" on Trump political opponents.
3
No wonder our allies see as such an unreliable partner when we sell out our allies such as the Kurds so easily.
This is a shameful act.
4
The US (and Israel) doing Erdogan's bidding. Imagine if Germany denied the holocaust, the way that Turkey denies the Armenian genocide. The Kurds fought hard for us. Betrayal of the Kurds makes me cry, but it also makes me promise to see this president and his complicit Senate defeated.
5
Here is Trump in Feb. 2019: "Trump tells worried ally ‘I love the Kurds’ in hotel meeting": https://thekurdishproject.org/trump-tells-worried-ally-love-kurds-hotel-meeting/ .
Why would any of our longstanding allies trust Trump? I suppose with Erdogan moving towards Moscow this would make Trump happy.
I get that nations do not have friends, they have allies. But with Trump...?
1
And in exchange, Trump gets what? Obviously something.
4
So trump has become a war and ISIS strategist after his show The Apprentice in less than four years? Please..
1
Do you really think Donald Trump cares if he stabs our allies in the back? The Kurds help carry out the US’s dirty work in Syria and this is how they’re repaid? One of the few areas I agree with Trump is that we need to stop fighting endless wars, but it’s flat wrong to have used the Kurds literally as pawns in our game only to abandon them. It goes to show Trump is an amoral president. He also knows he’s going to be forced to resign eventually since he ‘governs’ like a half-wit mob-boss so he’s growing more brazen. Can the Senate vote to remove him from office in secret? Then Republican senators will actually vote their conscience rather than cowering in fear to an out of control, dishonest, mobster of a president.
6
Until now, the standard definition of “to talk Turkey” was to “discuss something frankly and straightforwardly.” Now in the Trump-era it means to stab an ally in the back.
5
So his briefing papers tell him one thing, and the Commander-in-Chief does the exact opposite after a phone call with vicious anti-Kurdish Erdogan. How safe do you feel having the whole of the armed forces and our delicate foreign policy under the leadership of such an ignorant, easily manipulate, and impulsive man?
5
Turkey will engage in Kurdish genocide to rid itself of the so called terrorists.
I am glad that the US is pulling out but our allies (Kurds) should be protected from total annihilation by Turkey. Turkey should be held responsible by the UN if they attack the Kurds.
1
For 100 years now, the United States has made it a priority to “make the world safe for democracy.” When President Wilson made that proclamation, it was a radical departure from Washington’s farewell address to the nation in 1797 which had been the previous cornerstone of American foreign policy. A century later, Wilsonianism has been a total failure. Korea, Vietnam, and the second invasion of Iraq are prime examples. I am in complete agreement with Trump on this. We have to start being very realistic when it comes to foreign engagements going forward. We’ve severely overplayed our hand in the Middle East for the past 20 years and have spent our blood and treasury.
50
@FreedomisPriceless "A century later, Wilsonianism has been a total failure."
Well, fair enough, but only if you omit the two single biggest manpower and policy mobilizations in US history - namely, WWII and the Cold War. WWII was an unprecedented triumph and probably explains why we still think we're good at this stuff. The Cold War was more complicated, but overall, it had its triumphs too: the South Koreans, for instance, have been spared the horror of the North; the Chinese have been deterred from taking back Taiwan; and Eastern Europeans had at least someone taking their side through long years of Soviet domination. Not exactly a total failure.
61
@FreedomisPriceless While that may be true, betraying the oft-betrayed Kurds and leaving them at the mercy of autocratic Turks is most definitely not the way to achieve that goal.
The Kurds seek to form a secular, democratic state and have been fighting for the same for years now. They have been erstwhile allies of the USA in the most recent fights in the Middle East.
Trump's decision (yet another, as this article demonstrates, against the better judgement of his military advisors), following the demands of an autocratic, religious leader (the snake Erdogan), to betray good people is yet another action by this country that makes me *ashamed* to be an American.
If we are not doing our level best to oppose the US gov't as American citizens, we should all be deeply ashamed of ourselves
56
@FreedomisPriceless
*Korea, Vietnam, and the second invasion of Iraq* had absolutely nothing to do with democracy, freedom or Wilsononian ideals. As for the latter, the above mentioned Great Power proxy wars were in essence the antithesis of Mr Wilson's goals.
26
How long before trump turns on New York and California?
3
Why has the US is making the same mistake in foreign policy and interference time after time? It is because no one has ever held responsible for it and many of the same people who got us into the mess are still in power. In the name national security and maintaining world hegemony, the foreign policy does not change regardless of which party is in power and the consequence of these decisions has made us a weaker nation and the world a less safe place.
8
Imagine how the Baltic states feel at this moment. They must believe Trump has assured Putin that the US will not respond when he moves to seize them.
11
With Donald Trump every move is for personal gain. So When Donald Trump makes a policy decision like this without consulting the best minds in America's military and national security departments. The first question we should be asking is what percentage of a luxury hotel did he get in downtown Ankara.
11
Should Trump would have been CEO of a 500 company, he would have been FIRED a long time ago for the REPUTATIONAL RISK alone he incurs at every step.
Nor he would be able to blame the Marketing Department or the Human Resources department or the previous CEO or even his competitors for the lack of progress and/or achievements or for the mismanagement under his administration.
Why does anyone still tolerates him at the helm of the most important office of the land, it is beyond me!
11
Given his track record and the readily apparent lack of knowledge or curiosity to learn any subject matter, as demonstrated by Trump, we should view every action taken by this particular POTUS with a large degree of skepticism. He has earned a reputation for making poor policy decisions and doing so based on what is not in the best national security or foreign policy interest of the U.S. or our allies. Instead, every act seems designed to draw media attention and appease his base alone, during what is always a time when he is under the gun for one self-imposed blunder or another.
3
As George Friedman, in his book: "The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century," has outlined, the West strategy in ME has been, and continues to be, keeping the region politically and economically unstable. That policy keeps oil prices down and ensures that no country in the region becomes strong enough to defend itself, when its interest collides with those of the West.
So, in light of that "strategy," let see how the West is handling the news of rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran (The NYT article: "Saudi Arabia and Iran Make Quiet Openings to Head Off War," Oct. 4, 2019). As quoted in the article: “An Iranian-Saudi dialogue, .... could solve many of the region’s security and political problems”. That does not seem bode well for the West.
Well ... surprise, surprise! Suddenly we see a renewed effort to destabilize Iraq, which until last week was quiet. BBC Arabic broadcasts in the region has started reporting that the clergy in that country is involved in some nasty business, as if that was something new. Note that Iraq's balkanization is guaranteed to destabilize the whole ME for decades to come.
And, Turkey - the only ME country in NATO - suddenly decides that the time is ripe to attack northern Syria, when the winter in that mountainous area has just started! Turks attacks will soon become a justification for Iraq's Kurds to renew their push for independence. And soon the whole ME will be in a mess again. You would say, mission accomplished!
6
As with all things Trump, look at Russia and Putin to see how they benefit. Withdrawal leaves a power vacuum that I’m sure Russia will be stepping into shortly, for humanitarian reasons of course.
11pm on Sunday was about 6am Monday morning in Moscow. It’s always nice to wake up to good news on a Monday.
7
Once again here's Trump doing exactly what Putin wants. Also turning our backs on the Kurds (who will ever trust us again?) Trump endangers us in ways big and small every day of the year.
11
Did anyone read it. They have 60,000 fighters,we have one thousand there,not going to make a great difference.The Turkish forces just gave US notice ,ok, they are going in full force,there's no decision here it's done.It's a civil and religious ,territorial war many centuries lasting ,how many centuries do we have to do this ?Fundamentalism is concerned with interpretations of the Koran and Islam ,do we really understand that? Afganistan next ,get out ,enforce our borders for a change.
4
Did you? We’ve afforded the Kurds with training, military aid, and political cover. They’ve been our ONLY reliable allies in Syria. And they aren’t “fundamentalists;” they’ve been fighting those.
So of course, trump’s selling them out.
1
@Alan, you may have read the article but do not understand how many times the Kurds have helped us out and we have turned our backs to them when they needed our help. Without the Kurds we would not have been able to defeat ISIS. Now we are turning our backs ton them so that the idiot in the Oval Office can make a profit with a dictator.
1
We are betraying an ally. NO ONE will ever trust us again.
10
Rep. Gallego states, “The Kurds will never trust America again." Who does?
Does everyone see the mess that the trump government is in?:
'But around that same time, Turkish officials were privately saying that they saw things very differently: They said they perceived a sharp division between Mr. Trump and other American officials — most notably generals in the United States Central Command, which oversees troops in the Middle East."
Well, maybe Turkey has invited Giuliani to give him details on the Russia investigation.
5
But we’ll send troops to help the Saudi’s. I don’t remember hearing them fight along side us. Although they did let us use their airspace.
3
@TW Saudis have OIL, Kurds don't!
Lindsay Graham thought, for a moment, that for his defense of trump he would get a "quid pro quo"....trump would continue the strategic US presence in Syria.
Seems that trump is letting "Lil' Lindsay' know that in an election year, where Graham is vulnerable, that loyalty is a one-way street.
8
Another betrayal of our allies by Trump and for the benefit of Russia. The mind boggles at how Republicans can continue to support their president as he takes his marching orders from dictators like Erdogan and Putin. I guess holding political power in an America rapidly falling in world stature and relevance really is the only Republican goal.
5
Yes, we have abandoned the Kurdish people.
Our allies have seen this treachery before. They will abandon us.
4
This is what happens when the 25th amendment isn’t used when it is clearly called for.
9
Donald Trump makes Neville chamberlain look like Churchill. If you thought we were close to hitting bottom, buckle up. I hear people talking about guard rails and that misses the point that there’s no floor, Trump and his enablers are taking us to depths I never imagined our country would sink to in my lifetime.
It’s a sad day for me and all my sisters and brothers who sacrificed their lives protecting our servicemen (in and out of uniform).
Our country looks to people like general mattis and the silence is painful. Our duty is to our allies, to our fellow citizens not to any office holder.
10
Instead of a Manchurian candidate we have a Manhattan candidate, probably coopted willingly via laundered Russian loot, or the promise of a Moscow Trump Tower, or maybe just a urine tape. It sounds like Trump made a unilateral, spur of the moment decision similar to the one he threatened right before SecDef Mattis quit.
No one should think Trump made this decision in our best interest. Given his famous lack of preparation, attention to briefings, and a coherent policy development process, it’s likely he did this partly out of ignorance. He’s probably unaware that ISIS has NOT been defeated, that Iraq’s central government is fraying dangerously, and that the Kurds are our most steadfast regional allies.
But Trump is also seriously conflicted. Every day he’s closer to impeachment, and Senator Johnson’s meltdown on Meet the Press was a disaster. At a minimum he needs a major distraction. Trump also has business dealings in Istanbul with similar designs in Russia. His first National Security Adviser was secretly coopted by Turkey and lied about Russian contacts. Trump talks to Putin regularly but tears up translator notes and hides call notes in a top secret vault.
Though he’s a friend of Donald, Putin is not our friend. He wants us divided at home and neutered abroad. Given his country is pretty much a gas station with nukes, Putin also wants a major seat at the table in the oil rich Middle East. He also wouldn’t mind a few million more Syrian refugees destabilizing Europe.
4
Why do I have this sickening feeling that we're abandoning yet another ally in response to, not a geopolitical threat, not an imminent danger to US troops, but just so Trump can maintain his Istanbul hotel property?
6
Fast-forward a few months or a year: The 'safe zone' after brutal attacks on Kurds and their retaliation will be invaded by Erdogan's tanks to 'defend' the peace. Turkey will annex the strip - Assad is too weak to prevent it, USA has moved its presence to Greece (who urgently needs the money + will buy US gas + drill for oil). Turkey will drill for oil as well, as will Cyprus.
result: war, Kurds pushed into the underground (some will call it terrorism), loss of tourism for all parties, made up by petrol dollars and environmental destruction. Good job!
3
I seriously doubt Trump has the intelligence or understands diplomacy well enough to make this kind of decision. Who's pulling his strings?
4
Father knows best. Just another blunder by trump that will harm many Americans in the long run. The guy has gone rogue or has lost his mind deciding he knows better than his military advisors. Will the republicans ever wake up or will they Be collaborators in destroying our country and the world?
3
Our support for the Kurds and Israel must have limits. We cannot allow the Kurds and Kurdish extremists to destabilize Turkey. Turkey is a NATO ally. Time to set limits and leave the region. ISIS is just 'Click Bait' and not the only issue on the table.
3
The Kurds are our strongest allies in the Middle East, and Trump turns his back on them. Europe, are you listening?
6
Should there not be some rules that a president under an impeachment inquiry should not be allowed to take major foreign policy decisions?
2
At the very least, the nuclear codes should be embargoed while Trump is under investigation. Come to think of it, he was never informed or stable enough to have them in the first place.
Horrifying but not surprising. Erdogan is Trump's role model.
2
In an accompanying NYT article on Trump comments on Syria it says,
"But if Turkey moves against the Kurds, the S.D.F. could abandon camps to fight the Turks, potentially allowing some 10,000 Islamic State fighters, including 2,000 foreigners, to escape. United States military officers were trying to reassure the S.D.F. in hopes of avoiding such a scenario."
And exactly what assurance can US military officers provide that doesn't conflict with their Commander In Chief's desire to quit Syria entirely? This comment shouldn't help:
"He offered little sympathy for the fate of America’s Kurdish allies: “The Kurds fought with us,” he wrote, “but were paid massive amounts of money and equipment to do so.”
Hey, they were just hired help.
His impeachment and conviction can't come soon enough.
8
So Trump stabbed out most loyal allies in the Middle East in the back. Nice.
Well, that's classic Donald Trump: whatever the worst decision that can be made in any given situation, he'll make it.
4
Donald Trump and his family of grifters have too much business at risk in Turkey to be anything but subservient to the demands of Erdogan. The Kurds are expendable.
5
This is monstrous. Not only a mistake - a crime.
5
In a job that requires chess move strategies The Donald can only play checkers.
1
Trump couldn’t manage tiddlywinks, let alone checkers. Although in fairness that’s mostly due to his stubby fingers.
Putin in action.
The SU400 will be supplied next week, despite US protests, and last week Putin was selling SU57 fighter to Erdogan. So Syrian airspace will become "Russian controlled completely" as these two work closely with Iran aswell.
Well done mr T. I am sure Israel is very happy with this(not).
ISIS for sure is happy, after countless non claimed attacks in Turkey they now see the Kurds getting blamed.
Betrayed by the USA again, as they were left alone by GHW Bush in 1991 together with the Shiites in Iraq.
Thanks for your help, but modern USA support is a one way dead end street.
4
I read these types of articles trying to understand a complex situation/decision. However, once I get the word "Russia" or "Putin", I usually stop reading as the reasons behind the decision become crystal clear.
2
Iran was NOT our friend. But, we had a signed internationally negotiated agreement that we completely reneged on. The Kurds WERE our friends who fought and died along side of us. Now we betray them to be slaughtered by autocratic President for life. Under this administration, we have become a HORRIBLE country.
Why would ANY country attempt to negotiate in good faith with this administration ?
5
Uh, oh. Expect more Trump hotels to be sprouting up in Turkey in the years to come. Quid pro quo...
6
“The Kurds will never trust America again.”
What ally would?
3
This is mud in the eye of Senator Graham and the general idea of Kurdish legitmacy. Allowing Turkey freedom to decimate Kurdistan must have been approved by the Kremlin and Syria. Russia is in on this deal and the GOP needs to wise up or kiss the party goodbye.
3
Maybe Turkey offered to investigate Biden if Trump backed off.
But if we don't want to continue supporting allies (or charge them if we do), why do we need the biggest military budget ever?
Oh, right, so Macho Man Trump can strut around and boast, thinking that threatens people.
1
Republicans need to step up to the plate fast. Anyone who knows history knows this is flat out wrong.
3
Always fascinating to see Trump kowtow to a strongman/dictator, and throw allies to the wolves. Especially because of how hung up Trump is on loyalty to himself above all. And when he doesn't get his way, he throws domestic, and now foreign, allies under the bus. Sigh -- what a travesty of leadership.
2
Our stable genius has rediscovered the simplest and oldest solution to all socio economic problems: Build a fence or wall around a strip of land and cast troublemakers and unwanted ethnic groups into it. Build watchtowers and have police round up refugees and other suspicious persons who don't seem to fit in and make them disappear.
2
This cowardly dishonorable and despicable abandonment of the America's staunch Kurdish allies will have consequences.
Among the most effective, implacable and motivated foes of the ethnic Arab Sunni Muslim Wahhabi extremist terrorist likes of al Qaeda, ISIS, the Saudi royals and the Gulf Arab states are the Sunni Muslim ethnic Kurds.
The ethnic Kurds have no state where they are a majority. They are feared and hated by ethnic Arabs, Persians aka Iranians and Turks.
Saladin was an ethnic Kurd.
The second most motivated foes of the Sunni Muslim Wahhabi extremist terrorists are Shia Muslim Arabs and Persians aka Iranians.
5
A friend of Despots through and through. That’s our Trump.
2
Once again, the master of deflection has worked his magic. Instead of talking about impeachment today, we will be focused on this dishonorable decision.
3
Sad to see us abandoning the Kurds yet again.
1
Here Trump & Company has become more unhinged but as Turkey reduces civil liberties which I feel Trump would love to do in our country if we let him!...no surprise here.
2
Fight for the Americans, and when you win, be abandoned to your enemies. Great message.
4
The US has lost all sense of honor under Trump.
Democrats you want your motto for 2020, here it is:
"Restore Honor".
4
Abandon allies, appease enemies, embrace Putin. The current affairs in US foreign policy.
2
This is an outrageous betrayal of a critical ally, without whose efforts and bloodshed ISIS would still control large swaths of territory in northeastern Syria. The U.S. provided munitions and advice, but it was the Kurds who valiantly fought and died in order to reduce ISIS.
How do we show our gratitude? By delivering them to the tender mercies of a Turkish would-be dictator. Now, as a full century ago at Versailles, the Kurds have not a single friend in the world, and the U.S. is revealed again as unworthy of anyone's trust.
'
447
@Peter Ellis No it was the US airpower destroying every city and town ISIS had occupied or haven't you seen pictures of those cities/towns?-totally destroyed. The US had no business invading and occupying Syria and should leave it ASAP to further stop the death and destruction there. The Kurds have to make a deal with the Syrian government sooner or later and definitely stop supporting anti-Turkey groups. How many global undeclared wars to you support and Syria is Zero threat to the US.
3
@Peter Ellis The Kurds did indeed get a raw deal by the Europeans who divided up the Middle East a century ago. Bot for once America was not involved in that travesty. The United Nations is where the future of the Kurds and Kurdistan should be decided, not on the battlefield
@Peter Ellis
Trumpeteer Lindsay Graham and even Fox and Friends are in shock!
7
The Kurds, who Americans fought beside and used to defeat ISIS, deserve our continued support. They also deserve a Kurdistan. They don't deserve our betrayal.
63
@Mr. Peabody
Not a single US ally supports the creation of Kurdistan. The Kurds were used to defeat ISIS because that's what was convenient for US policy at the time.
It's no different than how the US used the Afghan mujaheddin to fight the Russians, and then turned against them when it was more convenient to do so.
@Mr. Peabody and who fought against North Koreans and Soviets: TURKEY
Erdogan: "Nice hotel you got here in Ankara. Would be terrible if something happened to it."
Trump: "Yes, terrible"
Erdogan: "But I need a favor. Take those troops out of Syria so we can attack those terrrorist Kurds and put a lot of Syrian refugees there."
Trump: "I can do that."
Erdogan: "And of course your hotel is safe with us. But no quid pro quo"
Trump: "Right! No quid pro quo."
70
Who would be willing to ally with the USA in the future?
44
@AF
No one allies with the US because they want to; they do it because they are forced to, and there is no better option.
@Viv That option is now a question to be asked-will the loon stand with us when needed, and what will the be the cost, the payoff, the quid pro quo.
I have mixed emotions, believing we never should have sent troops to Syria in the first place. That wasn't Trump's decision, but this is abandoning your allies on the battlefield, basically saying 'Well, if the Kurds and Turkey want to go to war, that's cool. I like Pres. Erdogan, he's my kinda guy.'
17
Trump’s nationalism coincides with that of autocrats throughout the world and history: appeal to human instinct of tribalism. The lack of humanity involved with this philosophy has and always will lead us to the darkest places we share as a species. As the descendant of grandparents who survived the Armenian Genocide perpetuated by Turkey in the name of nationalism I always hope our leaders are more enlightened. We must demand more from the each other and our leaders.
19
Trump has his towers in Istanbul. So he sells out the only loyal ally we have in that region (the Kurds) to Erdogan. I wonder what else he got for himself in that deal?
30
Abandoning The Kurds is deplorable.
36
Another phone call transcript in need of a whistleblower...
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So, right after a call with Erdogan, Trump decides to do this against the advice of the DoD and State. Why? Choose one:
1 -- Trump Hotel Istanbul
2 -- Trump Hotel Ankara
3 -- Erdogan promised to make up some dirt on Biden
4 -- Turkish embassy moving into Trump Hotel International
Vote now -- polls close at midnight!
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@PghMike4
I think we need to have more than one vote in this circumstance.
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If annyonnne believes our brave soldiers need to be in Syria they are sadly mistaken, this quagmire has been trapping armies for millennia and wasting everyone's angst .
Leavinng is correct, Afghanistan and Iran next please.
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This promises to be a massacre indeed; Erdogan sees the Kurdish forces the same way Israel sees Hezbollah or Hamas. He's determined to wipe them out if the U.S. abandons them, which President Trump just did.
The Kurds, who have long lived in the area, have avoided joining the Sunni jihadists' campaign to overthrow the Syrian government, so they haven't made themselves enemies. They're entirely focused on carving out a homeland for the first time. They also include many Iraqi Kurds.
Erdogan's attack and the U.S. betrayal might make the Kurds desperate enough to make a pact with the Assad government for survival: "With Russia's weight behind you, keep Erdogan away from our throats and we'll fight on your side to keep ISIS and the other Sunni jihadists suppressed in the region we control. In exchange, you enter good-faith negotiations with us on the creation of a new semi-autonomous Kurdistan."
In short, Trump may be driving the Kurds into the arms of Syria, and by association, Russia.
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@Nick Wright
The notion that anybody - including US allies - support the formation of another independent country for the Kurds to govern themselves is beyond laughable.
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@Viv : It would be helpful if you could explain why that is so, since it's not self evident.
Assad is in a tough spot. He can't take back northeastern Syria by force; it would be too bloody and costly, and it would mean endless problems with the Kurds, who as i said have deep roots in the region already and have largely avoided fighting with the government. Not only that, Russia probably doesn't want him to go to war with the Kurds.
So what can Assad do except deal with the Kurds if he wants to restore the integrity of Syria as much as possible?
The Kurds are even more desperate for territory. I suspect they wouldn't get their own country, but some kind of semi-autonomy that would roughly amount to the same thing. The arrangement would, however, have to guarantee the end of Kurdish militancy against Turkey.
Cadet bone Spurs strikes again.
But make no mistake: Moscow Mitch, Lindsay Graham, Jim Jordan, and the other Republican Enablers are totally COMPLICIT in the betrayal of the Kurds, who we wanted to support our efforts against ISIS.
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Even Senator Lindsey Graham is expressing outrage with Trump's betrayal of an ally which even in late September official American statements were praising.
Does this end the Trump-Graham bromance. Graham may have to find a new golfing partner.
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@Dr. O. Ralph Raymond
Sen. Graham's voice is worthless these days. He's flipped and flopped so often that his credibility, his honor, is spent. Nobody really cares what he has to say - by the end of the day Trump will have thrown him under the bus as well.
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@Dr. O. Ralph Raymond No outrageous act will ever force Graham to give up his seat on the Trump bandwagon.
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This is terrible betrayal that will lead to thousands of deaths. The Kurds have been loyal fighter to stem the tide of ISIS. They have made enormous sacrifices for the International fight against terrorism. This will lead to millions of Syrians to be forced back into Syria and cause untold suffering. When it comes to people fleeing violence and oppression Trump and Erdogan are of one mind. This is another disaster that is going to happen caused by Trump.
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@Oliver There will be no deaths if Kurds come to their senses and pull out of the Arab towns they invaded and let their original owners (Syrian refugees in Turkey) in.
@Oliver If you care about sooo much about suffering of Syrians, why don't you take a few thousands of refugees? Turkey accepted 3.5 Million of them! Did USA send one penny to support those people?
@Carlos Ever crossed your mind that the Kurds LIBERATED these 'Arab towns' from ISIS? And the the SDF includes these Arabs as long as they are sane and not jihadists? As for the syrian refugees they come from the areas invaded by Turkey and its jihadists allies (like Idlib). These sdf-controlled areas have no jihadist and no autocratic Assad rule. They are the safes in Syria until Erdogan and jihadists invade