An excellent column, except you mix the geographic Kurdish nation and the Yazidi faith.
And forget Syria’s strongman, who used nerve gas, mustard gas and other poisons on his own populace, because they embrace a different branch of al-Islam.
And ignore Turkey’s efforts to continue the WW I genocides against Kurds and Armenians, who this Secular Zionist believes deserved homelands returned to them as much as Jews did following the Ottoman’s fall in that conflict.
I guess either we were louder than they were, or the WW I allies understood Judaism better than Islam or the nation-states destroyed centuries earlier by the Ottomans.
A bit of Syria, Turkey and Iraq, for the Kurds, Turkey for the Armenians, and the restoration of old Israel (waiting the longest, the longest), would have helped even block the Second World War outside of Europe and possibly the Far East, strengthening allied forces in the lesser theaters of war. A basic understanding that Islam had been cleft after the death of Mohammed and the break, which makes the division of Christianity into Roman Catholicism, Orthodox Catholicism, Protestantism, Anglicanism and the Coptic Church look trivial would have created a post WW II map with greater stability.
Of course, the British Colonials would have to have been convinced by 1916 to call it a day, so this is just a modern dream.
7
"Trump doubled down by saying that the Kurds were “no angels” and compared the fighting in Syria that he unleashed — with hundreds dead and 300,000 displaced — to a couple of kids fighting in a vacant lot."
"He called me a bad name. I had to kill him."
7
"Trump in contrast is callow, reckless and indifferent. What he has done in Syria is not foreign policy. It is vandalism."
I am not sure if vandalism is the right choice of words, Mr. Kristof. I think maybe, in the case of tRump for so many instances, the right word to use is "desecration."
Vandalism is the act of trashing common, ordinary, or sometimes forgotten spaces, much like that culvert in Costa Mesa, California that $45* scurried over when faced with protesters during the 2016 campaign for office.
The 'current occupant' of the Oval Office has chosen to step, sometimes onto hallowed ground, where other leaders before him, have stepped into the S/P/O/T/L/I/G/H/T of the office.
As Commander In Chief, many of his predecessors spoke before him to impart some solace of lasting importance, or to inform them of developments that they would hear about or have to act upon.
Time after time, he and his most loyal lieutenants have to cover his, and their own tracks, after the falsehoods and outright lies fail to work.
The next dutifully elected individual that takes tRump's place in January 20, 2020 should swear "I cannot tell to the voters 13,896 lies, as my predecessor has."
7
What Trump has done is vandalism, says Mr. Kristof. At the least, it is vandalism; more likely we may discover eventually that it enabled war crimes, ethnic cleansing of the Kurds. Trump talks of all the sand there and adds that the peoples involved can "play in the sand," as cynical and dismissive a comment about loss of human life as could come from any leader, especially an American president.
10
You're criticizing Trump, but you and the left generally wanted an "end to the endless wars" and "bringing our troops home" until very recently. You're mostly against Trump's decisions because you're against Trump. Even Hillary Clinton said at a 2016 debate "We should never get involved in the Middle East ever again."
3
The premise of this column is that Trump is not a sick man. I am not sure at all that that’s the case. So if he is, the arguments against him personally are off the table ... in a way. However, one way or the other, he does extreme disservice to the office he holds and, through his behavior in office, the Constitution ... and therefore nation.
4
After a dozen beers and a chaser, makes perfect sense.
I hope the money goes to endow a chair at Harvard Medical School to study the causes and cure for a rampant virulent form a faux populism often fatal to the host if not countered by reason. It comes far too late to save the GOP now totally consumed dead on the table.
4
Where is the 1970's "US out of everywhere!" spirit?
2
I've said if before but it is with repeating. My understanding of current US defense posture is that Special Forces are not considered a big footprint deployment. SF train and work with local forces. They define areas where the US military does not need heavy troop deployments. Therefore, by definition, they are not the troops brought home when troops are brought home. They are the sentinels who stay behind guarding our national interest when we do bring the troops home. Unless they are operating in areas that cannot be locally supported it is always a mistake to withdraw SF.
8
@ML
guarding our national interest???
"‘We’re going to use a permanent occupation in the northeast to force Bashar al-Assad to cut his own head off," from an unusually objective/candid NYT article
"The US Turned Syria's North Into a Tinderbox."
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/15/world/middleeast/syria-trump-kurds-interpreter.html
Would it be appropriate,legal under international law, for other countries to put special forces in the US?
Might makes right?
The biggest bully wins?
Trump is perfect reflection of America.
2
The war that resulted from "The Great Divider" Trump's phone call to Erdogan should be called "Trump's war". It would not have happened without his removal of US peacekeepers, as it appears they were, from Turkish desire to make war on the Kurds. While the cease fire has helped temporarily, it's apparent that Turkish ambition is not satiated and that new battles and loss of human life, largely innocent civilians--with many other Syrians losing their homes and land--will create more ugly consequences of our inept president's blunderings.
5
We have been resident in Ontario and teaching long-distance to our low income students in NE Thailand from there. We have also been in close contact with refugee newcomers to Canada - many of them from Syria.
Your report today on “President Trump’s betrayal this month of those same Kurdish partners” is also reflected in real pain in Canada. Here is a note sent to us today from a Canadian teacher working with this population in Ontario.
“Life has been hard for many of my students this past week. The withdrawal of US troops in Syria has left the Kurds so very vulnerable. They feel abandoned and betrayed. One student just lost his father to the Turkish attack. He hasn't been back to school since. All our Kurdish students are hurting. No homeland to call their own, and no one to protect them. Hope the ceasefire lasts, but there is no way to erase the damage that has been done.”
Where is the America that stood up for freedom? That stood up against oppression. That stood firm beside our allies. Look at Seoul yesterday. Korea was probably our strongest ally in Asia. Yesterday Korean university students stormed the US Ambassador’s residence in Gwanghwamun - the center of Seoul - climbing over the walls and calling for the Ambassador to get out of Korea at once.
Trump’s callow, reckless policy has done great harm to our nation and to those who believed in us. May God help our nation. Trump is a weakling wgi does not know how to lead, how to stand up for our values.
9
Dear Commenters:
Again the Kurds and the Turks and the 19th century. Can we talk about today for a moment ?
4
The best comment EVER about Trump was the cover of "Der Spiegel" depicting a bright yellow caricature of the psychopath with a maniacal scream holding a bloody knife in one hand and the head of Lady Liberty in the other. This was early in his presidency and conveyed every aspect of his terroristic reign.
22
Mick Mulvaney is a man without a soul, carrying out the works of the devil Pres. Donald Trump. The man that should've never been president the American people are subjective every day of it tweets and his thousands of lies he no concern but himself, since he been president deceit leads to the White House number of things that who's already done right in front of the American people's eyes less make a list of things so the 30% and tea parties can understand how this president walked the crooked mile.
1. Stole the elections 2016 with the help of Pres. Putin of Russia.
2. Friends with Steve Bannon known races.
3 Tax break for the rich off the shoulders of the middle class.
4. Will not show his tax return 10 years due to the known crimes of he's committed felonies.
5 Immigration his NOT fill policy of the second century idea the wall.
6. That the children on the border due to his policy of ignorance.
7. Giving Turkey the green light to kill Kurds children and mothers.
8. Blocking every subpoena that could lead to his destruction.
9. Admitted in public that HELP from other governments to smear his opponent for the election the 2020 Joe Biden.
What more can we ask from the president stills and lies and blood on his hands what can we do as Americans all all Republicans out office because they stood by and watch the carnage of this president Donald Trump.
6
The world will long be a more dangerous place even of Trump resigned tomorrow.
9
Well said--agree with every word! Heartbreaking and insane...let's vote this tragic figure out if he doesn't get convicted prior.
5
It's easy to cherry pick conflicts and Presidents when the political urge suits you.The honorable mention of the Obama drone missile strikes in Yemen is regrettable in it's omission. A recorded few thousand civilian deaths and untold injuries and damage were commonly thrown under the media rug ,long before President Trump was even a candidate.
3
Putting inhumanity aside for a moment, when those newly released ISIS fighters start acting up, how is the president going to explain that he defeated ISIS?
6
Yes, "Obama was always wrestling deeply with the issues" but Donald Trump is too. His "deep issues" are how can I take actions that will benefit ME. How can I please my handler Vladimir Putin. How can I get even with the Media and Democrats. He NEVER considers what benefits American security or makes America strong.
14
"Trump Takes Incoherence and Inhumanity and Calls It Foreign Policy"
Let's be fair, Nick. It's all he has to offer !
6
Love the headline...if I knew how to tweet, I would tweet this!
Trump Takes Incoherence and Inhumanity and Calls It Foreign Policy
4
I wish the many professionals in the mental health profession, who have been warning us for years about Trump, had an official way to be counted in this impeachment. Of course, there are many who have understood for years and years, including this writer, who knew 30 years ago that he was unfit to be president.
9
I remain impressed that in the course of addressing the substance of Trump's bizarre foreign policy, the bizarre style of expressing himself to people like the President of Turkey is not part of the discussion. For the record, the text of his letter is here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/president-trump-s-oct-9-2019-letter-to-president-erdogan-of-turkey/466fc32f-bbbe-4830-84ef-82652e1937bb/. In it, Mr. Trump repeats the claim about"destroying the Turkish economy" without referring to any actual measures he will take. As others have pointed out (apologies to links to the competition: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/10/19/does-trump-understand-how-grossly-he-just-insulted-president-turkey/) this did not go over well in Turkey. It mainly establishes that Trump cannot be taken seriously by foreign governments, in case that was still an issue. Once again America comes across as a country with a six year old in charge, one that learned writing and diplomacy from a Marvel comic book, trying to be managed by increasingly exasperated adults.
As for his comments on the Kurds not helping at Normandy, they weren't much use against the British in the Revolution, or to the Russians against Napolean. The Russians got over it, it seems. They were helpful fighting ISIS, an organization that has murdered Americans and Europeans by the hundreds, in case that matters.
It looks like more people are noticing the problem here. I hope a majority of voters do.
6
Did you ever stop to think that your value as a human being might be equated with the value of the chemicals in your body, that is, about $1? That's part of what it means to have a purely transactional way of valuing human life--and here we are wallowing in the swamp of that thought process on a happy day for alligators. The transactional view also tells you women and loyal friends and servants and just about anyone might be good for a while but then it's time to toss them away like used paper cups and get new ones. But you can show your advanced values by not killing your personal family members.
3
Until today I was not familiar with your holiday gift guide. I look forward to seeing this year's. It's nice to know that I'll have a new gift giving option that could change a life. This, of course, is in addition to giving my loved ones gifts that they won't be able to recall next year.
1
@Mary I suggest you give to a group that encourages nonviolent conflict resolution, and,maybe, sometime, we would have fewer casualtie/refugeess from the sort of bombing Kristof believes in as a solution to conflict.
1
Trump's sudden withdrawal was predictable. Several years ago he admitted that in Turkey he had a conflict of interest. He referred to that conflict as "Trump Tower." And not exactly just Trump Tower but, "Towers", because, in fact, there are two Trump Towers in Turkey. We've all seen bits and pieces of the redacted transcript of Trump's telephone call with the president of Ukraine. Surely the answer to the reason behind Trump caving in so easily to Erdogan can be discovered in the transcript of the call they had the evening before the withdrawal.
6
Thoughtful and true. Thank you, Mr. Kristof
4
While I agree with everything you've said here so eloquently,
I am taking this opportunity to ask you to reconsider using the phrase "ethnic cleansing." I believe this expression was coined by the Serbs (or possibly another group) to rationalize rape and murder of individuals of another ethnic background. Unfortunately, journalists and world leaders now use this phrase routinely, though clearly rape and murder and other atrocities do not "cleanse" anything. Linguist George Lakoff has urged people to resist allowing their enemies to frame an issue. It is particularly important not to let perpetrators of violence frame cruelty in their terms. "Ethnic cleansing" is an example where the guilty succeeded spectacularly in sanitizing their actions with positive language that is now used worldwide. Because you have been the champion of so many helpless victims, perhaps you are the person who could think of a more apt phrase for the horrific practices of people who who claim to be "cleansing."
4
In an interview with Bill O’Reilly on FOX, when his interviewer says Putin is "a killer," Trump responds: "There are a lot of killers. You think our country's so innocent?" This reaction and the fact that he believes Putin more that US Intelligence Agencies, is sufficient proof of the fact that Donald Trump could be a Russian Asset.
11
Comrade trump's foreign policy is Incoherent and Inhuman
because he is being blackmailed by Putin. When Putin
decides that the blackmail and payback is sufficient, trump
will be off the hook. Kurd deaths, sanctions lifted, Deripaska
getting his money back, Intelligence Agencies decimated,
Ukraine conquered...Whatever it takes. The list goes on.
This what is driving trump crazy and psychotic.
10
Foreign policy had been one of the fields that could have both parties agree on something and able to move on. Due to selfserving politics, especially with the Republicans who demonstrated that they could sell their own principles let alone their country in order to win politics at home, the future of America's interest is not very secured. Internal partisan fights are now more prioritized than any foreign policy's consequence somewhere else. No wonder the world is trying to create more chaos in this internal fights for self destruction and ultimate tribal victory.
4
Every waking day I fail to understand how Trump won even 5 % of the national vote. Then I conclude that his victory owed everything to the gaping Wealthy Gap, the widest in the industrial world, and the need of so many to find a saviour, any saviour.
Now, two things can occur in a 2020 election: a) He is booted out, meaning his constituency corrected its mistake; or b) He is re-elected, meaning that a very large portion of the U.S. voting population is as mentally ill as he is.
Let's hope for a) or, even better, his early removal from office.
9
@Hamid Varzi
Or they hated HRC more than they hated Trump.
Churchill said, “You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing after they have tried everything else.”
Since its founding, the US has struggled to identify the level of isolationism (or global intervention, depending on point-of-view) that its citizens will support.
Both US political parties have been affected by this tension.
Whether the US acts globally, or does not act, is impacted most by the isolationist-intervention tension. I believe it is 'safe' to simply state that Obama was wrong, as were others in the past, as they have struggled with America’s role in the world, rather than stating - as an excuse - that Obama considered decisions in the usual context, but, in hindsight, was wrong. Trump's tenure is temporary, but withdrawals and lack of support have been common in the past.
When other parties, such as the Kurds most recently, do not appreciate this tension, then the lack/elimination of US support comes as a surprise, with very negative consequences.
2
We must not allow Trump to keep us from believing in Hope. Faith, and Love.
2
@priscus He actually liked Hope but kept Faith on the side while praying for some Love.
1
The media should be pressing Trump as to whom was he listening (other than his own "brilliant" self) when he so suddenly just surrendered to Erdogan's every demand.
With Trump's bewildering total capitulation now viewed as an all time unmitigated disaster, Trump surely must be should be frantically searching for a scapegoat.
Perhaps it was Stephen Miller or Kellyanne? More likely it's Fox's Sean Hannity or Tucker Carlson...all such mental giants in the field of national security and foreign diplomacy.
Regardless, Syria is going to be Trump's "Monica Lewinsky" (his downfall) even if Syria isn't mentioned in the Articles of Impeachment.
Trump completely betrayed our allies.
P.E.R.I.O.D.
America has proven they will tolerate Trump's affairs (Stormy and Mcdougal); they will will live with his relentless lies (13,000 and growing); they will look the other way when Trump orders his staff to defy the Rule of Law and snub Congressional subpoenas; and I guess they will even accept Trump's siding with the foreign murderous dictator Putin over our own sixteen national security agencies formal reports...
But abandoning and serving up the Kurdish people to be slaughtered...the same brave Kurds who fought along side our U.S. soldiers to help defeat our worst enemy, ISIS...well that is just too heinous, too despicable, too unconscionable for even Mitch McConnell to think about.
Who gave Trump the thumbs up on Syria?
This is not going away.
12
Why is it inhumane to tell the Middle East, fight your own wars? Why is it inhumane to tell the billions of people who would move to the US in a heartbeat to stay away? Why is it inhumane to finally make "allies" pay their fair share?
America First is humane. America being scammed by millions of phony asylum seekers, America paying for other prosperous countries' security is inhumane. The days of America being taken for granted are over.
4
John Smith, we started a war in Iraq under false pretenses which destabilized the region so we bear responsibility for the aftermath. I bet you supported that war. But furthermore, we had only 1000 troops in position and only lost 6 troops in this capacity to over 11,000 the Kurds lost to help us defeat ISIS a dangerous threat.
And how do you square sending these1000 troops to Iraq not home and sending 2000 troops to Saudi Arabia to protect MBS. Trump is doing the very opposite of what you claim he did.
16
@John Smith
John Smith, Your statements show a horrendous level of superficial thinking and somewhat paranoid thinking. The USA has tremendous power. With power comes responsibility. We have an advanced protocol of vetting for those seeking to live in the US. Your statement suggesting people "stay away" indicates you don't want anybody to come to the US. Allied nations with lesser economic power struggle to pay their fair share. We should continue to encourage them to be more self-sufficient, not "make" them pay their fair share.
We are no longer a nation of farmers and cowboys who can live independent of the Federal Gov't and the rest of the world. Our lives are all interconnected around the world whether we like it or not. Your attitude shows you would have been against the Marshall Plan after WWII to rebuild Europe when we were in serious debt, but which paid us dividends multiple times over. Your isolationist thinking is what can move us away from democracy and toward dictatorship and war. That's exactly what Trump's dismantling of diplomacy because of his mentally disturbed policy of "Only I can fix it" is leading us toward.
11
@John Smith Sure. And why didn't Jesus tell the Hebrews, "Sorry, folks, that's between you and the Romans"?
4
Obama’s policy to enlist Kurds was a short sighted policy, and apparently against the objections of Turkey. Obama, of course, knew that giving PKK an new name (YPG) would not change the facts on the ground. So that’s what brings us to today’s conflict n Syria. And Turkey, which has suffered almost 50 years of PKK terrorism and more than 30000 of its citizens slaughtered by PKK, now finds itself the focus of Western embargoes, threats and slander. But that’s been going on since Crusaders.
12
The Kurds helped, the Turks could not. Anyway, Trump told the Turks to do as they liked, he did not care about the Kurds. Trump lacks empathy for others because he’s an insecure and fearful human being.
81
@Haluk Haluk, thanks for reading my column, but I completely disagree on several fronts. First, it's true that 30,000 people were killed in fighting between Turkey and the PKK, but many, many of those were Kurds. The PKK committed acts of terrorism, but so did the Turkish government against the Kurdish population. I interviewed Kurds who were tortured.
In any case, when Erdogan has been treading backward in terms of democracy, he has little standing to complain about the YPG as it builds a statelet that is reasonably democratic, empowers women and protects religious minorities. When the Yazidi were being slaughtered in a genocide in 2014, it was the YPG who rescued them, not Turkey. So the YPG has averted a genocide while the Ottomans committed one.
595
@Nicholas Kristof Thank you for the response. It is not clear to me how you jumped to the Ottomans and used that as a pretext to imply that Turkey is committing genocide. I guess because 30000 slaughtered men, women and babies were not all Turks, somehow that justifies also Kurdish terrorism of almost 50 years now. And the Western press Generally does not pay attention to Kurdish terrorism in Turkey.
As far as Erdogan, he is a corrupt dictator wanna-be, and EUs rejection of Turkey has made matters worse for the Turkish people and emboldened Erdogan. The sooner he leaves office, the better, but his domestic policies should not be a reason to deny the Turkish people to terror-free society. As I am sure you are aware, the current military action is supported by the Turkish people by a wide margin.
8
Excellent piece - thank you again. But, the sending of troops to Saudi Arabia is OK because they are paying us. Maybe he will be able to find other cliets who will be willing to pay for our soldiers?
5
What nobody is mentioning is Turkey is the refuge of hundreds of thousands if not millions of those who escaped the violence in the region. Erdogan's nominal reason for his incursion is to repatriate the Syrian refugees in his refugee camps.
I'm not apologizing for the attacks on the Kurdish, I'm trying to point out that Trump's incompetence is even greater than most suspect. He should have dealt with Turkey's refugee problem and avoided this terrible fiasco.
6
I never faulted Obama for not acting in Syria. It WAS none of our business...until we made it our business. But now that it's our business, I don't think we should walk away from it.
4
Mr. Kristof
It is our ruling class’ SELECTIVE ACTIONS and INCONSISTENT APPLICATION OF COMPASSION across the world that have and will continue to threaten our credibility to “underwrite the global security and prosperity” of America and beyond.
You quoted president Obama: “While America has never been able to right every wrong, America has made the world a more secure and prosperous place.” But, what did the United States, under Obama himself and hitherto, has done to prevent or even mitigate the genocide of the Yemeni people? We publicly looked the other way while covertly abetting and supporting the Saudi savagery over deprived and innocent people. Are the Yemenites less human than the Yezidis and the Kurds?
It is our congenital hypocrisy, masquerading as leadership in the promotion of freedom, democracy, and human rights across the world, that has and will continue to erode our credibility and purported claims to American exceptionalism.
All in the name of the American people! How sad.
1
Enumerating instances of King Trump's "savage irony" is a Fool's errand.
What is needed is the Cromwellian moment when the king's enormous head is separated from his body, or to be more specific, his shallow and vacuous self is disjointed from his followers.
This will likely not happen after his impeachment, and even then may not occur with the 2020 election, unless a worthy challenger emerges from a ragtag group of Democratic hopefuls.
This moment reminds me of a Gahan Wilson cartoon depicting a mob of scrawny farmers, townspeople and citizens wielding sticks and pitchforks confronting a Roman legion. The legionnaires with muscular legs bulging, armored and armed to the hilt, stand in formation while the mob's leader calls out, "Come on people, they can't stop men who want to be free!"
Living through another four years of Trump will be the ultimate savage irony for we who live in his kingdom.
4
George Bush's invasion of Iraq was the worst American geopolitical blunder since Vietnam. Donald Trump's retreat from Syria is at least the worst since - and may, in it's damage to America's reputation, prove even worse.
9
Trump's serious mental disorders created by abuse from his tyrannical bully father throughout his childhood have stunted his emotional development, fixating it in adolescence. So think of him as an adolescent with about 60 years of life experience, but still an adolescent emotionally and behaviorally. If the media, the government and the population, in their ignorance, understandable, of his mental disorders, are going to continue to rationalize the irrational, then at least rationalize them with some semblance of insight into his childhood abuse and the reality of mental disorder.
6
Trumps actions seem foolish and reckless for our country and they are. However, if you view his actions from a Russian perspective his work is genius. Helping Russia seems to be Trumps foreign policy, God help us all...
11
I just read on the BBC website that the thousand US troops leaving Syria are on their way to Iraq.
4
Disgusting though it is, Americans who voted for and still support the abomination-in-chief must accept some responsibility as aiders and abetters of yet another ethnic cleansing by Turkish nationalists--this time of their Syrian Kurd neighbors.
Armenians, Greeks and Syriac Christians who had lived in Anatolia long before Turkish invaders arrived. But millions of those peoples were ethnically and religiously cleansed from Anatolia and other parts of Turkey in the bloodbath of WWI and its "glorious" war of independence. Kurds were allowed to remain in Turkey since they were Sunni Muslims like the Turks and many of them had served as henchmen of the Turks in their genocidal cleansing of Armenians from south eastern Anatolia. Plus, the Kurds were dirt poor and, unlike Armenians and Greeks, owned nothing of value that Turks could take once they had been exterminated or forcibly deported. But there was never much neighborly respect for the Kurds or their culture by the oppressive Turkish majority--hence the PKK's struggle for autonomy.
Alas Kurds have always shown poor judgment in forming allies. The PKK decided that the Soviets, with a strong track record supporting national liberation struggles, so the PKK adopted their communist ideology and allied with the Soviets. We know how reliable the Soviets turned out being. And both the Iraqi and and now Syrian Kurds seriously misjudged the reliability of the USA in selling them out to Saddam and now to Erdogan. Shame on us.
1
@Jamie Nichols Having firsthand experience of Turkish people who grew up in eastern Turkey, I must object to your characterizations of the relations between different ethnic groups. There is no excusing such things as the Armenian genocide or the govt's refusal to acknowledge it. However, many Turks adopted Armenian children or helped individual Armenians to escape. Stories like you hear of Germany and the Holocaust. Later, in villages there were many people of various backgrounds, Christian and Muslim, living together in friendship.
1
@Treetop: There were isolated instances of Turks taking in children of Armenian parents who were massacred or to be massacred. But these kids were compelled to abandon their parents' religion and culture, and typically never learned their real parents were Armenian. Many of these kids ended up as useful servants and de facto slaves to their new "parents". Read historians Benny Morris and Dror Ze'evi's new "Thirty-Year Genocide" and then tell me if you still think what I wrote is objectionable.
1
And, let’s not forget that Trump is not the cause, he’s the visible symptom. He’s just the designated front man for all the superstition, bigotry, racism, ignorance, and misogyny, that came together to put him out front in the name of “populism”. Hopefully, that is hopefully, in 380 more days (if there’s anything left) we’ll take care of this, but, and it’s a Trump sized size butt, the root cause will still be out there voting. This catastrophe is much heavier than 239 pounds...
4
Trump is a combination of Witwould and Petulant.
@Bob Brisch Great, Bob. I'm sure everybody understood the reference. Very effective.
Yes, the Saudis killed Kachoggi. But was his murder more important than the Saudis murder of close to 3,000 Americans on 9/11. Bin Laden was Saudi. Most of his operatives were Saudi. And Bin Laden's operation was funded by Saudi Arabia. But I guess you, like Bush, Cheney & Rmsfeld have decided to blame the Iraqis or the Afghans for what the Saudis did.
8
I realized that with so many of Trump's disastrous decisions (treatment of asylum seekers in general, and of asylum seeking children in particular, rolling back environmental regulations, and the assault on women's reproductive health) activists and the lower courts are trying to act as some kind of counterweight - slowing down and/or stopping some of the most egregious "policies". However, when it comes to foreign policy - especially with a phone a call between Trump and whomever - we seem to lack the tools to stop it and the Kurds are paying the price. Even the House, using what tools they had - could not stop the slaughter, the betrayal, and the new increased risk of ISIS. As the Democrats look for a nominee, that person better be well versed in foreign policy.
3
For Trumps and people like him foreign countries are 1)places not as able as America to be prosperous; 2)places in which Americans can make money; and 3)places for people not ambitious enough to rise from poverty. Trump never mentions a foreign country he criticizes without claiming they owe him and us money. Money is never out of his mind or sight.
3
Trump knows; no, he counts on his base not knowing or caring a whit about anything happening outside the United States. Instead, he dazzles them, reality-tv-style, with craziness every day and that seems to be working just fine as they continue to lap it up.
Recently, while in Boston, I met a young couple from New Hampshire. When I asked them about their ideas or impressions of Canada, (being so close to our border) and you’d think I’d asked them to unravel the meaning of life. They starred at me, deer in the headlights, stumped, nothing, just nothing. To know we have such little impact on our neighbours to the south is an example of how “keeping America great” gives license to never having to look outside your own borders. If I can stun two, lovely people when asking them about Canada, my guess is foreign policy in the middle east is not in their radar. Trump’s trades on people not knowing or caring about the rest of our world.
Trump wants to keep the theatre going, the rallies, the flag waving, the rest of the world means nothing to him or his followers, and worse, we know it. Just ask the Kurds, the trust is gone.
9
I agree with most of what you have said in this column. I enjoy reading your column. But I do remember when Obama went to Congress to get congressional approval, or a little responsibility from Congress, to authorize him to attack Syria. Moscow Mitch would not even allow a debate or a vote in the Senate, so Obama did not go into Syria.
17
@hw I'm glad you mention this. Obama was thwarted by Congress re: Syria, and I'm sure Mitch did that just to make look Obama look bad. For some reason this is rarely mentioned when Obama's failure to act against Syria is brought up.
13
@Marco Ribeiro - Thank you Obama for not
going to war with Syria.
1
One of the posters suggested foregoing the usual holiday exchanges in favor of Mr. Kristof's gift catalogs. Great idea. Our grandchildren have toys and games spilling from every room in the house. They need nothing. Our gifts barely register with them. They will each get a book, along with a catalog, and their main present is picking three items for another child or family. I enjoy the holidays, and family time, but I won't continue with the soulless exchange of stuff and more stuff. And our grand kids are looking forward to make their selections.
So many of us lament the commercialization of a spiritual time of year, whether as an inward looking solstice, or a Judeo-Christian observation. But like Mark Twain's weather, we talk about it, and do nothing! Time for a major shift - time to harness the wind!
8
The October 19 issue of The Economist Magazine that is referred to here contains a review of a new book called "We Fight Fascists"
by Daniel Sonabend that documents how Jews in Britain were still having to fight off Fascism long after the end of World War II.
Trump the man is now heading for the door, but Trumpism in America looks to me like a sure bet to linger on as a permanent
and vibrant part of our political landscape.
Actually, it's been here in one guise or another all along.
His one great contribution to our political culture has been to refresh the poisoned well our children and grandchildren will be drinking from, from now on.
8
WE must prove that Trump is not America. He does not represent us. He lost the popular vote, he's a minority representative. In almost all areas the Dems out voted the repubs but gerrymandering eliminated the results. We are not a Trump nation. Our fellow citizens who voted for Trump are , as he said, "the uneducated". I say also the ill informed the results of years of lies from FOX andRush.
WE have touched rock bottom with our abanding our allies, our allowing genocide, I truly believe we will now climb out of the mud.
8
Trump is America. Everywhere I go I see Trump signs.
2
Nicholas Kristoff: keep this OP ED debate to continue;
In fact this: it would be a very healthy idea to have this
dialogue continue daily on the FRONT PAGE of
The New York Times; and why..
Because we need this to be on The Front Page of Every
Newspaper; that is the why ...because the ..People need
to be those who are listened to...not the Pundits; Not
Morning Joe: or any ...COMMERCIAL advertising media who
have made billions on this "Trump Tent Circus"
So...let the people read ...not what the pundits think ..
but what other ..people think ..US Citizens think...not you
or Tom Friedman or Paul Krugman ..think..but what
we who want to be heard...we the people of the USA
need be heard...Print this OP ED on the Front Page and
get some ...really unbiased ...FEEDBACK. ...hope you do it.
3
This is quite incoherent. Let a thousand voices of professional journalists and historians and other experts hold forth. If you don’t watch or read them, fine. Trump doesn’t appreciate the media, because he can’t control it (save Fox News).
2
@Gene Eisman
Perhaps I should have said this:
Put an OP ED like this one by Kristoff on the
Front Pages of The New York Times and other
Newspapers like The Washington Post;
Because more readers will be exposed to the
opinions of journalists; and those who are
able to better inform the average reader.
And the responses might widen the circle of
those who usually respond to OP ED articles
3
It really does not matter whether Trump is actually a Russian agent. Putin could not ask for better outcomes if Trump were Russia’s number one agent. Trump should be in line to receive the Kremlin’s highest medal. As for Trump’s claim that he is bringing the U.S. troops in Syria home, the alleged rationale for his actions, that too is a lie. Instead of coming home, the troops are being re-deployed to Iraq.
9
This abandonment of the Kurds will be a dark stain on American history. When there are no more Kurds in Syria, Turkey will be blamed but the U.S. will also be attacked for telling the Turks it was okay for them to "clean out" the Kurds. No country or group will ever want to be an ally of the U.S. in the future. This is the sad legacy of the Trump presidency. As a retired Foreign Service Officer I can only decry how American diplomats are ignored by Trump and how the “tool of diplomacy” will be unavailable to the United States going forward.
9
Obama responded to the logical outcome of unleashing violent sectarian jihadists in a civil war. ISIS was in Syria to destroy Assad's regime. The US knew what ISIS and al Qaeda were about. The jihadists were on the brink of overthrowing Assad and unleashing a full scale sectarian Gotterdammerung on the Syrian people. Russia and Iran rescued Syria from that fate. The US has this weird notion that they have no responsibly for the expansion of the Syrian civil war into a proxy war. The best outcome is for Syria to impose control over her international borders. The dictator Assad has survived the war. Negotiations on reconstruction can be used as a basis for putting together political reforms Assad will have to accept.
The perfidy of asking "Kurdish fighters to withdraw"! This is not an invading army, these are fathers, brothers, children of Kurdish families.
Pence + Erdogan are asking these men to leave their families and houses, fields, possessions behind?
This is ethnic cleansing.
It is just too easy to equate the admitted PKK terror acts with the Kurds in Syria. Easy recipe: call someone a terrorist and all (state) terror seems to be justified. In weeks like these, I want to stop reading news not to lose my believe in humanity.
10
"While I questioned his judgment on Syria, I never doubted his seriousness, compassion or integrity."
Is that the closest you can come to pointing to one of the major drivers - Obama's judgement - of the civil war in Syria? Let's not forget Libya.
In terms of abandoning allies, I left South Vietnam after the cease fire in 1973. Two years later Saigon was overrun. You get over it.
1
"...Trump in contrast is callow, reckless and indifferent. What he has done in Syria is not foreign policy. It is vandalism."
Yes, and he also happens to have financial interests in Turkey and Saudi Arabia and would very much like to build Towers in Russia. Given what we know about his character or lack thereof, those interests trump everything. All the time. (Pun intended).
9
Thank you for your thoughtful, informed article. I have run out of words to describe my horror at this administration. We could get over how ill-informed Trump is if he surrounded himself with quality people and took their advice. Ignorance plus arrogance in the extreme is a delay combination. It turns out when you "lead with your gut" you get a lot of rot.
4
American credibility is circling the drain but American credulity is on the rise.
5
Turkey's 21 century genocide; facilitated by Trump.
3
Trump is ‘callow, reckless and indifferent’. As are his followers. Much of Trump’s behavior and his MAGA followers can be understood from the narcissism that unfortunately has been the ascendent American qualities since the ‘70s. A tireless analyzer of the Me Generation was Tom Wolfe. And the culmination of it all is Trump.
4
The American policy towards the Kurds is atrocious. I have no question about that.
The problem is that American policy towards pretty much everyone whom we do not have a clear and significant material advantage from has been the same. Ignore the fact that a journalist is butchered in broad daylight with meat cleavers and bone saws and you have left any pretensions to have a humanitarian foreign policy has gone the drain. Do you disagree Mr. Kristof?
Now, if we have the parameters set this way, the Kurdish disaster become hardly different than the Palestinian disasters (remember our reaction to Sabra and Shatila? I do not remember revoking Arik Sharon/s visa to the USA), the Vietnamese disasters, the Hiroshima and Nagasaki disasters, the Afghani carnages and the endless massacres in the African continent.
Singling out Turkey and the Kurds is OK as long as you acknowledge it as an example of the terrible and unjust foreign policy of imperialism. American today, Russian, Ottoman, French and British yesterday.
4
Look at the picture on the Times front page today of Trump snapping a military salute as the coffin of a fallen US serviceman is carried past him. In a small way that picture sums up everything that is reprehensible about him. The President of the United States is Commander in Chief of the country’s armed forces, and he (or she, as it may soon be) is a civilian. That all of the nation’s military power is under civilian command is a principle of the US Constitution. Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but Dwight Eisenhower—a man who, unlike Trump, had done a bit of soldiering—never gave a military salute while in the office of president. He always gave the correct civilian salute, placing his right hand placed over his heart.
6
Retrospect allows us to criticize Obama's apparent mistakes-- refusing to call for a no fly zone over Syria and preemptively massing NATO forces to liberate Libya. However, the British parliament put the brakes on U.S. support for democratic demonstrators in Syria by refusing to support air cover, and NATO did not have a Plan B for intervening in Libya after Qaddafi to prevent a massacre in Benghazi.
Foreign policy decisions and repercussions are extremely complex, requiring expert diplomats and on-the-ground intelligence and analysis, especially when autocrats abroad disregard post WWII conventions of war and United Nations conventions to protect human rights. The current administration vacillates between anarchy, ignorance, personal financial interests, political calculations and self -contradictions..
69
Actually, Obama acted in Libya after—AFTER—a civil insurrection broke out, and NATO got involved. And while things were bungled after that, Benghazi wasn’t a “massacre,” by any reasonable stretch of the imagination.
10
There is a pattern.
The people whom Mr Obama plainly detested are the same people whom Mr Trump now embraces: Messrs Putin, Netanyahu, Erdogan and last but not least Kim Jong-un.
The US made its alliance with the Kurds in 2014: during the Obama administration. So it was probably only a matter of time before Mr Trump repudiated the alliance
Mr Trump's repudiation of the alliance with the Kurds will likely be remembered as one of the great disasters of US diplomatic history post 1945.
196
@Loup you are absolutely right. Trump reacts to anything Obama like a dog does when it finds a bush that had been marked by an earlier dog. It is childish, brutish and serves no coherent policy or purpose other than Trump’s disgusting desire to be more famous than Obama. If he wasn’t such a dangerous man I might feel sorry for him.
21
The pacts with the Kurds goes back to before Obama’s election. Trump just lacks empathy, he sees others as the means to get what he wants.
6
The 1923 Treaty of Lausanne defined the borders of the Turkish Republic but denied Kurdish dreams of a homeland called Kurdistan. Many Americans support the efforts of Kurdish separatists to carve a Kurdish homeland out of Turkey, Iraq and Syria, but that has never been U.S. foreign policy.
As Wall Street Journal columnist Holman W. Jenkins pointed out yesterday, “Turkey is an Article 5 NATO ally. We have obliged Ankara for two decades by designating its Kurdish separatists as terrorists. The U.S. has never advocated breaking up Syria (or Iraq, Iran or Turkey) to allow a Kurdish state. U.S. support for an autonomous Kurdish enclave in Iraq was dependent on the Kurds’ recognizing Baghdad’s sovereignty and not using Iraqi Kurdistan as a base to subvert neighboring states.”
At present,Turkey is attempting to create a buffer zone between its border and Turkish forces in Syria because Kurdish terror attacks have killed hundreds of Turks. The Kurds have now allied themselves with Syrian and Russian forces. The United States has brokered a temporary ceasefire.
The Kurdistan issue is best left to the United Nations to resolve, but Congress has the power to declare war. If it wants to change U.S. policy and declare war on Turkey, it should do so.
“Brokered a temporary ceasefire.”
Good grief.
4
@Robert
The United States negotiated the cease fire. Are you against a ceasefire?
Even if a declaration of war upon Turkey by Congress did occur, which will never happen for a variety of reasons, the very thought of this Fake President acting as the Commander-in-Chief in such an extreme crisis escalation is absolutely terrifying. Trump, who started the current mess, now calling the military shots including control over a nuclear arsenal, is a worst case scenario. Is this what you endorse?
3
Over the years one of the things I have observed repeatedly is that it is very dangerous to be a friend of the United States. Around the world people who have fallen out of friendship, many after years of formal or informal alliances, have wound up out of power, sometimes in jail or, in the case of Saddam in Iraq, dead. Enemies, like the brutal president of Syria, often live longer.
Friendship is a tenuous thing. It comes at a price and sometimes that price is the risk of having America turn on you, fast. The results are seldom pretty.
Jimmy Carter probably helped wreck his presidency by not turning on the Shah of Iran, allowing him first an exile in Panama and then allowing him to come here for treatment for cancer, resulting in our embassy being seized in Tehran followed by a disastrous, deadly raid to try to free them. Otherwise, when time is up for dictators and tyrants who've done America's bidding, its over.
The entire middle-east erupted in rebellion following Iraq war II and the successive waves of the revolt reverberate daily. There is no easy way out and Trump, in thinking he found one, has made the whole situation much worse. This is what we get with a rank amateur real estate promoter and pretend television businessman in the White House.
130
@Doug Terry One must keep in mind that Jimmy Carter's decision to allow the Shah into the US was at the behest of David Rockefeller, both directly and through Rockefeller acolyte Henry Kissinger. Carter had no choice but to obey his boss, Rockefeller. David Rockefeller installed Carter in the White House. Now, the thing to wonder is why Rockefeller wanted the Shah admitted?...
3
Cancer treatment, Rocky.
Does it ever concern that your, “leftism,” says exactly what Trump says?
1
Having a foreign policy requires thought, seeking expert opinions, and careful consideration of the ramifications involved in making decisions. Donald Trump is devoid of those characteristics and it should come as no surprise after we heard him pontificate during the 2016 campaign that he "knows more than the generals" and "I alone can fix it." And since he was inaugurated he has added to that resume by proclaiming he is a "stable genius" with "unmatched wisdom." These are the mutterings of an irrational man with a severe case of megalomania. Trump has shattered the traditional structure of diplomacy and his unilateral decision to hand over our Kurdish allies to the enemy and then absurdly proclaiming they are happy with that decision is clear evidence that this "stable genius" is neither stable nor a genius.
151
The system of checks and balances has failed in the United States when a President can unilaterally. destablize world trade, toss aside agreements, ignore and debunk a growing climate crisis, divide and create chaos among Americans, and now this. Condemn a people to death and ethnic cleansing by making them leave their lands to live a life of fear and peril at the hands of treacherous neighbors after FIVE years of supporting us and the world with the fight against ISIS. Trump's actions here, with the world's dictators, and failure to step in and call out human rights abuses will indeed be his legacy - a foreign policy - that is unknown and beyond comprehension and represent a whim or payback to others, or just ignorance by this President. President Obama in trying to amend for our wars in the Middle East and interference elsewhere did try to soothe and inform others of our errors and he was mocked for his "apology tour". It will be years of expeditions, missions, and sustained effort by multiple Presidents and America to atone for Trump's "Foreign Policy" Legacy.
86
As an undergraduate, I took a course in titled “Ethics and International Relations”. I cynically scoffed to the professor, a Jesuit priest, that the entire premise of the course was false. I charged that nations are not motivated by ethics and morals, but only by hegemonic self-interest. (I got a C for the course.) Forty years of hindsight have taught me differently, until now. Now we are experiencing what it is like when the thin veneer of altruism is ripped away and foreign policy to truly governed by naked self-interest, a “me first” free-for-all. I owe Fr. Francis X. Winters an apology.
170
@Alison
You contradict your self-congratulatory comment in your final sentence. George Washington himself made “naked” national self-interest the guiding principal of his foreign policy, and it’s hard to argue with his policy - except in instances of obvious “evil” (yes, there’s the problem). I think the point of Kristof’s column is that Trump doesn’t have the morality or capacity to wrestle with the question of right or wrong.
3
Enlightened self interest is the concept of making choices not based upon just whatever satisfies ones immediate wants but what will provide the highest good for one in the future. The world that we live in was created in the imaginations of people based upon trust. If we simply lived as base animals just seeking pleasure and avoiding pain, taking what we can from nature or other people, then we would still be hunter gatherers.
15
Yes, Trump is incoherent and inhumane but it’s too kind to assume he was manipulated by Turkey’s Erdogan without something in return.
Given Trump’s recidivistic and transactional personality one should be extremely suspicious that there wasn’t yet another quid pro quo in his call with Erdogan. I hope his Turkish business dealings including Trump Towers Istanbul are forensically examined, whether the towers’ brand license is renewed or whether Putin had called in some chips as a prelude.
Our national security, the lives of Kurds – one of our best allies ever in the Middle East – as well as the resulting threats to the security of European allies, are all being transacted away even over the strong objections of republican officials and politicians. A Manchurian President occupies the Oval Office and the harm to America is increasingly palpable each day that he remains there.
212
You’re forgetting that Donald J. Trump is profoundly stupid.
13
@domplein2 ...Trump famously said, "I could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and not lose any votes". That has now been replaced by "Trump could be caught on videotape handing American military secrets to Russia and still not have any Republican votes for impeachment".
Whatever evidence and proof of criminal acts that Mueller could have come up with, it is certain that such evidence and proof could not be as a powerful indication of wrongdoing as the evidence in the public record that Bret Kavanaugh was lying in the senate hearings relating to his confirmation as a Supreme Court Justice.
Once Ford's account included three people she said were there AND his calendar had them all at Tim Gaudette's house on July 1, 1982, AND Ford's description of the interior of Gaudette's house in Rockville, MD exactly matches that of the actual house, which still exists: the only way that Kavanaugh was not lying is either: Ford somehow obtained access to his 1982 diary/calendar, or Ford has a time machine or Ford stalked Kavanaugh in 1982 and planned to do this, if and when he was nominated to the Supreme Court..
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4294373
10
@domplein2 - you are right about that. With Trump there is always a transaction, with no moral guideposts. I would not at all be surprised if we learn that Erdogan threatened to stop the Trump Tower Instanbul project dead in its tracks unless Trump gave him the green light, to invade Syria, and that Trump willingly agreed to save his personal investment.
8
Yes, Trump will be remembered for his foreign policy--the abdication of America's role as a world leader, that is. His perfidy goes far beyond simple lack of understanding. It is callous as well as callow, cruel as well as self-dealing and is costing America and the world dearly in terms of lives as well as money. To see our troops bomb our own bases is disheartening. Turkey's Erdogan said he got all he wanted. The Kurds weren't even at the negotiating table and they lost everything, including their lives. I'll be donating to an organization that helps refugees this year.
218
The world has never been perfect, but it was in check with a lesser flair ups than in the past. Enter Trump and Republican party.
Turkey has been waiting to show the teeth for a long time, and never in my life I expected that the USA PRESIDENT will be the one giving the green light for a murderous take over of land and displacement if not outright ethnic cleansing.
Mind you, Turkey did the exact same thing to the Armenians, successfully, in part in the very same piece of land. What a horror, what an unthinkable betrayal to the Kurdish people that put their lot and trust in America. What a stain if not outright cut in jugular for the "free world".
And of course, along the way, Trump managed to humiliate as many military women and men as possible. That is how he works, by humiliation and betrayal.
Republicans, who are you?
444
President Obama had a North Star, a moral compass that guided him. He also ascribed to Lincoln's plea during the worst of times this nation faced to seek "the better angels of our nature." Trump has chosen the opposite path, lined only with self-dealing, enrichment and malevolence.
879
@Mary Scott Yes, indeed. As I say in my column, I believe President Obama made mistakes in Syria and left President Trump something of a mess there. But there's no question that Obama consulted the best experts and wrestled seriously with the policy issues; one can question his decisions but not his integrity or decency. In the case of Trump, there was no seriousness at all, and he failed America and Kurds alike. That's why I made the contrast between Obama and Trump: it could not be more striking.
507
@Mary Scott
I, for one, disagree completely.
Obama initiated the 2011 intervention in Libya. Prior to that, Libya had the 2nd highest income in the entire African Union. Education and healthcare were also free for citizens - courtesy of the government.
Why don't you hear anymore about Libya? Because it's no longer a functional country. It has fragmented and Libyans have themselves become refugees desperate to cross the Mediterranean. Will Obama ever own up to this? I genuinely believe his Nobel should be taken away. I mean, he directly precipitated a refugee crisis through his decision to intervene.
Since 2011, the US (then under the Obama administration), had been trying to affect regime change in Syria. To this end, the US and its Gulf allies armed a whole array of groups opposed to Assad, escalating the Syrian Civil War. The al-Nusra Front, which massacred religious minorities was one of the recipients of these arms.
Trump may have green-lighted a massacre of Kurds by Turkey, but that doesn't make Obama a hero. People need to be objective (and discerning) enough to understand this.
I would think the reason Obama felt compelled to intervene against the ISIS genocide against Yazidis was that much of it happened on Iraqi (not Syrian) territory. It would have reflected poorly on the US, which had invaded Iraq in 2003, if the country fell into further disarray. Obama needed to be seen as doing something to help. Plus, he was pressured by international sympathy.
22
Trump is a lump...of used gum. Until we can spit him out, please chew furiously!
But let’s not forget how to walk. How shall we tread in Syria? The Carnegie article linked by Mr. Kristof (please read it!) makes it clear that Assad, Erdogan and Putin do not intend to allow the Kurds a safe, democratic existence. They will wield blood, treasure, and atrocity at a level the American public will be loath to match. (Europeans will blanche utterly.) Rather than overwhelm America’s small force directly, they may set up ISIS to do it, and then make a show of stopping the beheadings. Shocked Americans will demand hostage negotiations, forgetting the Kurds, as usual.
There’s a second path. Is Trump sinister enough? Is this withdrawal a head-fake to lure Democrats into the fog of another Vietnam, and then, like Nixon, win voters numbed by the body count?
There’s a third path. “Help” Erdogan. In return for the Kurds’ safe passage, take them off his hands (yes, millions) and bring them here to “destroy” America, not Turkey, with their wretched voting and exposed tresses.
No fan of open floodgates, I’d pitch it to nativists thus: if you add BOTH burritos AND falafel to your plate, the hamburger stays in the middle. Terrorists? Peshmerga gals look more like Marines. Woe to ISIS cells here if these ladies join Homeland. Oh, dear, would they vote GOP?
Snide? Sorry. Triggering? Guilty!!! Feasible? Humane? Readers, keep chewing. But please start walking again.
2
It is not so much how bad Trump is President but how many people voted for him and will do it again despite what we have all seen over these last three years. I have had my faith in the American people shaken and my astonishment grows almost daily. I feel shame when I see distortions made truth on a scale I have never seen before. I feel shame when I see how corruption of the spirit is somehow supposed to be normal now. . . .maybe I have just grown grumpy and this will all be funny someday, but not now!
4
Trump benefits from the close distance from which all his misdeeds are viewed. When one steps back, the picture is much worse. The impulsiveness mixed with a complete lack of understanding of the world, history, even the weight of his own job paint a horrifying portrait. Given the key to the city, Trump has gone in to every house and soiled every carpet. From now on, no matter who is president, no promise will be believed or “moral leadership” followed by others. We will not have allies, only hangers on until it no longer suits them. Trump has undone generations of consistent, hard work in a matter of days.
4
While "a female Kurdish politician, Hevrin Khalaf, (was pulled) from her car by her hair, [and] beat and then shot dead" some of us were going to, or at, work; some of us were washing our cars or mowing our lawns, or taking vacation; enjoying the sun or staying out of the rain.
We do not have war in our backyard, but trump has lite a fuse in their backyard. This decision/event is a threat to our national security. trump has purposefully made an ally an enemy.
Romney is right. There needs to be hearings to understand the decision, how it was made, and exactly what was said during 'the phone call.'
6
... When Gerald Ford succeeded Nixon, some of Nixon's policies were reversed. The status of America's participation in the war in Southeast Asia being the most significant. A President Pence could likewise try to distance himself from some of Trump's policies that most distressed the business community.
As was discussed in Trump's Trade Policies: America's Brexit?, https://seekingalpha.com/article/4205253 concern that Trump's trade policies could cause an economic collapse are well founded. However, there has always been an optimistic view that trade policy risks could possibly evaporate overnight. Trump and some of his advisers such as Larry Kudlow assert that Trump is really a free trade advocate who wants to eliminate all tariffs and trade restrictions. In that respect, Trump could be thought of as less likely to destroy the world trading system than the truly committed protectionists like Peter Navarro, Bernie Sanders, and Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) who are prime examples of the "progressivism of fools" branch of protectionists. The only objective of tariffs supported by those protectionists is to transfer wealth to the employees and owners of favored domestic producers. That the costs and losses to the rest of Americans far exceeded the gains to the employees and owners of favored domestic producers is never a concern of the "progressivism of fools" branch..."
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4294373
Trump benefits from the close distance from which all his misdeeds are viewed. When one steps back, the picture is much worse. The impulsiveness mixed with a complete lack of understanding of the world, history, even the weight of his own job paint a horrifying portrait. Given the key to the city, Trump has gone in to every house and soiled every carpet. From now on, no matter who is president, no promise will be believed or “moral leadership” followed by others. We will not have allies, only hangers on until it no longer suits them. Trump has undone generations of consistent, hard work in a matter of days.
1
When oh when will we recognize Trump is in decline mentally. Anyone who has cared for someone with dementia or Alzheimer's knows whom ever speaks with them last wins the issue. This is abundantly clear in so many things Trump is doing. Just read actual transcripts of his speeches. They are word salads. However this decline gives those around him more power. In addition his inability to let go of issues such as the election is another example. His brain is locked in and can't let it go. Finally my father's own doctor asked me what type nature did my father have. He was fair, kind and always tried to see other views. He told me I was lucky as my father would retain those qualities as he declined mentally and if anything he was even kinder. The doctor said it was the mean ones you had to be scared of as society norms had held them back but with dementia those restraints are gone. They only get crueler. I despair for our country and the world. I loathe those around him who know his state of decline but need his base to continue to wreck the world for their greed. Pelosi's statement about his health isn't satire it is truth.
3
In the last couple of weeks it will have dawned on the Kurds that they will not be getting their own country. If they "behave themselves", they will likely become exemplary citizens of Turkey, Syria, Iraq etc.
Time to disband the PKK and push for reforms in Turkey peacefully. Let's focus on healthcare, affordable housing and getting those Kurdush munchkins educated.
Did Trump help bringb this about? No, because he's "callow, reckless and indifferent".
Saddest of all is that Trump campaigned on doing exactly what he has done regarding foreign policy, which was to alienate our most critical allies and to eliminate our involvement in the Middle East. The GOP is completely culpable, as they have unconditionally supported Trump all along the way.
The Republicans are wholly responsible for destroying American foreign policy. The Republicans knew what they were getting with Trump, and the slaughter of the Kurds is their doing.
Trump is snuffing out that “shining light on the hill,” setting up our Kurdish allies for slaughter. But I cannot help but wonder if his action was more transactional than incoherent.
Trump’s effort to get “evidence” to support his claim it was Ukraine, not Russia, that intereferered in the 2016 election has been thwarted, at least for now—and that effectively hamstrings his effort to release the Magnitsky sanctions Putin is so anxious to be rid of. Could it be that Putin leveraged that weakness with a demand for a leg up in the Middle East? An opportunity to divide up northern Syria with the Turks? And Trump delivered?
For a man with no conscience, no shame, issues of inhumanity, of betrayal and needless loss of human life are meaningless. So why would he not cut such a deal?
2
Incoherence represents Trump's mode of communication. Inhumanity represents his basic instincts. Incompetence represents his preparation and knowledge. Instability represents the political impact.
The overall quality of leadership? Insanity.
2
How long are we supposed to stay in Syria just to defend the Kurds? As it is we have too many troops stationed at too many bases long after the reason has faded away! My favorite base which is huge waste money and should be torn down is Camp Bondsteel, in Kosovo. What a huge waste of men and materials.
We need to start closing a lot of these overseas bases. They are a waste of money and are part of the reason for such a bloated defense budget. At some point we must tell locals to either learn to defend themselves or accept the alternative
We need to trying to be the world's policeman!
1
I'm sorry the role of the Kurds in fighting ISIS, seriously diminishing its power and influence. Now all of that blood-earned work for the world is suddenly and recklessly lost to chaos. We may in the future feel an effect from that thoughtless abdication directly on our shores.
As ISIS is a de facto enemy of the United States, and Trump has in effect given aid and comfort to the enemy by facilitating a jailbreak of numerous ISIS fighters, is that not tantamount to treason?
2
Trumps' blunt decision of drawing back American military from Syria, betraying a people who lost more than 10.000 men in battling a barbaric anti-US regime, again should have America strongly rethink the immense and dangerously disproportionate power of one man over a -once- wise and thorough democracy.
Hevrin Khalaf, repeat, Hevrin Khalaf, dragged from her car by her hair and beaten, mutilated to pieces and shot by Erdogan henchmen, before returning her to her mom. I read about her last night in this article, couldn't sleep and instead read up on her. She was a beloved civilian and politician and daughter.
Not one comment here mentioned her. It is not ironic that she was one of the first casualties of Trump's decision to cut loose the Turks on the Syrian Kurds, regardless.
Doesn't anyone realize that a war crime like this, initiated right after Trump's agreement with Erdogan, is a glaring and terrifying message to women all over the world, that we will be punished if we live for anything but subservience to man, despite himself? This is a loud, unified message from Trump, Erdogan, Putin, Assad, Duterte and all the rest of these mean, women-fearing men.
Mr. Kristof: Please give the first $100,000 to Hevrin's mom, so she can start a charity for women. Don't leave her a powerless spokeswoman for her slaughtered daughter, a warning to other women.
5
Obama's crime was not the red line with Syria but not prosecuting those in the Bush administration that conducted the criminal war in Iraq. However, this is our pattern. We hold others to account (or pretend to) yet never hold our own government officials to the same standards. Though this action by Trump, especially the collusion by the VP Pence with Turkey to commit ethnic cleansing, a war crime, is abhorrent. It's just the latest in a string of war crimes and illegal assassinations that our government participates in regularly, including Obama (let's not forget he was the first US president (known) to assassinate a US citizen without trial). I look forward to a time when our government acts within the spirit and the rules by which it was created. It seems we are really concerned about the Kurds since Trump is doing it. For sure, Trump is all the things Mr. Kristof claims "callow, reckless, and indifferent", but I'm not quite sure if that is worse than obtaining the best advice from the experts around you and still committing war crimes (drone attacks in Afghanistan, assassinations, military activity in Yemen) or not prosecuting crimes known to have occurred (war as well as economic). We may not like it but Trump is the personification of our real rather imagined values that we have had for quite some time. His real problem is his inability to disguise the abhorrent into proper propaganda packaging.
One wonders if Trump reads newspapers, and if so, if he reads Mr. Kristof's column. I would like to see the expression on Trump's face when he reads that he is "callow, reckless and indifferent," and his actions in Syria, "vandalism." For most people, such biting words would cause sober reflection. Trump, I suspect, is incapable of self examination and therefore incapable of change. We are stuck with him, as he is, until he is driven from office. This is a sad time for America.
3
"Incoherence and Inhumanity" is also his domestic policy.
I'd just like to know if we'll still have forests, drinking water, or breathable air when this reign of terror is over.
1
Is Trump a mole cleverly planted by Russia to occupy highest office in USA? We do not know yes or no. We do know that his actions are highly favorable to Russia, the state most adverse to USA interests. Accordingly, consistent with the idea of high office placement of a Russian mole.
4
It was really amazing to see how the US ambassador Hoekstra blamed in a Dutch news program that actually the Dutch set this betrayal of the Kurds in motion by withdrawing from Syria first, causing a “domino-effect”. This Trump administration and its cronies spin everything in ways you cannot even imagine, just to save their face. By the way, the Dutch did not really have troops on the ground, just a few fighter planes which had to be withdrawn for logistics reasons.
3
wow! @Theo - thanks for sharing. Maybe Hoekstra is auditioning with Mulvaney to join EU ambassador Sondland in the 3 amigos.
(Actually, 4 amigos including Mulvaney himself... no wait, 5 including Giuliani... no wait, how about Pompeo, Barr? I’m losing count ... it’s a posse!)
1
Thank you, Nicholas Kristof, for an excellent column about the government's deadly betrayal of the Kurds. While this isn't the first or the second time the government betrayed the Kurds, and while we the people don't know everything, especially the classified information that presidents are given, as in the Iraq holocaust this century or the Vietnam holocaust the last, the American government is the exemplar of Democracy and the Rule of Law.
Some unethical people know that this exemplar of Democracy and the Rule of Law kills innocent people and they're cool with it. Some of us recognize that it's illegitimate.
1
Good article. But. . .
Listen carefully to the current candidates for President. Who, exactly has a foreign policy? Who is adding a serious program on international affairs to balance their concerns on health insurance, racial justice, women's rights, LGBT rights, gun control or other domestic issues?
If you listen carefully, who do you hear? No one? Is it because she went to Syria to find out for herself what was going on? And, worse, she found that what is now happening was predictable then? And our very own warmongers were the root of the problem we face, because Republican or Democrat, they had a foreign policy, put it to work, and it's called War.
And that "no one" is the only potential candidate speaking loudly in the silence about endless wars and stopping them so that our soldiers will not be killed and our money will begin being used on the projects the others speak about in front page news every day.
She also speaks about her program for America and its domestic issues. But her voice has been drowned out by the last loser who proposes the next loser.
Listen carefully, Nick. She's on your side.
I'm sorry this column does not note the role of the Kurds in fighting ISIS, seriously diminishing its power and influence. Now all of that blood-earned work for the world is suddenly and recklessly lost to chaos by Trump's impulsive behavior. We may in the future feel an effect from that thoughtless abdication directly on our shores.
As ISIS is a de facto enemy of the United States, and Trump has in effect given aid and comfort to the enemy by facilitating a jailbreak of numerous ISIS fighters, is that not tantamount to treason?
1
Trump has dodged the law, bent the law, and broken the law. He has abused our long time allies and embraced our long time foes. He has put children in cages, rolled back environmental regulations, and branded the free press as the enemy of the people. Now he has abandoned a wartime ally to their enemies, an action that will surely lead to many deaths. Yet he is still the president and people are still supporting him and fawning over him. What is wrong with this country? Please, I would love to know why he hasn't been removed from office locked up.
2
Our Founding Fathers, as a group, probably never imagined that the American people would ever elect a president so completely lacking in experience, intelligence, character and ethics as Donald Trump.
Similarly, Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower, during the years when the Pax Americana was created, the United Nations, NATO, probably never foresaw the disaster that might occur if America’s awesome influence and power fell into the hands of an unfit, unbalanced president and his morally bankrupt followers. Even as we watch this disaster unfold before us, day by day, it’s hard to believe it’s all real.
Listening to the twisted reasoning that Trump spews to deny, to excuse, to distort the effects of his awful decisions. This administration is truly a nightmare from which an entire nation cannot awaken.
Please! Congressmen/women vote to impeach. Make sure the articles of impeachment you carry to the senate are an airtight case. Senators convict this danger to democracy and remove him from office.
For goodness sake, do not betray your countrymen like Trump betrayed our Kurdish allies.
2
We are angry, frustrated and ashamed. When our own government feeds our allies the Kurds to the wolves, what can we do to help them? Mr. Kristof, I look forward to your announcement of those organizations that are best positioned to help Kurdish refugees. I also call on our government to heal this injury. Congress must immediately direct aid and impose sanctions against Turkey. Trump’s betrayal cannot stand.
For some of us, now old, It is easy to remember a time over seventy years ago when incoherence and inhumanity converged!At that time we vowed, never again.Step by incomprehensible step we are making excuses for incoherence and inhumanity.We have no sense of history,no sense that we have been here before, no sense that it is up to us to uphold the America which once before defeated inhumanity!
2
The American people have had no prior experience with a POTUS with serious mental disturbances until Trump who has narcissistic personality disorder and borderline personality disorder. So it is natural for people with no such experience to rationalize the irrational, from the media to the government to the population. The rationalization must stop. Our democracy is not immortal. It is a fragile experiment. Others, like Putin, who understands the disturbance, is exploiting it to our detriment.
2
As this adminstration continues to deflect and play the game of 'whodunit' innocent woman, children and men are dying.
This soulless, acrimonious, lone ranger with bad hair made the call.
With absolutely no thought other than service to himself, he opened up Pandora's Box. The blood is on his hands and his hands are soaked.
Amendment 25
3
Trump's foreign policy failures are brash, in your face and obvious. But what is less obvious and certainly less discussed is the fact that much of American foreign policy is just as bad as Trump's but was done by Democrats.
Let's start with the uncomfortable truth about our foreign wars over the last thirty years. With very few exceptions Democrats supported all of them.
Since 1980 we have invaded Grenada and Panama, waged illegal proxy wars against Nicaragua and El Salvador, assisted Saddam's use of illegal poison gas against Iran, supported and then opposed apartheid in South Africa, illegally invaded and then occupied Iraq, invaded Afghanistan, allegedly to arrest Bin Ladden only to intentionally allow him to escape. And of course more recently we have invaded Syria, bombed Libya into a status of a failed state and extended our bombing to Yemen and Somalia.
Betraying allies obviously has foreign policy repercussions, but so does this seemingly endless violence that seems an almost permanent feature of American foreign policy.
Von Klauswitz proclaimed that war is an extension of foreign policy. What then have all of these wars been for?
They have not furthered democracy or human rights. So rather than simply look at Trump's ineptitude we should be asking why do we continue to have so many troops in the Middle East?
So far the otherwise fine columnists for the New York Times have not offered a satisfactory answer.
Except for Amash, Kasich, and Rooney (Flake and Corker in absentia) no Republicans are making any meaningful effort to censure or to criticize his actions. Their silence and acquiescence during this very dangerous time of a President defiling the Constitution with his rampant criminality, obstruction, foreign extortion, and abuse of emoluments, elevates the entire Republican Party as well as, their supporters to the status of being traitors to the country themselves. They are all by association accomplices to the crimes. The impeachment articles may indict a single President, but make no mistake, all who support this monster are going on trial along with him.
3
Charity. This is not about the column, but instead about your newsletter about charity.
Take it up a notch. Please. Make a Kristoff Foundation, or whatever you want to name it. Then, people can donate to that foundation and that foundation will distribute money to various non-profits.
Why should it be a lottery or a contest? Make it like the Gates foundation, but with your taste, knowledge and wisdom.
I think this could do two things:
1) Extract more total charitable giving from people who know that they don't have your wisdom; and
2) Have that giving go to the best possible places, at least according your your knowledge and judgment which many people likely will trust more than their own.
Another possible Trump foreign policy disaster? What happened in Culiacan, Mexico.
While it is being reported in the U.S. and around the world as a Mexican demonstration of incompetence, Mexican media has reported that their President ordered the raid to seize the drug kingpin on the abrupt orders of Trump, delivered in one of his famous phone calls. No one in The States has talked about this, but it would not surprise me if true. It fits with Trump's past behavior. According to Mexican media. Trump wanted to be able to brag about Guzman's seizure as a foreign policy victory.
2
I agree with almost everything Mr. Kristof brings to light....but this headline has one major flaw.
Under Trump there IS no "policy" ... just erratic and manic actions that he perceives will:
(1) put money in his pocket
(2) retaliate for some slight, real or imagined
(3) make him look strong and powerful with his base (and
other despots in the world that he thinks "love him")
(4) please Putin
(5) keep him in the headlines
(6) give him political fodder
(7) repeat 1 through 6
Policy: a course or principle of action
That implies that there is someone choosing a course or principle, and one would have to actually have thought to select or create a policy. Trump does not have it in his character, either moral or intellectual to actually create a policy. He can only push forward with bully punches which require no consideration for consequences.
2
Trump’s foreign “policy” as well as any number of his wacky decisions only make sense if you ask, “How does this help Russia?” Pelosi was 100% correct. All roads lead to Russia with Trump. If you look at it that way, Trump is actually very transparent!
4
TO START, A word about Obama on Syria. He had determined that the best policy for the US was to intervene in Syria with authorization from the Senate, where no support was forthcoming. The rank hypocrisy of the GOPpers pointing the finger of blame at Obama without taking responsibility, is consistent with that party's passivity in the face of Trump's monstrous violations of law, leave alone his repugnant indecency in all arenas. Trump's foreign policy is based upon whatever fragments his impaired memory can dredge up from Fox News. If that. Actually, I think that the Trump doctrine is going to be remembered as: Let's Make a Deal. A real Real Estate Deal.
3
Unfortunately for our country and for the world, Trump's cult followers believe anything he says. If he suddenly proclaimed that the sun rises in the west, some followers would say he was just joking, while many others would claim that science and the textbooks were wrong. Way beyond sad.
6
yup sir ur right
How much longer are the senate republicans going to let this laughing stock of a president endanger the US and the world? The only countries benefiting from his presidency are Russia, North Korea, Iran and Saudi Arabia. Enough is enough, take back our country!
6
If Kennedy had announced a withdrawal from Vietnam in 1965, the deep state would have bemoaned the betrayal of our South Vietnamese "allies." And now hear the warmongering Clintonites howl! It is corporations and not Kurds they speak for...
Eventually all will realize Trump does not know what he is doing. He is in over his head. Trying to figure him out or attributing motives is a waste of time and energy. Trump is lost. He is unfit for office. He should be impeached and removed - for the good of the country.
7
Trump's plan is that if ISIS regroups, we bomb them. Massively. The regrouping makes it possible.
In ancient Rome, Cicero's call to the enemy Catilina suggests just that. Gather outside the city, so we can fight you. Rather than stay in our midst.
Could it be that Trump read the works of Cicero?
@novoad Surely you jest. Trump? Read? Cicero?
1
Uhm, no. Trump has not read the works of Cicero. Trump likely didn’t have the bandwidth to finish “The Art of the Deal” let alone writings of someone from Ancient Rome who he likely has never heard of and is long dead, so of no use to him.
Seriously attributing some kind of coherent plan coming from Trump on this just leaves me shaking my head. I would buy Erdogan or Putin having a plan or at least an overall strategy to take advantage of Trump’s erratic behavior. But Trump? As far as I can see, he said he would get us out of Syria, needed a diversion as impeachment looms over the horizon, had a call with Erdogan, and thought this would be the thing he needs to be able to tell his followers he is keeping his promise. No plan. Just a tweet.
And those who have drank his Kool-aid will believe he is a genius and master deal maker and wonder what great works he has read to inspire him when the rest of the world sees a bumbling clown. Erdogan’s response to Trump’s letter of warning - tossed in the trash can - tells a lot about how foreign leaders see Trump. He has turned his back on our allies and cozied up with autocrats who will use him for their own purposes then toss him aside when he is no longer any use.
Has he read the works of Cicero? Give me a break. I am hoping you were joking.
1
The Kurds have always seemed to get the short end of the stick, as a pawn in an international chess game. Remember our outrage at Saddam Hussein using chemical weapons on his own people? Well, those were Kurds.
This ethnic group was never considered as the Sunnis and Shiites battle in the region. After all they have suffered, I have long felt they deserved their own homeland. I’m sure the reason this was never considered is the oil under the region. When ISIS took over large swaths of Syria and Iraq, the Kurds were our most steadfast allies in the region in defeating that scourge.
Of course, Turkey has long had a problem with the Kurds, mostly because part of the area that would make up a natural Kurdistan was within the Turkish border. Thus it became that one man’s freedom fighter was another man’s terrorist. Still, they maintained, with a small US contingent, an area in northern Syria they could call their own.
Now, with one phone call and one tweet by an ignoramus, they have again been cast asunder.
This makes me sick.
3
Donald Trump is oft underestimated. He has serious skills.
Yes, he is the most ignorant and incompetent US President in history -- and those are some of the nicest things one can say about his presidency -- but he knows his audience.
And yes, President Trump is responsible for horrific foreign policy off-the-cuff "initiatives" - that have caused senseless misery such as at the US/Mexico border, and senseless carnage, such as among the Kurds on the run - but he is not the root of the problem.
The far bigger moral cancer is with those who have intentionally subverted democracy for decades, sowing seeds of division, hatred and partisanship, so they can stay in power.
Lee Atwater, Ronald Reagan, Newt Gingrich, Denny Hastert, Karl Rove, Mitch McConnell and other Republican power brokers are the true authors of this tragic chapter of our Republic.
They were and are devoted to their cause.
Truth and Democracy? If they are convenient in the moment for these guys, great. If not, hey, no problem.
3
Agreed. The Republican Party and their supporters in the right wing media have been preparing the soil and planting the seeds all my adult life. Donald Trump may not have been what they envisioned, but it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that Donald Trump spring from this. It didn’t start with Trump.
2
America is the Criminal here-not Trump. What Country was Complicit in allowing an ill informed, bankruptcy prone, aging Con to be head of the state and head of the government. America allowed this to happen, just like it allows Electoral College to exist. and allows 2 Senators for every state regardless of population. Trump could've easily prevented--no tax return--no Presidency.
1
Donald Trump didn't fail to deter, detect and defeat the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01.
Donald Trump didn't invade and occupy Afghanistan and Iraq without asking Congress to debate, declare and pay for war.
Donald Trump didn't engage in cyber and drone inside of sovereign foreign nations was without any specific Congressional authorization of military force and budgeted funds.
Donald Trump didn't fail to deter, detect and defeat Russian hacking and meddling in the 2016 Presidential campaign and election.
The imperial Presidency is a legacy of the post World War II Congressional surrender of it's duty and power to check and balance the executive in matters of national defense and security.
But the root cause of this travesty belongs to the American people. In our divided limited different power constitutional republic of united states the people wield the ultimate sovereign supreme power over their elected and selected hired help.
Since 9/11 a mere 0.75% of Americans have volunteered to wear the military uniform of any American armed force.
And they have been ground to emotional, mental and physical dust by multiple deployments in ethnic sectarian foreign civil wars that have no military solution.
While the rest of us pretend to be brave honorable patriots by rising to sing the national anthem and saluting the flag at sporting events.
Any American who has a desire to engage in any war in the Middle East is free to go as a mercenary. Don, Jr.? Eric? Jared? Sean?
1
@Blackmamba
3rd paragraph correction..'.drone war inside of sovereign nations without any...'
Show of hands: how many think President Trump believes the things he says? How many think he is like the Caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland, or like Humpty Dumpty? If he says things he does not believe to be true to benefit himself, he has to go. If he thinks he can make the world bend to his will just by what he says, and can’t tell the difference between reality and what he wishes to be true, he also must go. Under what circumstances should he stay? Liar or fruitcake, take your pick. If he is honest and truthful, why would he depend on Giuliani to defend himself?
Two items:
1. Obama went to McConnell for authorization to respond to Syria's transgressions. The Republican senate denied authorization. In character, it then blamed Obama- who would also have been blamed had he confronted Syria or not consulted with McConnell.
2. People who defend the right of a known juvenile delinquent to carry a weapon in a crowded auditorium should not be surprised at the predictable damage that ensues. They are responsible in part for the damage & must be held accountable.
Republicans are similarly responsible for the actions and outcomes arising from their support of their leader known to be dangerously incompetent, foolish, untrustworthy and venal. The Republicans have armed this untrustworthy incompetent. They should not be shocked, shocked, when he acts untrustworthy and incompetently or at the resulting harm to the world. They invited it to promote their self interest.
It is not hyperbolic to recognize that Trump's and the Republicans' undermining of America will cause immense suffering and death for decades as we search for our misplaced honor and integrity through McConnell's smokescreen of false equivalence & playground cry of "You did it too!"
One party is responsible for Trump and one man for the Washington gridlock preventing America from prospering.
3
Donald Trump's foreign policy is one based on rejection; rejection of international law, rejection of international standards of human rights, rejection of earlier US foreign policy built over many decades, rejection of United Nations resolutions, and rejection of any and all policies with the name Obama attached.
Rejection is the tell-tale sign of someone desperately trying to develop self esteem. Such a person puts everyone else's ideas and actions down in order to promote your own concept of self importance..
3
I only add my comment to show that I deeply care and am dismayed, horrified and ashamed by what we've allowed the power of our nation to commit.
4
"It was just five years ago that an American president, faced with a crisis on Syria’s border, acted decisively and honorably."
Gee, Obama acted honorably. Except, he didn't fix anything. In the world we live in, we have a choice. You can act honorably or take a side. The second is not binary. You may select side A, B or C.
A and B are the combatants. C is "none of the above". A and B will fight, until only 1 is left. Thereafter, there is peace. A good example, the Palestinians and Israelis have never finished their war. The Israelis seem hesitant to eradicate the Palestinians. The Palestinians have no such qualms. News flash, the Arab world would not mourn the loss of the Palestinians.
All Trump did was pull out the US forces. Let the parties work out their differences, to the extent they are comfortable with and we will see what happens. Sometimes, there is not a fairy tale ending.
If the last 20 years taught us anything, it is, democracy doesn't blend with tribal governance. And, it only succeeds by force and constant monitoring. The British have been trying to civilize the world since they ended slavery in in the early 19th century. When the British leave, the decay begins anew.
No one is discussing the elephant in the room: were Trump Towers Istanbul a factor? What about Flynn's work for Turkey? More going on than meets the eye!
1
“Contrast Obama’s move, successfully working with allies to avert a genocide, with President Trump’s betrayal this month of those same Kurdish partners in a way that handed a victory to the Islamic State, Turkey, Syria, Iran — and, of course, Russia, because almost everything Trump does seems to end up benefiting Moscow.”
I cannot. Every time I think of the betrayal that our President has perpetrated in our name I want to weep.
I don’t even know how to deal with this disgrace or the disgrace of what the presidency and our country have become. I am sick about it constantly.
2
What Trump did with the Kurds was ignorant, reckless, incompetent and amoral. Everyone told him not to. But he, as Kristof correctly points out, was hoodwinked by Erdogan, a bird of a feather.
However, while I have a lot of sympathy for the Kurds and admiration for the courage and perseverance in facing feckless Arabs and Turks, a dispassionate historical overview would also point towards the despicable roles Kurds played in the Armenian genocide - Ataturk used Kurds, who coveted Christian farmland, orchards and property, as shock troops that murdered and pillaged hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. What is happening now is, in a way, karma...
I have never been so deeply ashamed of my country. From the people who, through hatred, frightful ignorance and gullibility, or amoral pragmatism, chose someone so utterly, flagrantly, proudly incompetent to our nation's highest office, to the elected or appointed members of our government who are either too hateful or afraid to work for the good of our country by opposing his madness, I am beyond even disgust for the people who share complicity in this catastrophic "administration." There is simply no excuse.
1
I cannot believe we have done this.
I am literally nauseous reading this.
1
He is a man who will use ANY of the levers of power available to him to benefit himself.
Shep Smith left FoxNews last week. Suddenly.
I am not sure DT didn't get Barr to tell Rupert, 'you know North Korea has been threatening to bomb Australia for years now'. Which he has. 'It would be a pity if I looked the other way'.
Yes, I am probably crazy. But then again, so is the US President.
2
Time for criminal charges to be declared against Trump, Pence, Pompeo and other enablers in The Hague.
1
Obama created the Syrian situation. Trump cleaned it up. We were not there to play peacekeeper between the Kurds and the Turks (our NATO ally, in case the NY Times forgot). How many Americans died in Syria last week? Zero = mission accomplished. Thank you President Trump. I'm surprised our other "allies" in Europe didn't make an effort if it was such a big deal.
1
The two Mikes could redeem themselves by invoking the 25th amendment and save the world from even more disasters. Every day he remains as "president" we are in peril.
4
Predictably, Trump, an extreme narcissist who takes advice from no one said: “Foreign policy is what I’ll be remembered for ". Even more predictable is the boundless chaos and disaster that is a summary of Trump's absurd attempt to be a world leader.
Trump has weakened the United States immeasurably by alienating our closest allies around the globe. Trump has failed at every step of the way be it in Mexico, Iran, Korea, China, or the EU. His deal with Turkey leading to the deaths of innocent Kurd families is a crime against humanity.
Yes, Trump's complete failure at every level of presidential action was predictable because of his complete ignorance, lack of experience and his belief that he alone can solve every problem because he is a super-genius.
Despite Trump's predictable failure based on his entire life history, the Republicans placed him in the Oval Office. The Republican leadership that has allowed Trump to bring death to our Kurdish allies all have blood on their hands along with Trump. Trump couldn't point to Syria on a map, nor does he have a clue about the importance of our Kurdish allies.Trump has been doing Putin's bidding in Syria, but the feckless Republican leadership just looks the other way as Trump continues to destroy everything he touches, including the credibility of the United States around the world.
Shame on Trump, but far greater shame on the Republican leadership for knowingly casting the Trumpian disgrace onto the United States.
4
Josef Joffe, a Hoover Institution fellow recently wrote, "Trump has not ended America’s “endless wars” in the Middle East. He has merely enlarged the war zone in one of the world’s most critical strategic arenas. . . . History will judge him . . . harshly." I recall the Reagan Republicans once believed everything coming from the Hoover Institution dedicated to fighting communism.
Putin now runs US foreign policy because Trump is Putin's puppet.
3
Since you stated that Syria was Obama's greatest failure, in fairness you should have informed us of what he should have done instead. What approach would have produced a positive outcome there? Does one exist?
1
As one of our Australian friends commented: “Mr Trump's repudiation of the alliance with the Kurds will likely be remembered as one of the great disasters of US diplomatic history post 1945.”
It has been obvious to me during the entire Trump administration that our “Commander-in-Chief” can’t put 2 + 2 together without the sum being an uneven number.
Thoughts have consequences,
Words have consequences
Actions have consequences ...
And he has never figured that out!
This pattern might explain the constant lies, back-tracking and rage tweeting that FOLLOWS as a coverup; especially, when said statements and actions create a negative backlash to his egotistical “Magnificent Wisdom” kind of thinking. What one SENDS OUT ... RETURNS .... and all this will (hopefully) come back to sink him; but to our detriment, it does and will also continue to tarnish America.
3
While there is much to be criticized about Trump's actions, to assert that Obama acted "decisively and honorably" in Syria is just delusional. Another example of why most thinking people now routinely dismiss NYT as a neutral and objective source of news and opinion.
How depressing.
If this is making America “great,” I want no part of his vision.
1
That our egoistic, self-dealing commander in chief is openly despicable besmirches and disfigures his base and cynical opportunists like Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell for encouraging and enabling his reckless amoral behavior.
To overlook egregious, even deadly outcomes for an ephemeral, over-rated sensation of fanciful self-worth or opportunities for self-aggrandizement is to embrace inhumanity and all of its necessary consequences and implications.
Trump’s base and his fully-engaged Republican minions are Trump.
1
The troops we are sending to Saudi Arabia are nothing more than expensive human shields, to be stationed around their oil refineries so the Iranians think twice about bombing them and involving the US. The Saudi's themselves, land of 10,000 indolent "princes" have to import everything of material or intellectual sophistication. We don't need their oil and we certainly don't need whatever contribution to civilization they have made, but in Trump's universe, the more useless you are to the world, the more useful you are to him.
1
American Presidents have had the luxury of running a country separated from all the fighting, wars, insurgencies, and terrorism by two oceans. They just do not know how to lead the world, no matter what they say. Reagan, George W, Clinton, W, Obama and now Trump failed. Trump stands alone in spectacular fail mode because of his obeisance to Putin and other autocrats.
This, "Gunmen backed by Turkey dragged a female Kurdish politician, Hevrin Khalaf, from her car by her hair, beat her and broke her legs, facial bones and skull, and then shot her dead" was unnecessary if he had just shut up and let his military deal with it.
We have to collectively bow our heads in shame for abandoning our allies who bore the brunt of the fighting, losing 12000 of their people. No American politician should ever commit to protecting non European allies in the future, because eventually we don't care about the "others."
2
Why has nobody made the connection between the Trump Istanbul Hotel (and Ivanka’s thank you letter to Erdogan) and Donald’s decision to agree to Erdogan’s aggression?
1
Are we at war with Syria? First, officially declare the war and then you should talk about US soldiers on Syrian soil. As of now, we are in Syria illegally and the sooner we get out the better.
Squat! That’s what he’ll be remembered for...squat! A minor footnote to the chapter in history books on root canals...
Re “Trump Takes Incoherence and Inhumanity and Calls It Foreign Policy”
The inhumanity that just keeps giving.
Why are we not discussing what we can do for the Kurds right now? They’re about to be attacked again by the thug mercenary militias while we wring our hands. All our generals feel it’s a wrong against the Kurds and a security debacle for us.
ACT NOW, or forever live infamy. It’s like we’re dazed, foolishly waiting til it’s really too late.
Bad idea. Enabling ethnic cleansing or worse should not be an option. Look the other way now, pay later.
1
President Obama's reluctance to get more involved in Syria was likely due to his worry that it would involve yet another military commitment from which it would be extremely difficult to withdraw gracefully. A graceful exit is obviously something that does not keep Trump up at night. He has no problem disgracing our soldiers and our nation because he is shameless.
1
"So we’re sending more troops to Saudi Arabia to help a misogynist dictatorship that kills a journalist for an American newspaper, even as we betray the Kurds who have been trying to build a democratic enclave that empowers women; we’re sending troops to Saudi Arabia to confront Iran, even as we give Iran a helping hand in Syria."
When I read this paragraph, I was struck by its symmetry of stupidity and perverse incentives. It's as if Trump decided to upend the past 70 years of post-war American foreign poicy inside out and upside down--not reaching out under the mantle of carefully calibrated goals, but abruptly pulling back hands first proffered as part of a cohesive strategy.
Trump actions resemble those of a spoiled kid who didn't do his homework so decides to destroy the classroom before his teacher can yell at him.
Diversion and distraction in domestic matters is bad enough, without taking one's show on the road.
3
Foreign Policy on impulse. Diplomacy by tweet. Sums up Trump's approach altogether.
Fact, we abandoned our ally against ISIS in favor of a murderous despot who, I suspect, is admired by Trump. Now we are left with an even greater disdain by the entire international community. Trump's fellow despots are laughing. Our ex-allies are frightened. What's next? Is Trump and team headed to the Hague for crimes against humanity?
2
Well, considering the trend of Republican Presidents, going from bad, to worse, to murderous Bush family, to naked corruption, one has to surmise that the next President from that party will put even Bush and Trump to shame, and thus rehabilitate him the way the history of the last Bush is being painted over.
Wealth is what kills a person, a country, a religion...
Hugh
1
There are several reasons that could be used to criticize Mr. Trump. He is needlessly hyper partisan, he lacks civility, he is narcissistic, he self deals, he refuses to compromise etc. But the utter incompetence, lack of knowledge or even the ability to accept wise counsel, lack of wisdom is dangerous to our country. But smarter people then me have said it. Why do so many not get it?
1
On CBS news I saw soul searing pictures of the true victims of the US betrayal of the Kurds. Children with horrifying burns probably from a chemical attack using phosphorous. Seeing this kind of suffering is more than tragic, our president gave the green light to this. These weapons are against international law and a war crime. The UN is investigating but I bet you anything no-one will be held accountable.. These pictures need to be on the front of the NYT and shown to the world. When Trump brags about how smart he is to pull out of Syria, ask him about these poor children. I felt heartbroken and so ashamed to see how our betrayal of the Kurds has impacted these helpless children. The world seems to be falling apart and social order disintegrating. It feels so distressing to me, to think that the USA is causing so much harm, it's hard not to cry. Shame on you Donald Trump and shame on us if we let him be re-elected. Yes I know Trump doesn't have any shame, but I feel better saying it.
2
Would you feel any pity if one of those dots stopped moving forever?
If I offered you £20,000 for every dot that stopped - would you really, old man, tell me to keep my money? Or would you calculate how many dots you could afford to spare? Free of income tax, old man......free of income tax.
It's the only way to save money nowadays.
Trump’s ethos. And he’s no Graham Greene.
Pompeo and Pence are such fine Christian men, I’m anxious to hear their comments on the photos of burned and damaged children that are flooding the Internet. Lindsey Graham, Tom Cotton, Chuck Grassley and every other Republican need to talk, in depth, about these photos. Awaiting their in depth reactions. Anxiously awaiting.
1
“Inhumanity” is keeping your own citizens in unwinnable, undeclared, uninvited, unaffordable and unconstitutional wars. I voted against 45 in 2016 and will do so again next year. But every American soldier he brings home represents another reunited family. I thought Times writers supported that goal.
1
Right on point, Mr. Kristof.
When Mr. Trump defends his abandonment of the Kurds because they didn't help "us" at Normandy, I wonder which side he's referring to?
I could not get through the op ed in one reading. I had to put it down 3 times.
"“Foreign policy is what I’ll be remembered for,” Trump boasted in 2017 to my colleague David E. Sanger. Well, um, yes."
This is true in part. He will be remembered for foreign and domestic policy -- almost all of it bad. Really, a lot of time and newsprint could be saved for other stories if only the things Trump had done at least halfway right were covered.
Of course, journalists might have to reach back to the Wollman Skating Rink, long before he came to the Oval Office. And even that was not an unalloyed boon, as I understand it.
1
As I've said many time before, everything this president does makes total sense once you accept he is working for Russia and/or Saudis.
We keep trying to analyze why he makes the decisions he makes, he's narcissistic, greedy, a crook, etc. Probably all true, but he does not seem at all confused about who should benefit from his decisions.
6
You said what Trump has done is vandalism. I would say he is a partner in committing war crimes, because clearly Turkey has done just that. How any Trump supporter can spin this into something positive is truly astounding. However, yesterday I got another newsletter from my GOP Congressman - all chirpy and upbeat about all the wonderful things he is doing. Not ONE WORD about the obscenity that is Donald Trump. Yet he loudly berated Obama at every opportunity. The people who continue to support Trump, attend his rallies and cheer his lies are truly unbelievable. How must other allies such as Japan and South Korea be feeling with China and North Korea breathing down their necks. If they are attacked will it just be a little "play ground" tiff? Only a few thousand killed? Sometimes you just "gotta let them fight it out "(or word to that affect). Another thing that is missing in all of this though is Europe's inaction. They have relied on the United States for so long to set the tone and bear the burden of the collective defense and direction of NATO they seem paralyzed. Frankly they should push the US aside, eject Turkey and form a new alliance until we are sane again.
3
There are two Trump Towers in Istanbul, none in Kurdistan. Nothing more needs to be said.
3
I miss the America of five years ago!
1
Yet one more column bemoaning Trump's obvious unfitness for office, three years on in this "disaster" of a presidency. How many of these columns have we seen now? I've lost count.
They are all, no doubt, true. Trump is wildly unfit for his office at best, and a deranged tyrant at worst. Yet every single column fails to place the responsibility for this nightmare of an administration squarely where it lies: Trump voters. If Trump's poll numbers had dropped under 30%, Senate Republicans would be climbing all over each other to get him out of the White House.
Now we may blame Trump all we want. But I haven't seen one column focusing on the the power of his voters. They're treated as either entirely unrelated to this debacle, or as hapless dupes who were "hoodwinked" by Trump. They are neither.
Trump voters are entirely responsible for the fact that our once fine nation is considered a laughing stock at best, and an international pariah at worst. They support a known felon in the White House for only one reason - he is as racist as they are.
And this, folks, is all Trump voters want from a president. But their role in this horrific chapter of our history should not be overlooked. They should no longer be given a pass. They should be held to account.
At some point, Trump will be gone. And then the rest of us will have to live with the knowledge that some 40% of our citizens worshiped a frank bigot and deranged tyrant as their "president".
4
@Charles Dodgson Yes,Charles,I'm afraid you're right on all counts. What a catastrophe ! I'm an old man now and don't have the energy to take much more of this. A lifetime of better beliefs now blown and blasted by a criminal and his family sitting in the white house. Incredible.
1
Erdogan may have threatened to take away the Trump Towers in Istanbul. Or perhaps Putin had him allow our allies the Kurds to be slaughtered. One never knows with Trump.
3
Trump is running his government the same way he ran his businesses. Spare. He is the government. He is erratic; foolish; uneducated in foreign policy; he has no ironclad doctrines to give formal shape to his actions and therefore we have consistency only in his inconstant approach. He threatens our rule of law; national reputation; allies; public safety net; health insurance and more.
3
We are witness to the plunder
Our country torn asunder
Dismantled by the madness of a clown
Now we face our darkest hour
The vandals have the power
And everything we've built
They're tearing down
3
Trump's ignorance is profound. His indifference to suffering is staggering. But it's the fact that millions of Americans support him that horrifies me to my core.
4
How does Murdoch‘s propagandist mouthpiece, Fox News, spin this? No American politician should be able to survive this kind of shameful behavior! Our country grows more intolerable to live in by the moment.
3
The day Donald Trump and his unapologetic lying, self-dealing, and pandering to dictators is erased from the American presidency; the day his amoral debasement of our core values, and shameless assault on our democracy and foreign relations is no longer possible will surely be “a great day for civilization”.
3
I absolutely bristle when I read or hear comments like "...America has abandoned the Kurds." America did not betray the Kurds. Donald Trump did! How long will the Republicans continue to let this dreadful man stay in office?
2
Hate to be the one to mention this. But the Kurds are NOT a nation & are NEVER going to be a nation. Not as long as Syria, Turkey, & Iran are position to prevent it. And I doubt Iraq os going to support the idea either. So what exactly is US to do? There is no resolution all sides will accept. Not now not ever. So what are we to do another forever war. Us soldiers getting killed for absolutely nothing, except to make people who won't have to do the dying feel good about themselves. When is enough enough ? Syria wasn't our country we weren't invited in by their government. Are we just supposed occupy their country forever? I'm fairly well read & informed and I surely don't remember a commitment to occupy Syria forever. I have no love for Trump, I didn't for him. But before we scream bloody murder at him for this maybe we should come up with plausible alternatives beyond were going to spend money & lives to stay there forever. With no gain, except for funeral homes & Graveyards. Possibly just possibly the Kurds should have pulled out of Syria into their safe havens in Iraq? Instead of assuming the US is willing to spend unending blood and treasure for them!
This makes me ill. Trump has no soul. Starving babies. Families living in tents, in freezing and dangerous conditions. You can say it’s not our responsibility but I disagree. Having come from a family of holocaust survivors, I find this especially painful. I donate what I could but it’s a drop in the bucket.
3
And who else but a member of the despicable Trump family i.e. Lara Trump on Fox News, would have dared to excuse Trump’s betrayal of the Kurds by saying that “average Americans” had no idea who the Kurds were. Ignorance is never an excuse for immorality.
2
Well you think that it is just Trump who is behind this inhumanity
and injustice and foul play; take a look behind the scenes....
Mr. Kristoff....it is the entire GOP in the House and the Senate
and The Executive Branch which includes Trump's Cabinet;
and the Justice Dept.:
But it is not the men and women in the US Military; no they
are rightfully enraged and disgusted with this betrayal of
our allies the Kurds...and it is their leaders in the Military as
well; disgusted with the entire GOP...who are allowing this
treasonous act to happen.
Where are you General Mattis; and others in the leadership of
the military; and where are you the true Republicans who
are running in Republican primaries against Trump;
Bill Weld: Joe Walsh; Mark Sanford;
What's stopping those in the Pentagon and these Republican
Primary challengers from speaking out and calling out these
GOP cowards who are so self serving.
Where are your NYT editors ; holding back on denouncing this unholy and foul act of betrayal against the Kurds.
Why the silence...Am I disgusted...of course I am...
3
American administration has a long history of taking side with wrong.
In 1971 Pakistan army conducted largest ethnic cleansing after second world war in Bangladesh liberation war. Hindus were massacared along with Bengali liberals and commoners. Nixon's America sided with Pakistan to please China, even was about to ship arms and ammunitions to facilitate genocide.
But betrayal to the Kurds will be one of the history's biggest lesson. American domestic instability creating major turnarounds all over the world. Facilitating dictatorial regimes like Saudi Arabia.
Kurds are the only democratic, liberal and open minded people I can consider in entire middle east. Kurds have been victimized of territirial tribalism. Saddam butchered them with support from Iran and US was tacit. Now Turkey is slaughtering them....
Kurdish people will never forgive our inability, calousness and betrayal. Shame...
1
"What [Trump] has done in Syria is not foreign policy. It is vandalism." NO! NO! NO!
"What [Trump] has done in Syria is not foreign policy. It is" murder.
Pure and simple, Trump is responsible for the outbreak of war where American troops' presence had imposed order. He is responsible for the murder of civilians.
Trump delighted in claiming he could shoot someone on Fifth Ave. and not lose a single supporter. His disregard for human life has led to "a female Kurdish politician, Hevrin Khalaf, [being dragged] from her car by her hair, beat her and broke her legs, facial bones and skull, and then shot her dead." And he has not lost a single supporter.
It is hard to know whether his supporters have been so gaslighted that they are also victims of his evil, or whether they are his brothers in arms, who would also delight in imagining an inhuman pleasure of shooting someone on Fifth Ave.
I hate to sound like a broken record, but the problem isn't Trump, it's his enablers in D.C. and the rest of the country. The blood of the Kurds, and the worldwide collapse of respect for America, is on their hands as well.
Not just power hungry Congressmen, but millions of average Americans, through ignorance, apathy or avarice, continue to support this president by ignoring his cruelty and dishonesty, and by vigorously opposing all efforts to hold him accountable. They are quick to brag about the "great" economy, about plentiful employment, and cheer at his rallies. When confronted with his malfeasance, their reply is always the same: either "You're just angry that he won in 2016," or "Hillary was worse!"
Trump is a master manipulator; he tosses just enough facts into every tall tale he weaves to give himself and his supporters cover when confronted with the truth. Yes, we wanted to draw down troops in the Middle East, but no - withdrawing the US troops from lands occupied by the Kurds was not about that at all. I even saw a headline from a conservative news outlet that congratulated Trump for pulling US troops out before the bullets started flying - as if the bullets would have still been flying if Trump had not pulled the US troops out!
So, yes - now we have another disaster on our hands, another foreign policy catastrophe, and yet another hole to dig ourselves out of, if & when we're finally rid of this monstrosity.
2
So far Trump has not exhibited any human ideal, but quite a few human depravities. That contrast is no accident.
3
Obama was a student of history and culture and worked the Middle East as the Rubik's Cube it has always been. Trump cannot tell a Sunni from a Shia; Persia from Mesopotamia ; Iran from Iraq; Beirut from Damascus; Istanbul from Constantinople and so on. He is a fifth grader trying hard to name these places in history and on a map. He probably thinks the Ottoman Empire is a very large furniture store and Kashmir is an expensive sweater.
1
When the French capitulated to the Nazi's in a month's time, after the war de Gaulle and other French patriots considered the Vichy collaborationist regime to be a sort of time warp or total collapse of French patriotism at the top. After the war was won the "eternal France" continued its journey in its traditional self respect. I am hoping that the era of Trump and Trumpism is like that, and that after he is out of office we can be proud of our country's place in the world once again.
1
Trump’s highly impulsive gesture solely to impress his rural base bombed epically. His obsession with ratings once again leads him to blunder “bigly”.
Trump’s ‘policy’ is “coherent” if you view it through the lens of Putin. The apparatchik in the White House is now accelerating the giveaways (e.g., the Middle East) because he senses the jig is up and it’s now or never.
1
Trump's total indifference to human suffering is a thing to behold. Just the revulsion one would feel towards one man who displayed this trait would be overwhelming, but when it comes from a President who represents all of us it is totally mind blowing.
Whether it is at the Mexican border separating children from parents and putting them in cages, to Puerto Rico where he basically abandoned those suffering from a catastrophic storm, and to Syria where he has given the green light to an upcoming genocide, Trump's depravity spans the globe.
1
A couple of points of fact. The troops moving to Saudi Arabia are from the contingents already in the region, Iraq, Syria, Kuwait etc. and they are deployed due to missile attack on the Aramco refinery. Evidently, Saudis cannot use the billions of weapons that they purchased and these refineries are critical for the global supply chain. It is unrelated to what is going on in Syria.
One TV network already withdrew footage they used and apologized after it turned out that it was years old from Raqqa. There are several armed groups fighting for territory and UN reported that there is no indication of napalm or chemicals being used. There is going to be propaganda war along with the shooting; without confirmation rushing in with charges of massacres and genocide this early is not going to help. YPG has shelled residential areas across the border according to BBC and there is indigenous arab resistance evidently, and then there is this from Amnesty International.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/10/syria-us-allys-razing-of-villages-amounts-to-war-crimes/?fbclid=IwAR0_fe-l6jKr-EIkBjkb3OgfsOOgFKP9Spx2VFXhdBr0yG3wWV2CSveLzYc
Troglodytes understand each other which explains his profound hold on many. However, the only constant with him is his delivering to the plutocracy. History shows that this never ends well.
This move by Trump was not spontaneous per published reports. Pompeo's first trip overseas as CIA director in 2017 was to Turkey to discuss Kurds, Gulen, and related matters. Trump attempted to pressure Tillerson to work for the release of Reza Zarrab at the request of Erdogan conveyed thru Giuliani in a WH meeting with Trump. Mike Flynn lobbied for Turkey after the election and had involvement with the plot to kidnap Gulen. The murder of Khashogghi opened a new chapter where Trump attempted to ease extradition of Gulen to placate Erdogan.
Erdogan's invasion is popular in Turkey and may explain why it was done at this time following the political defeat in Istanbul. Conditions on the ground in Kurdish Syria were stable. No attacks were being launched by Kurdish forces across the border. Conditions were favorable for negotiations that could lead to political settlement with Damascus in the long term.
The invasion has set the stage for genocide not controllable by Turkey and a re-explosion of ISIS. Syrian Arab fighters under the Turkish flag are exacting vengeance against Kurds.
The consequences of the invasion are so dire that it opens an opportunity for high level diplomacy. Rather than to Ankara Trump could send Pence to the Security Council to propose a U.S. backed plan to place the Kurdish territory under UN protection as a step towards political resolution in Syria. Kurds would be safe, Turkish security respected, and Syria's territorial integrity honored.
Actually, Mr. Kristof, Trump’s foreign policy and entire modus opera do is “WWOD”: “What Wouldn’t Obama Do?”...
Recall Trump's sudden empathy for the "beautiful little babies," after Assad's attack on the opposition held city of Idlib in Syria in 2017.. Where is his empathy for the Kurds, treated by him as pawns in a geo-political power struggle between the Syrian dictator, Erdogan and Putin?. His hypocrisy and double dealing is truly nauseating.
1
OMG, Nicholas Kristof, I read your link to your 2012 article,
Obama AWOL in Syria.
I, and I bet millions of Syrians wished that Obama had truly been AWOL in Syria, and not been arming the opposition and encouraging a civil war so that the US could do regime change.
About two months before you wrote that article, Hilary as Secretary of State to Obama, refused to allow a UN brokered peace deal, because it did not force Assad's ouster immediately. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/10/the-syria-deal-that-could-have-been/280274/
During the next year, six million Syrians fled their country, a million flooded into Europe causing huge backlash against refugees/immigrants, and likely the tipping point for Brexit.
At the same time six million Syrians were displaced within Syria, and eventually some five hundred thousand Syrians were killed, and cities were turned to rubble.
I suppose you were fine with that peace deal being trashed by Hillary. You, too, valued regime change more than the lives of Syrians.
But what really sickened me about your article was that you considered Obama's Libya intervention, one of his finest moments in foreign policy.
I remember pics of Bernard- Henry Levy, the French intellectual, riding in the back of an armed pick-up in Libya, smiling, having a great time.
War, what fun! Bombing great! peacemaking boring....
American foreign policy under this unfit president is simply un-American. And while our democracy is subject to the whims of this corrupt, greedy and cruel individual, so, too, is he subject to the whims of our most formidable sworn enemies. If this isn't treasonous behavior, then what is?
Time to act, put the blame squarely where it belongs, remove this incompetent despot from office and return our country to where it was and where it must be for our future and the world's. That's the only true American thing to do.
2
Wait, the Kurds weren't there on D-Day. Whoops, was Putin's Donald J Trump there. Well both of them were too young.
OK, was that Donald J Hump in Vietnam? Well, he would have been had he not had his bone spurs.
Oh, that explains it.
DJT follows in ignoble US tradition demonstrated by Reagan administration tacit support for Iraq chemical attacks against Kurdish communities - Anfal - Halabja - 1986-89. "Chemical Ali" Majid paid consequences; similar justice may await current political perps, malefactors, murderers.
1
Trump's betrayal of our Kurdish allies is eerily similar to Neville Chamberlain's sell out of Czechoslovakia in 1938.
1
Dems should put this latest Trump debacle on the list of "high crimes and..." as part of the impeachment inquiry.
1
Americans of all religions and regions weep at what Trump and his enablers have done. We hope, at the very least, that those who suffer as a result of his words and actions know at least that.
This guy's decision making is ruining our country, and causing people to die in other countries as well.
One more thing to add to the impeachment files. And the sooner the better with that.
1
The important call was not with the butcher of Turkey. It was the day before, when Trump got his instructions from the paymaster of the Kremlin.
1
There is a near infinity of things Trump will be rembered for--all bad.
1
Trumps policy in this one instance is totally coherent. Encourage Muslims to kill Muslims. He has made it clear that he views all Muslims as evil and that he couldn’t tell a suni from Shia, Kurd from Turk, Syrian from Iranian. I’m surprised he actually isn’t sending ( additional) weapons to increase the death toll.
And as trump also said even if this creates more terrorists they are unlikely to get further west than Europe ( remember he has unmatched wisdom so he knows this to be true).
Vote blue no matter who.
Why with all of us watching does this evil persist and grow?
3
The phrase "obscene and ignorant" is an insightful description not only of what Trump says but also of what he is.
2
Can you see yourself in Trump, dear Republican voter?
He is a reflection of your very own, un-informed, stubborn, regressive self.
3
A President of the United States of America who has betrayed his own country? His own people? Not possible! the GOP and Trump enablers rant! "Get over it!" (Trump's Acting Chief of Staff in the White House on Friday, 18 October 2019).
Trump retreated last night from using his failing Florida golf resort "Trump Doral" as the site for America's 2020 G7 Summit. At last he's been hoist by his own grotesque Trump emoluments clause petard of the Constitution!
Alas this president's incoherent, chaotic and inhumane foreign policy won't end here and now.
Give me a break. The Times has consistently opposed the use of force against Iraq, Iran, North Korea, against aggressors anywhere. Now that it is time to impeach Trump, it is all of a sudden the home of super patriots. Whom exactly do you think is fooled by this?
1
Who would have ever thought ethic cleansing could be perpetrated by people in our own WH, by Trump, and his racist murderous crew. The planning, no doubt of this heinous crime started in the in the Oval Office with the phone calls between Trump to Erdogan. Within days Trump proudly was announcing and defending this insane plan on TV saying, "the Kurds needed to be cleaned-out of the area".
I feel like I'm living in an episode of the Twilight Zone. This cannot be real? Can be happening? This disaster of a president, and now a war criminal, must be removed from office. For the good of America, and for the safety of the world, other countries that he holds grudges with and prejudices against, we must get him OUT, removed immediately before many more people will have to suffer because of his sick beliefs!
1
@Nicholas Kristof (responding to Haluk, a Turkish commenter)
Nick,
Do you know anything about the role played by the Kurds in the Armenian massacres? They were the people who committed many of the atrocities against the Armenians for the Ottomans. Their reward? The property of the Armenians who were either killed or exiled. Read the excellent biography of Talaat Pasha by Hans-Lukas Kieser if you haven’t already.
In any case, there is no one in this whole story that comes out clean. The British, The French, The Russians, The Ottomans, The Arabs, The Turks and now The Americans who took the place of the British and French as imperial masters. Russians always ready to muddy the waters too. Sazanov along with Sykes and Picot are the real villains if you are looking for names who acted on behalf of their masters.
1
Everything this spoiled child touches turns into an escalating mess.
1
Trump sees a weak adversary, beats them up, and thinks that makes him look strong. Simple. He chose immigrants at the southern border as his first target during his run for the Presidency; drug smugglers and rapists he calls them. He disparages the poor and minority areas of the country. He allows the Kurds to be killed off in Syria, and the Palestinian lands take in Israel. It is all the same pattern. Does he attack Putin? He fears Putin because Putin projects strength. Trump is a weak man and can easily be bluffed. The world knows that too well. Americans will pay for it.
2
Trump takes mendacity and moronity and calls it mastery.
One of the ultimate inadequacies post-2016 is the utter lack of English words that would adequately describe the seething evil, the un-American infestation, the sociopathic uselessness, of the cell clump they call Trump.
2
Will the Republican party, which is now the only roadblock to containing the vandalism of trump, grow a spine?
Tell them: Perform your sworn duty.
The entire apparatus of the RINO Republicans will be complicit in the devolution of the United States into a Mussolini's Italy dystopia.
Call your Representative, tell him in no uncertain terms that enough is enough.
2
This is not only 'trump' policy but rather republican policy. The republicans nominated the orange clown king, elected him with russian help (they helped the russians by changing their platform to weaken the Ukraine), have backed him virtually totally in all of his ignorant and cowardly decisions, and are now praising his handling of this catastrophe.
The greedy republicans have based their moral foundations on a salt pillar of for-profit free market capitalism without regulation and now that a flood of ignorance, cowardice, and hubris has dissolved their foundation of salt they are left groveling to a spoiled rich sadistic brat.
Let the impeachment hearings and facts come out into the sunshine of truth so the dark republicans can wither away like the whigs. On to 2020.
3
If ever anyone ever was ripe for "Crimes against Humanity," it is President Trump.
2
I have said before that I do not think Trump can even find Syria and Turkey on a map.
I had many Kurdish friends in CA who had fled Saddam's regime, and the gassings.
Your word, nauseating, fits well.
2
You can ‘understand’ Trump’s foreign policy (and every other Trump policy) by realizing everything he does is based on what he thinks will benefit him, and that he’s a con man. That’s it.
He can’t be bothered to learn anything new or listen to anything he doesn’t want to hear. He gets his information from Fox News and anyone else who will flatter him.
He wants to be seen as strong - so he models himself after strongman dictators and seeks their approval. He’s afraid of looking weak, so he lashes out when caught out, and doubles down.
He is a terrible businessman always chasing money. Why does he serve Putin? Look at his business deals and how willing he is to compromise himself. Why is he sending troops to Saudi Arabia and selling out the Kurds in Syria? Follow the money.
Going through life ignorant, greedy, fearful, and stupid is not a good thing, but never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers. When Trump uses flattery and racism to motivate his base, he’s using the playbook the GOP turned to decades ago. It’s how the rich keep getting richer on their backs.
The problem is, Trump is drinking his own koolaid. It will not end well for him and his followers. Look at Jim Jones at Jonestown, or David Koresh and the Branch Davidians.
Will we allow him to take us down with him? Will we let him pocket his gains and walk away from another in his long history of failures, leaving us holding the bag?
God save America if we do.
2
Has anyone considered that if Trump and Pence get kicked, that Nancy Pelosi is next in line of succession? Just saying....
@Brian You say that like it's a bad thing. Pence would be worse than Trump; all of the stupidity, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, religious bigotry and economic plunder of the middle class for the benefit of the wealth, but without the unhinged behavior to raise questions about what he is doing. He's also undoubtedly complicit in Trump's criminal behavior with regard to Ukraine. I say let's get rid of both of them.
1
Looking at the state of your union from the northern border, it is sad to see the "Décrépitude" of your politics at this time of your history but fortunately next year you will have the power to reverse this malignant path you're going through and establish the fair and right way of doing politics.
1
@RD
Let’s hope what you describe comes to pass. And let’s hope that the new president does not pardon Trump, for the GOP **will** try to use that as a wedge issue — and there is no cause for taking the high road here.
Trump, his family and anybody else in his orbit caught betraying the United States must pay the full price to send a clear message to all of humankind that this will never happen here again.
1
trump is no POTUS. He is a horror, a truly wicked person, totally undeserving of the Oval Office.
I will rejoice the day he is gone from the Oval Office. I just hope it happens soon enough that we can save what is left of the Kurds, free the children and their parents from prison at the border, restore the rule of law in this country, and then kick out of office every single GOP who supports this despicable excuse for POTUS.
4
Trump got rolled by blood thirsty Ergodan and proves himself to be a coward who abandons his allies, including women and children in the field of battle. And then miserable Pence and smug Pompeo, wasted taxpayer money to see dictator Erdogan, and received an insult. Trump is not just a fool, he lacks the wisdom, foresight, experience and intelligence to make unilateral decisions on foreign affairs. I'm outraged that he once again imperils the lives of so many people and callously boasts about it. The damage he is doing globally is enormous, which undoubtedly leads to the loss of so many lives. He has the blood of Kurdish men, women and children on his hands.
The Turkish dictator Erdogan is using a proxy army of extremist jihadists and thugs criminals, to murder Kurds, they have executed their captured Kurdish prisoners on the spot. It's shocking even to imagine, that the world's most powerful leader has surrendered the Syrian Kurds, our only genuine ally, to Erdogan's terrors. Historians will tell that October 2019 Genocide of the Syrian Kurds, was facilitated by the U.S President, Trump.
3
The trump presidency is as absurd, obnoxious and corrupt as nominating Al Capone, Director of the FBI would be.
1
Donald is more unfit than ever. He never was qualified to be President and with every passing day (and each and every death) he is much less so. Those that support him are equally unfit. Donald is nothing more than a self-absorbed, maniac conman. He is a cult leader on the order of David Koresh. He demands loyalty and submits his followers to public humiliation when they stray from his commands and whims. He is a master manipulator and draws on people’s worst impulses and thoughts. He declares what is wrong to be right, and backs up his declarations with threats and public tantrums. His words are poison, his tweets are like gasoline poured over smoldering coals.
2
As soon as I read the sentimentalist title I knew this article was going to be calling for war.
there's not a cruelty that this fat, crude ,ageing slob , this roc, hurakan doesn't endorse and encourage is there? but, he's just continuing Samantha powers book ,is all. I'm ashamed of my country ,now.
1
Nice to see Mike Pence serving as comic relief.
1
I used to say to myself we can repair whatever disaster Trump creates. How bad could it be?. And then Trump got on the phone with Erdoğan. Trump acts so impulsively, it's scary. This is not how to lead our country.
3
“Callow. Reckless. Indifferent.” A new Trump-Pence 2020 campaign slogan? What’s even worse is that while the Turks and Syrians wreak havoc on the Kurds in the wake of the U.S. troop withdrawal, Trump proclaims victory to his base of true believers, who cheer his every move, regardless of how ill-informed, impulsive and willfully ignorant.
1
NYT Please Advise: Given the perilous trajectories of our country and planet, at what point does the NYT take the lead and call for Trump’s resignation (without the benefit of a Pence pardon)?
Thank you.
2
You ask who can trust America now? Rich, white, male Americans.
2
It's hard to imagine anything worse than what has already happened, but here are two grim footnotes: 1) the troops from Syria are NOT coming home. They are being moved to Iraq. 2) the only "preparation" Trump may have done for his phone call with Erdogan is to listen to more poison from Giuliani who worked to get a crooked Turkish-Iranian gold trader freed, and also to have Fethullah Gulen extradited to Turkey. Perhaps he can have a cell next to Mike Flynn's. As for Trump, the just penalty for his evil and the suffering he has caused is beyond imagining.
1
Trump says the Kurds were "no angels" but has bragged about his love affair with a murderous dictator of North Korea and has defended the thuggish Putin of Russia. It is sickening to me that the Republicans in Congress continue to defend such a crackpot.
1
Donnie, you will be remembered for a lot more than your foreign policy..........none of which will be positive.
Trump and Erdogan sittin’ in a tree
K-I-L-L-I-N-G
Back comes ISIS
Bombin’ and crisis
Then comes refugees tryin’ to flee
Go back on our word
Sell out the Kurds
Trump’s foreign policy?
Absurd is the word
"Like two kids in a sandbox;" that's how the inexperienced, president of the United States chooses to describe Turkey's escalation of a war against the Kurds, but in fact this may be the beginning of an annihilation of our ally, the Kurds. I don't just mean inexperienced in the political sense, but inexperienced as a human being. Even if one hasn't been in combat, surely most adults would understand the cost of war to other humans. A normal person would never be the same if he or she even came close to a war zone. I mean even without a war experience he's inexperienced in empathy, in deep emotional pain, in grief. Turks and Kurds are killing each other when the President could have prevented it is criminal, IMO, and he describes it as kids in a sandbox. It could be a bloody sandbox full of dead children and this POTUS will go on with his idiot-clown show and never feel the pain he's caused. American veterans and active duty service people should be outraged by this demonstration of juvenile cowardice, ignorance and inexperience of this president who thinks of soldiers as kids fighting in a sandbox.
It amazes me that people can still support this president and his actions, especially soldiers and veterans. Your president can't feel your pain.
6
“Obscene and ignorant “. That says all that needs to be said about Trump. May he soon be under house arrest in his Tower.
4
Thank you for reminding us what a great president we had until 2016. President Obama was smart, informed, open to the opinions of military experts, had a heart and loved America; not Russia!
It makes me sick every time I hear this ignoramus in the Oval Office maliciously lying in order to smear President Obama's record. It's just too disgusting to listen to because it's self serving (as is EVERYTHING Trump ever does) and it's 180-degrees opposite of the truth.
Tonight I heard 2 Republican Senators saying they don't see anything that Trump has done that is unlawful (another lie!) and that they admire Trump for doubling down and being transparent. WHAT?!
There was noting transparent about the shakedown of the Ukrainian president until the whistleblower complaint got the ball rolling. Even then, the Trump protection squad consisting of AG Bill Barr and many other Trump appointees and Republicans tried to cover it all up. Then they moved the transcript to the highly-classified, code-word protected server. Next, Trump threatened the whistleblower calling him or her a spy, a partisan, and demanding to confront him! Intimidating a witness much?!
These 2 Republicans Senators are just as corrupt, dishonorable and dishonest as Trump.
I fear we are well on the way to a fascist dictatorship. Republicans are not going to stop it.
4
Mr. Mister, "broken wings"
That got me through horrible times.
It is sad that America has a fool for a President.
3
"A man of quick temper acts foolishly, exults folly, stirs up strife, and causes much transgression." - Proverbs 14:7,22,29
4
Obscene and ignorant are two of the least offensive pejoratives I would use to characterize the tangled clump of cheap mobsterism, hulking, ignorant boorishness and abject criminality that makes up the dark heart of this administration. Government by lets-see-what-I-can-get-away-with-today. Shameful and impeachable.
7
I think we can safely call him a thief, a liar, a torturer, and a murderer. Oh, he'll go down in history, alright.
5
Mr. Kristof, your "holiday gift guide" is a wonderful effort but I'm thinking of sending some money to Bill Maher's "go fund me" to pay Donald Trump to leave office. The world cannot afford another day with this stupid, self serving, criminal buffoon. I had much animus towards Trump since his support of murderous, white supremacists in Charlottesville, but seeing children burned with white sulfur was the "last straw". There is blood on his puny, little hands and he deserves to be in prison rather than the White House. When he finally leaves the "people's house" will need fumigation; he's that repellent.
4
Tom Petty. "Don't come are here no more"
One commander in chief studied intelligence reports late into the night, made the very difficult call to authorize a risky special operation, and brought down the person responsible for the mass carnage of 911. The other accepts flattery from dictators and just abandoned our long time allies to an autocrat, helping another dictator in the process, the leader of the country we have successfully contained since 1945. Which of these Presidents is a hero in large swaths of Idaho, Alabama, Fox newsland etc.? Oh yes, I forgot — the former President had a *black* foreign policy. Every thing he did was the work of a *black* President. He couldn’t possibly come out ahead in this comparison now, could he?
9
Trump’s new campaign slogan -Make ISIS Great Again.
1
How can you take Donald seriously. After all, he was named after a duck!
2
It's shameful and disgusting that it's taking the loss of thousands of lives for Republicans to speak up. Their cowardice and corruption will catch up with them.
3
Donald Trump is the most well-known evil politician in America, and I look forward to when this rotten piece of humanity leaves our building!
3
USA...a failed state
1
Remember My Lai! This time it is rogue Turkish "soldiers" acting as executioners of civilians in a country (Syria) that they had no legitimate right to enter. And to think our so-called president had the ignorant audacity to claim that the Kurds are "No Angels". Is this how American foreign policy is to be administered under the most uneducated ignorant fool to have ever become the Commander in Chief? We Americans should be thoroughly ashamed that we selected this ignorant narcissist to be POTUS. Trump is so far out of his depth when it comes to understanding foreign affairs. We have an adolescent of limited intelligence responsible for the reputation of the entire country. And Republicans in Congress think this is O.K.
2
If USA really don’t want to be involved with overseas conflict then empty out of Middle East, drop your blind support to Israel ( top reason behind Islamic antagonism towards Amrika) as well as out of Japan and Korea too.
Otherwise it is just a selective withdraw as per convenience
The nation and the world pray fervently for the death of President Trump
2
Trump’s morality kills.
“The hardest thing I have to do, by far, much harder than the witch hunt, is signing letters to parents of soldiers that have been killed,” President Trump said at the White House this month."
Did he sign each one of these letters personally, or did an autopen do it for him?
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/19/us/politics/trump-war-foreign-policy.html
2
"It was just five years ago that an American president, faced with a crisis on Syria’s border, acted decisively and honorably."
American president, honor, Syria?? Barack Obama?:
Aleppo!!
How fast one forgets or ignores.
1
And don’t forget the wonderful things Israel did over there. A few “steps” away in Sabra and Shatila. Remember?
So DJT Jade a deal with Erdogan to allow the Kurds 5 days, to in essence, ethnically cleanse themselves.
The art of the deal, indeed!
Breathtaking immorality
2
Silly, unimaginative, easily distracted, naive Americans. Among other things,betrayed by your own billionaires for years and years. KGB-FSB Putin got your vulnerability-number a long, long time ago. His is the winning strategy, complete with his oligarch servants. You lost and will keep on losing very badly. It's too late now to reverse anything. Enjoy Putin's Trump toxins.
1
For the malignant narcissistic disordered personality there is no difference between fame and infamy.
2
Nick you do much the same in demanding an honorable platform for the racism of the odious Charles Murray
Hey you rabid rally attendees, remember the scriptures: "The Lord shall destroy the destroyers of the Earth"
Yeah, that means you. No amount of tithing is going to cancel your appointment with Lucifer.
3
Trump is a man who separates immigrant children from their families, locks them in cages that have been called concentration camps where many have died. Trump is a man who calls neo-Nazis marching to protect the statue of general who fought for slavery and the overthrow of the Union chanting “Jews will not replace us” as containing “some good people.” Trump is a man whose hate speech inspired a follower to massacre eleven Jews in their Pittsburgh synagogue and 22 Hispanics shopping in an El Paso Walmart. Now Trump is a man who has sold out our Kurdish allies who were our “boots on the ground” that defeated ISIS and promoted their ethnic cleansing by Turkey. These are are “crimes against humanity” that promotes “domestic terrorism” as we’ll as terrorism abroad. There can be only one conclusion. Trump is evil incarnate who must for our national security both domestic and foreign be removed from office.
3
Pence's agreement with the Turks reminds me of the agreement between Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister and Hitler in Munich in 1938. They agreed that Hitler could take over the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia and he would cease all hostile operations. The Czechs were not consult. Chamberlain declared it "peace in our time". The Czechs have always called it the 'Munich betrayal". We know how that ended. Mr. Pence, you have been duped and have joined Mr. Chamberlain on the list of naive and ignorant politicians who created disastrous agreement without understanding the horrible consequences of your their actions. Congratulations.
3
I’m sure all commenters supporting our staying in a conflict in Syria would be happy to send their children to die there.
Trump thinks he's the smartest man in the world, which makes him the dumbest.
2
If one were to take Trumps world view and go back in history, the U.S. would have let Britain be defeated by the Nazi's with the whole of Europe falling under Hitler's control.
1
Let's not blame Trump. He does not care.
An idiot can't be blamed.
But at Republicans I stare.
They don't care to be shamed.
Shame on you, Republicans.
I do not hear your voice.
You are ugly Americans.
As if you had no choice.
The GOP is standing by.
They have no sense of shame.
Your lack of honor I decry.
You and Trump are just the same.
2
I repeat: We have a Russian agent occupying the White House. He is more loyal to Putin than the Constitution of the United States. He is a monster. His loyalists are monsters. His "base" is monstrous. His party is monstrous. His crimes are monstrous.
3
“THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated” ― Thomas Paine, The Crisis
The Officers and men and women who have spoken up and spoken out understand the phrase,"Duty,Honor, Country"far better than the man who in his seventies still believes that his hairpiece and tan are masking his obviously fake character and personal integrity.
The man does not even qualify as a "sunshine patriot."
As the coloring of his hair and tan fade before those he has mesmerized with his grand illusion let us pray they come to their right mind and impeach him before he does further damage to America and the world.
4
Trump comparison to Hitler:
Violates or arbitrarily withdraws from international agreements - Hitler’s unilateral withdrawal from Treaty of Versailles
Propaganda on social media - Hitler propaganda movie Triumph of the Will
Fascination with military parades - Hitler had military parades at every opportunity
Racists white tendencies (fake Jewish support) - Hitler had The Final Solution and Aryan fascination
Make America Great Again - Hitler: make Germany great again
Race baiting rallies, blaming immigrants for all of America’s woes - Hitler had rallies at every opportunity claiming Aryan superiority and promoting racism
Obsessed with loyalty and adulation (fires people who are disloyal) - Hitler assassinated disloyal members of his party (Sippenhaft)
Supports Neo-Nazis - Hitler: the first Nazi
Surrounds himself and supports thugs - Hitler created the SS
Writes “The Art of the Deal” - Hitler: Mein Kampf on the “Jewish Peril”
Both lied without any consequences.
If you don’t learn from history, you are destined to repeat it!
3
Mr. Kristoff,
Our (self-so-called) president is such an excreble human being that even putting his name in the same article with all the other 44 presidents is shameful.
He is a traitor to our republic—yes, Fox Newzies, most of of us intelligent Americans know we are a republic, but thanks for reminding the rest your viewers. He has stepped on (I almost said pooped on) the Constitution as if it didn't exist. But the anti-abortion— read religious theocrats—fundamentalists and anti-government-anti-government—read anti any thing that doesn't directly, in the very short term, benefit them—see him as the diseased tirant who is gonna make things right, no matter how vile he is.
What are we—those of us with even semi-functioning brains—gonna do? L3et's decide that stupidity should only hurt the stupid. That would be a good start. Let's decide that our country is way more important than the Republican Party. Let's decide that we need to go forward, to actually work to realize the America of our idealistic founding.
Oh, and let's stop asking, "what automatic rifle would Jesus use?"
4
Me kristoff
We need to stop been the police of the world, we have no right to interfiere in Syria from the beginning , they have been at war for a long time ,we didn’t start that war but blame the guy who want to end it, why don’t you tell France Germany England etc !! Is always the US fault ,how long should we stay, unfortunately he is paying for other president screw up, Kurds are mercenaries as were the taliban 40 years ago against Russia and then turn on us just because they got bored. As a good liberal you don’t realize this, you love to complain when a president start a war and now when it ends, make up your mind liberals
"Trump undid years of work in the Middle East. But he also is corroding the entire 75-year-old American postwar international order, built on American credibility and values. "
That is something that the Republicans care about and realize how much worse it can get. Impeachment is one mechanism that gives us the opportunity in the Senate to end Trump times. Another is putting together a majority able to overcome presidential vetoes and enact responsible legislation. Or we can sit back and watch NATO go and watch Ukraine go as Russia wills it.
1
As an "outsider" looking in I had always thought, regardless of who was President the word of America was something you could take to the bank. Apparently that is no longer the case. What may be the greatest concern is that there are American nuclear warheads in Turkey. Is the Turkish regime now confident enough that America is impotent to take over those warheads? The world does not need another nuclear nation particularly Turkey. However there is no indication President Trump would do anything meaningful to prevent this from happening.
3
Our commander and chief needs to be informed on world history the geo-politics of current events and the interests of our adversaries and our allies. Our commander and chief needs to be informed ,reading the daily briefs and consult with his /her national security advisors, military leaders and our allies before acting on his "GUT" .
3
It has been reported that counter intelligence investigations of persons in the U.S. government are going on right now. They include Donald Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
It is a safe bet that Russia is at the heart of those investigations.
So when will the media focus on:
How Trump's actions in Ukraine are connected to his quest for Russian sanction relief?
Why so many indicted and unindicted Russian oligarchs and their American and European bagman are connected to Trump and the GOP?
And why does Trump consistently take actions that benefit Russia and harms America and its allies?
6
It is indeed sad to witness that the US abandons allies in a time where Washington more than ever in the post-Cold War era is in need of partners that share the same set of values. US credibility is of outmost importance for partners around the world to be able to stand up against those who threaten the liberal order.
3
When is American foreign policy going to "made in the USA"?
Today much of American foreign policy is made in foreign capitals and in the boardrooms of the multi-national corporations. This is not what the founding fathers had in mind.
13
@Greg
The only foreign capital that counts with Trump is Moscow. And the only"capital" he cares about is dollars.
2
I remember when American foreign policy had long term duration, at least years if not decades.
Now American foreign policy is reliable only for days or weeks only. Which means the USA is now regarded as totally unreliable in foreign relations.
29
The dichotomy is impossible: remove 1000 troops who have enabled a peaceful place, or at least mostly so, for our Kurdish allies who are responsible for halting the ever-widening onslaught of Isis while at the same time sending 3000 troops to shore up the defense of the repressive monarchy which is generally acknowledged to have murdered an American-based correspondent for the Washington Post in their Istanbul consulate. The dichotomy is not only "impossible," it is beyond tragic; we are all mired in a terrible waking dream.
46
I agree with you, Mr. Kristof, and wake every day to wonder why so many Americans--in the high thirties to low forties percentage-wise--continue to support Trump despite his cruelties. His abandonment of our Kurdish allies to the whims of our country's enemies--Assad and Putin especially--is only the latest atrocity. His child separation policy at the US/Mexico border seems to have been lost in the chaos of his unfurling sadism. If character is indeed destiny, then expect his depravity to worsen as he is put under pressure politically during impeachment. What's then next for the US?
43
I am still unconvinced that Trump 'failed to prepare' for the phone call with Erdogan. More likely, he was told the Turks would imminently invade, and he chose to try to portray America's inability to prevent that outcome as his unilateral decision to withdraw -- and an American victory. Unfortunately for him, his disinformation and lies cannot mitigate the disaster that is unfolding.
7
and threatened in relation to the Trump Towers Istanbul?
Mr. Kristof hints at the elephant in the room by stating that almost everything Trump does benefits Russia. Well, this is an opinion column. I wish Mr. Kristof would state outright what seems likely (and which Nancy Pelosi hinted at, to Trump's face, earlier this week, and what Kevin McCarthy said off-the-record). Mr. Trump is acting on Putin's wishes, either because of his own financial interests, his admiration for Putin as a strongman, or Russia's electoral assistance.
92
@DABman YES, “Mr Trump is acting on Putin’s wishes, either because of his own financial interests, his admiration for Putin as a strongman, or Russia’s electoral assistance.” HOWEVER, it must be something much stronger than these three possibilities. I will never forget the smirk on Putin’s face at the press conference following the private talk between Putin and Trump in Helsinki. Putin WON ... something, somehow. And, the transcripts and translations of that meeting are where? People want to know.
21
Befriending enemies and opposing friends is weakness, not strength. Like most of Trump’s words and deeds, they’re designed to hide the truth.
57
When the obituary of Donald Trump is written, it will be fairly summarized as follows:
1. Given large amounts of money by his father, the numbers show he would have been far better off investing it in an S&P index fund than the business ventures he started, many of which failed or made little money. Perhaps his greatest achievement as a businessman was in his selection of a tax accountant, who figured out how to turn his financial failures in the 1990's into huge tax losses that sheltered his income for many years to come.
2. A much better reality TV personality (financially and otherwise) than a businessman. Without the unexpected success of The Apprentice, he (and his children) most likely would have continued to suffer from financial difficulties.
3. After touting his business skills as his qualifications to be president, he proved to be a much worse president than a businessman.
4. Self-centered with delusions of grandeur, lacking in kindness and empathy, and without any true moral or ethical compass.
126
@Jack Sonville
trump’s obituary should simply read “he was not a real man”. Real men respect the Constitution, they respect women, they treat children kindly, they are honest and trustworthy. I have been lucky to know very good men in my family, at work, in my neighborhood. trump does not come close.
33
@Jack Sonville Many are looking forward to seeing what it says.
2
@Jack Sonville
As long as it says he is dead I don't care what else is written there. I sure ain't gonna read it.
6
The Yazidi rescue was a specific operation, with an end date. It was successful and then finished.
The current ideas for the Kurds urge Forever War, occupying large parts of Syria permanently, to protect a vulnerable Kurdistan from a ring of powerful hostile neighbors. It also imagines using that Kurdistan against those neighbors, a place from which to attack Iran and Syria outside US occupation. That ensures it will remain a violent Forever War.
It isn't the same.
To be the same, one would need a realistic idea for how to protect the Kurds, as an operation with an end point and final peace in a reasonable time frame.
That just doesn't exist, or if it does, it is not offered nor apparently wanted by those who speak of "saving the Kurds." They have other motives too.
Proof? There has been a nascent Kurdistan since the end of the Persian Gulf War under Bush 1, maintained by a no-fly zone for the whole of the Clinton Admin, then again "saved" by the Iraq invasion, and yet through it all that Kurdistan was never set up and gotten running as an independent nation.
Why? It wasn't what was really wanted by the Americans claiming to help the Kurds for those twenty years, before Obama, before Trump.
10
The Kurdish region of Northern Syria was not a battlefield before Turkey invaded. The Kurds were on track to win some regional autonomy in negotiations with Assad. This is what Erdogan most wanted to avoid: an autonomous Kurdish region in Syria next to the one in Iraq, while the Kurds in Turkey are still oppressed and waging an insurgency.
This is quite the opposite of Forever War. Erdogan needed to attack before Assad and SDF achieved a negotiated peace deal.
3
@Mark Thomason So you’re good with bailing on the Kurds with zero notice, after we convinced them withdraw their defenses on the border to appease Turkey, after they helped us defeat ISIS at enormous cost?
3
@Mark Thomason
Nothing of what you say justifies what trump did, or how he did it.
trump's incompetence was an atrocity that made things worse instead of better; moreover in terms of troops sent to the region, it is a lie that trump in any way got us 'out' of there.
The complaint that Obama's example is not 'the same' is a non sequitur; the point was that Obama was acting as a responsible leader, even when his actions are justly subject to criticism.
That is indeed the respect in which trump is not 'the same' at all -- he is once again, 'opposite-Obama.'
2
Mr. Kristof - I believe that what you are saying is true. In the “age of Trump” (a phrase that pains me to write, as it gives him unearned credit) this - trust in anything - might be the most important qualifier. Thanks for writing about important things that don’t revolve around the fatness of America’s wallet.
20
“If the United States can keep its promise, in 120 hours the issue of the safe zone will be resolved, If not the operation will continue where we left off.” said Mr. Erdogan, as AMERICA’S COMMANDER IN CHIEF COWERED IN FRONT OF HIM...
54
Kristof: "Trump has emphasized his desire to bring American troops home, and that’s a perfectly reasonable aspiration if undertaken in a prudent way."
"Perfectly reasonable aspiration" links to an article by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. I read that article. It seemed realistic, but was pretty grim. I very much appreciate Mr. Kristof's integrity in linking to it, because I am puzzled as to why he did so. While the article validates Mr. Kristof's anger at Trump's imprudence, it does not really offer the "prudent way" Mr. Kristof implied I might find in it.
The Carnegie article argues that Russia, Turkey and the Syrian Assad regime are willing to invest in their dystopian vision of Syria a level of blood, treasure and depravity which the US (and certainly the EU) are unwilling to match. The article does not state, but I assume, that vision includes very little safety or welfare for the Kurds.
I wonder, then, what Mr. Kristof's "prudent way" involves. No one old enough to find Vietnam on a map can imagine that 1000 advisors would have protected the Kurds for long. The most "American" way to avoid throwing the Kurds under the bus (yet again) may be to put them on a boat. We can't open the floodgates for everybody, but I think the case for the Syrian Kurds as immigrants (yes, millions) is as special as it is for the Maya of the Northern Triangle. "Dangerous?" These forward-looking Muslims just might terrorize our terrorists.
6
Mr. Dover?
As we witness the spectacle of Republicans gnashing their teeth over the USA’s complete betrayal of our Kurdish allies by their parties standard bearer, try and remember this feigned angst when they vigorously defend their “Chosen One” during the upcoming impeachment hearings.
59
@Jeff
We must also remember that while trump has been inflicting pain on Americans the republicans have said nothing; it takes him inflicting pain on allies to arouse their humanity.
Doesn't sound too America First to me.
1
Agree with Mr Kristof as far as it goes.
But there is more: the president is proving to be very good at opening doors for the Russian wannabe empire, to the point of undeclared alliance. At the same time, the administration is engaged in a trade war with China and has sullied its strategic alliances with Germany, France and the other European nations.
These elements of instability harken the winds of war.
30
Maybe the Democratic candidates should fight Trump by pledging to have US invade Syria with a big army and make it into a Western democracy. Like we did in Iraq and Afghanistan.
And see what voters think about that.
12
@novoad
It might be unifying to have the sons and daughters of donors to both parties fighting side by side.
15
@novoad is russian- right?
1
Just like the republicans forced us to do all those years ago. How quickly we forget. How have the republicans avoided that blame?
1
My sincere thanks for this column. Your analysis goes to the argument that the man who is occupying the White House is detached from the consequences of his behaviors and has a cripplingly impaired ability to identify with the pain experienced by others.
Your voice is very valued. Am hoping things get better for us all—very soon.
50
The US was not in Syria to support the Kurds. To the US they were simply weaponized tools.
"We’re going to use a permanent occupation in the northeast to force Bashar al-Assad to cut his own head off,"...
"James F. Jeffrey, the Trump administration’s special envoy for Syria, has described America’s presence as a bargaining chip to secure not just the Islamic State’s defeat but also political change in Syria and a rollback of Iranian influence."
" Last year, the State Department, bowing to Turkish objections, quietly blocked a Kurdish effort to begin reconciliation talks with Damascus."
quotes from a good, unusually objective NYT article, "The US Turned Syria's North Into a Tinderbox. Then Trump Lit a Match."
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/15/world/middleeast/syria-trump-kurds-interpreter.html
Get the US out of Syria and Syria might heal...
The Kurds are reconciling with THEIR government.
Life could be better for Syria,
but I don't think Trump is being allowed "to bring the troops home"... and that bodes ill for democracy.
5
True and mostly in agreement with Nick's colleague, Douthat's column today. However, while Nick gives a nuanced view of President Obama's foreign policy, a minor part of the former's calls Trump's first two years in "certain respects more tranquil." My critique of that assessment is here, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/19/opinion/sunday/trump-turkey-syria.html#commentsContainer&permid=103195424:103195424.
More nuance in your "Name" columnists is welcome, such as also shown by Nick's point informing something with which I've been struggling: "bring[ing] American troops home...(is a) perfectly reasonable aspiration if undertaken in a prudent way." (Which, as both describe, this was anything but.) Further, nuance and calling out someone when appropriate are not incompatible.
9
Nick...thanks for keeping us informed out here in Willamette (darn it) Valley. I need a calm voice and relevancy in these troubled times.
31
It must be exhausting being Donald Trump. All the lies, all the subterfuge, all the energy defending the acts that have in every instance benefited Russia.( All roads actually do seem to lead to Putin when it comes to Donald Trump!)
Unfortunately the impeachment process is going to be even more exhausting for him, as will be his great reluctance to vacate the Oval Office when he loses the election in November 2020.
As he knows, soon after he becomes a private citizen he will very likely be indicted by the Southern District of New York.
120
@RD I don’t thinks it exhausts him because he doesn’t think about his actions after tweeting them and he has no sympathy or concern for others anyway. It may frustrate him and make him angry however.
4
@RD Please God may all that be true.
3
@RD
The SDNY has set the benchmark for professional expertise and excellence. Trump should be very frightened of the possibility for indictment and prosecution in NY State where his criminal behavior and incompetence is well known. No doubt he will try to stay in FL where he can bribe and bully local officials. It is appalling that a mob connected sleaze now occupies the Oval Office. He lost the popular vote by 3M, a good argument for repealing the Electoral College gift to cotton plantation slave holders during Reconstruction. We can take no pride in this man's betrayal of our allies and his suspect alliances with MBS and Putin.
3
The way things are going you have to wonder if anyone will be left to remember anything in the long term.
In the past a nation's leader would be on a battlefield at the head of his nation's armies. He would suffer very real consequences if he led his nation into a war he could not win. One has to wonder how different the last 100 years would be if that were still the case.
15
@cynicalskeptic
Eisenhower was neither a coward nor a corrupt leader. George H.W. Bush was a combat hero, and a gentleman. How did the GOP devolve into crude, rude, cowardly leadership? Trump has sacrificed the Kurds to protect his personal business interests; he has sacrificed the honor won by my parents, uncles et al who fought for and won freedom for Western democracies. McNamara and Dulles led us into a war we could not win short of genocide against the No. Vietnamese. Now we support genocide on behalf of Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
1
I wonder what they are thinking in Taiwan these days? Beijing must surely be reaching the conclusion that it is ripe for the taking now, after which Trump will note that the Taiwanese "never helped us in Normandy" and are "very happy" to be under the Red boot...
261
@Liam Yes, that's an excellent point. If Xi Jinping wants to make a move on Taiwan at any point, he may conclude that it's best to do so before January 2021 on the theory that Trump is unlikely to respond seriously.
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@Nicholas Kristof -- This is the time to do it, for sure. I doubt we are giving away any secrets.
3
@Liam : And you expect the US to go to war over Taiwan? Hate Trump all you want all the neo-Hawks talking out our brave allies - the Kurds and standing up to China is garbage.
Stand up to China? Protect Taiwan? That ship has long since sailed. It was sunk during the celebrations in Hong Kong on their return to Chinese control.
Would you encourage your children or grandchildren to join the military to defend the Kurds in Syria? Would you join the military to do so? Short of a permanent US military presence in Syria what your seeing now is how it plays out - today, tomorrow, the day after. We've done more than our part to destabilize Syria just enough to have a continuing death show in that country. Heaven forbid one of the major warring segments would decide to make peace with the government in Damascus.
1
I strongly believe that most people that get involved to this level have been abused. I have, and I know others have been too.
5
@Dave : Sociopathy is unrelated to abuse. Don't try to make excuses.
1
Until this, Donald Trump's presidency was more entertaining, while comedians feasting on his crazy utterances, than damaging. The damages were done by the Republicans in the tax-cuts & selecting federal judges & Brett Cavanaugh.
Indeed, in Syria, Trump did some great, courageous things by bombing twice, which was quite effective. Then about a year ago he prevented a large scale slaughter of Syrians, some 3 million who took refuge in Idlib (watch Nov 16th episode of Amanpour & Co on PBS), but Assad managed to carry out the slaughter at a much smaller scale in recent months.
Then unexpectedly this horrendous event happened. But Republicans & Mike Pence, with Democrats, ought to have watched the insane Trump from committing INSANE acts, ever since Gen. Mattis resigned, & put some kind of effective guardrails to prevent "Trumpmobile" from flipping over, as the driver is over-inebriated with his insanity! So, it's futile to blame Trump alone.
As Bret Stevens suggested in his column, a censure is an effective, immediate punishment for Trump, not necessarily as a substitute for impeachment. If Speaker Pelosi takes this path, that's good. That's achievable. It can, to an extent, defang Trump as well.
Though democracy is better than dictatorship, the electorate not infrequently makes bad choices. And we collectively elected Trump, those who didn't vote for him can't have a separate system.
12
@A.G.
No, Trump's administration was never "entertaining" unless you get enjoyment from watching a car wreck! His lack on integrity and of interest in governing has represented a clear and danger to our democracy from day 1. As noted in today's NUT editorial, we need a Margaret Chase Smith now to save the Republicans from Trump and themselves - Sen. Collins are you listening? Trump acts on his gut instincts and impulse, neither of which are any good; he is full of himself (as well as the contents of his gut). Trump represents a cancer on our society and the world that must be removed.
1
@A.G. - Assad is pretty bad. But nowhere near as bad as ISIS. If Assad had fallen, hundreds of thousands of Yazidis and Christians (among others) in Assad controlled Syria would have been annihilated by ISIS.
Yes I know Israel wants Assad regime change, and imagine the Caliphate would be easier to manipulate as a buffer. I think that old mens thinking stuck in the past creating a real danger.
1
@A.G. That separate system is called Revolution. Not with violence but rather non violent civil disobedience. That is the American way.
Time is short.
Trump has committed crimes that in our Constitution demands Impeachment:
1) Extortion of a foreign governments leader for personal or political gain.
2) Solicitation of a foreign governments involvement in a US election.
3) Solicitation of a foreign governments investigation of a political opponent in a fashion that grossly violates the civil liberties of that US person.
The Constitution is very clear about this and states it is considered such a high crime that it calls for immediate Impeachment.
There are so many people on the record who have given testimony or depositions that Trump committed these crimes. The latest one is his chief of staff Mick Mulvanney who announced on a national TV press conference that Trump did in fact commit these crimes.
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@Andre You are totally correct. Now, who has the stones to remove him from office, and not just go over what we know about this criminal and possible traitor.
4
And we all thought that DJT was an anti globalist.
2
To think oneself perfect--especially when imperfections abound--is a sure way to ruin any undertaking, and the presidency is no exception. Marriages dissolve when people always insist they are right, no matter what happens, and never admit error or apologize. Government by this type of personality , given how complex and nuanced is the interaction between nations and within a nation itself , cannot succeed. Advice by a full team of advisers and experts is required. But Trump is his own man, deluded into thinking himself a genius, who never absorbs the advice of others and reacts without getting the full picture. He ignores the full facts facing him but takes the first impulse entering his mind. So he responds planning a new policy based on last phone call--only to change his mind if the next phone call reaches him before his new policy has been tweeted. It is dangerous to have a leader who responds too quickly, impetuously---especially when he is too lazy to inform himself of the issues involved.
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With the help of Kurdish fighters, Obama rescued the Yazidi people in 2014 from genocide. In this Opinion, Nicholas Kristof compares that to Trump's betrayal of the Kurds by literally exposing them to ethnic cleansing. Trump was perfectly happy to pull our troops out of northern Syria to satisfy the ambitions of the Turkish president, the Russian president, Putin, and Isis. The Kurds lost 11,000 soldiers and civilians in our mutual effort to defeat Isis. Kristof accuses Trump of incoherence and inhumanity. He goes on to call Trump ' callow, reckless and indifferent'. This description is pablum when considering the Trump Effect. Not only did he set up the Kurds, Trump undid the sacrifices of blood and treasure to bring some control to the violence, instability and death in the Middle East. This act of Trump's along with his denial of climate change and the caging of children along our border puts him alongside the world's most profoundly immoral human beings. He aspires to absolute control and absolute wealth at all costs. We dither about impeaching this subhuman madman, and we share in his crimes against humanity.
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There is a huge difference between the Syrian kurds and the Iraqi Kurds. It was the Iraqi Kurds who rescued the Yazidi people. The Iraqi Kurds live in a semi-autonomous province known as Kurdistan.
Some of the Syrian Kurds are members of the PKK which both the U.S. and Turkey label as terrorist groups.
6
@Judy Weller,
The following is a quote from Nicholas Kristof's response to a commenter, '...it's true that 30,000 people were killed in fighting between Turkey and the PKK, but many, many of those were Kurds. The PKK committed acts of terrorism, but so did the Turkish government against the Kurdish population. I interviewed Kurds who were tortured.
In any case, when Erdogan has been treading backward in terms of democracy, he has little standing to complain about the YPG as it builds a statelet that is reasonably democratic, empowers women and protects religious minorities. When the Yazidi were being slaughtered in a genocide in 2014, it was the YPG who rescued them, not Turkey. So the YPG has averted a genocide while the Ottomans committed one.'
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@Judy Weller,
"PKK fighters opened a humanitarian corridor from Mount Sinjar, through Rojava to
the KRG-controlled towns of Dohuk and Zakho. The YPG and PKK escorted more than
ten thousand Yazidis off the mountain. "
cited from :[The Kurdish Spring: A New Map of the Middle East, By David L. Phillips]
David L. Phillips is director of the Program on Peace-building and Rights at Columbia University's Institute for the Study of Human Rights. Phillips served as foreign affairs expert and senior adviser to the US Department of State during the administrations of Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama.
24
And what AOC vis a vis Sanders does is imperil legitimate hopes of reversing the current trend.
13
@Orbis Deo How?
We hope that the nightmare called 'Trump' will come to an end in 2021, with the election of an emotionally-mature and responsible president. However, our hope is misplaced. Contrary to current polling predictions, Trump is likely to win re-election. Incumbency, the economy, a disunited opposition, Trumpian election tactics and Russian intervention will guarantee his re-election. Trump's foreign policy horizon, therefore, potentially extends till January 2025 (assuming he has not found a way to remain president beyond 2025).
The question that needs to be asked is what kind of Trumpian foreign policy will exist till 2025 - beyond the preferred shorter time-frame of 2021. It could be the same, worse or better. I will bet on "same" or "worse." There will be more betrayals of allies and the slaughter of innocent people like Kurds - who wrongly assumed that they had U.S. protection. During the next 6 years, Russia, China and Saudi Arabia could dictate American foreign policy, national security and the global order.
Western countries cannot afford to remain idle or passive over the next six years. Future generations of the free world will either live in freedom or be politically shackled. The west, sans America, cannot let them down. They must have the political will to collectively and decisively respond with diplomatic, economic and/or military means to protect human rights. Action must replace passiveness and hopelessness.
21
@Nav Pradeepan Why anyone could rationally think that Trump would win re-election or that he will even be in office by that time to do so flies in the face of everything that is happened. I can offer a dozen reasons why your analysis is both wrong and seriously defeatist.
1
@Nav Pradeepan
You mention "Russian intervention," but do not limit intervention to Russia. Not only Russian interference will help him in 2020 as it did in 2016--but he is now reaching out to China (willing to give up trade concessions to gain help) and to Ukraine (releasing military aid for help)---and probably wherever he can for outside help. The fact that the law prohibits such acts does not bother him. Like the illegal emoluments which he gladly gathers (Doral Trump for G-7 meeting), he will do anything, criminal and unethical , to keep his power, which he uses for self-enrichment.
1
It is not yet clear what will happen. The area in dispute has been so for decades and our presence simply temporized but not solve the problem. For all we know , a more natural equilibrium may develop. Our main strategic interests lie elsewhere no matter how difficult the withdrawal may be.
Regional conflict is not a good game to play. We need a focus on the Iraq oil fields coveted by Iran, the Yemen sea ports, Lebanon and Hezbollah , Iran and the Straits. ...These are far better tests of American resolve.
As has been noted, a host of casualties to American troops would have created a far more unstable situation.
Trump is hardly a student of foreign affairs. Rather he is a believer in the obvious...and states it. This may prove simplistic or yet prudent. Time will tell.
3
@Joel Levine. Re: "For all we know , a more natural equilibrium may develop."
Yes, in the long run, we'll all be dead. I guess that's a kind of equilibrium.
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@Joel Levine This train wreck of a withdrawal is inhumane. The Kurds did not have to help us hunt down Isis, but they did and at the cost of 11,000 Kurdish dead. We owe them a debt of gratitude not the callousness of, "our main strategic interests lie elsewhere".
Is this the our 'Brave New World' of American beliefs, morals, and ethics? Is this is our our new 'American Exceptionalism' that the world should aspire to?
Is this the legacy we want to leave our children, that America is assisting a dictator to wipe out the Kurds who were once our allies?
FYI, we could be charged with war crimes. Weere once one of the heroes of WW2, now because of this criminal of a president , we are the criminals.
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@Michelle
We could have been charged with war crimes in Laos, Cambodia, Iraq, and a few other countries, as well. The fact that we haven't, increasingly empowers the commission of war crimes in other countries in the future.
1
We had some influence in the Syrian civil war. We wanted Assad out. Creating a civil war was much easier than invasion. Somewhere along the line we got the Kurds involved by lying to them and telling them it was forever. All this with little commitment from our own personel. What's the alternative American troops in the buffer zone? Possible a war with Turkey? How many lives would that cost?
Trump asked for an alternative battle plan when an action to wipe out Isil once and for all would have cost 20,000 civilian lives. He didn't want to kill that many which gave his generals reason to to question his competence. Catch this last weeks roast?
Trump isn't the only one messing up.
6
It’s “vandalism”? That makes this atrocity sound like the equivalent of throwing stones through windows or painting graffiti on a wall. If this turns into (if it hasn’t already) ethnic cleansing, then Trump will be an eager co-participant in war crimes.
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@zcat
In this context, I thought Kristof's use of the term vandalism was powerful. It stands in stark contrast to stones and graffiti.
2
By now we know that the foreign policy of the Electoral College/Trump University/Trump Casinos (1,2,3} president is remarkably like his policy toward so many girls and women; assault them, wait for a response, lob a goodbye insult or two, later deny it, sue them, or, when all else fails, pay them off (begrudgingly}, but take it as a tax deduction. And chalk it up as another win-win, and crow about it.
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@Samm Roy Cohn taught him well.
3
Does any of this matter enough to the GOP to do something? Sure, a few have spoken some words, but have any taken any action, or shown a willingness to do so?
What does it take to get the GOP out of their feckless trance?
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@Otis-T: " What does it take to get the GOP out of their feckless trance?" --- PERHAPS if trump does something to threaten their health and safety, or the health and safety of their loved ones...IF they are capable of loving anyone. DEFINITELY if something trump does threatens their finances and/or their electability. It's all about money and power. Not about America or Americans.
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@Otis-T: " What does it take to get the GOP out of their feckless trance?" --- PERHAPS if trump does something to threaten their health and safety, or the health and safety of their loved ones...IF they are capable of loving anyone. DEFINITELY if something trump does threatens their finances and/or their electability. It's all about money and power. Not about America or Americans. It is not about anyone, anywhere in this nation, or in this world, who is suffering, or to whom this nation owes loyalty, or basic human decency and compassion.
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@Otis-T
What will it take? For the Trump base to turn on him, nothing less will do it. They are PETRIFIED of Trump's support base....period. Spineless to the last.
4
Trump is not a disciplined thinker and his decisions are not well considered, he has seen outcomes which he did not expect but could have. He displays a persistent lack of self control indicative of someone who grew to maturity without a sense of responsibility to respect others nor to follow any set of ethical principles. He lets his credibility become unknowable. His impulsive decision making in foreign affairs is ignorant behavior.
Foreign affairs are very difficult to manage and require much thought and preparation to just keep them from descending into chaos and anarchy. Impulsiveness just reduces the ability to anticipate results. To manage this area, any inexperienced President must rely upon those who devote their lives to diplomacy, intelligence, and the military to just avoid creating huge problems. Trump just is not being rational in following his own impulses.
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@Casual Observer :Why would you expect a Sociopath to be rational?! By definition, a Sociopath cannot grasp reality!
America’s Nero, without the violin playing.
Is Trump's behavior in Syria not dereliction of duty by the commander-in-chief? If so, is it not a high crime that can be added to the list of impeachable offenses being investigated by Congressional committees?
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@Timty Good question! I took the liberty of copying out your question since I haven't learned how to access copy paste items on my phone and typing your question into an email to a friend who works for the feds and might be able to find out. Destroying our credibility in the Middle East has to be considered bad for America's foreign policy and reputation.
5
We need to see a transcript of the call between DJT and Erdogan to know whether Erdogan had leverage or if other understandings were reached.
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@Peter Quince
No, we need the actual recording of the call, not a transcript. These people in the White House, and Republicans in general cannot be trusted. Why did they move the recording to the most secret and secure server? They need to release the recording; if they don't we can assume they are lying about the call.
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@Peter Quince What role if any does Trump Towers Istanbul play in this? The whole thing reeks of conflicts of interest and emoluments violations.
1
Dear Mr. Kristof,
Please don't offer effusive praise towards the foreign policy achievements of our last popularly-elected president. If Trump finds out about this, he'll look up "Yazidis" on Wikipedia, announce that they're "no angels" and order our military to attack them. (Either that or demand that they investigate the purported misdeeds of Joe and Hunter Biden or be delivered up to the tender mercies of Vlad the Enabler.)
Thanks!
35
@stu freeman, priceless!
@stu freeman Your comment suggests that tRump knows how to use the Internet and knows what Wikipedia is...
@stu freeman
I also thought the mention of Obama’s help to prevent a Yazidi genocide important to contrast the behavior of these two presidents. Though I beg to differ on one count: Trump won’t look up anything. He doesn’t like to read.
2
We know, and have always known, that Trump supporters are not policy wonks. To be more specific, I’m certain most have no idea what’s going on in Syria, or Turkey, or who Kurds are. We have an electoral college which proved itself to be completely useless. So when uninformed people vote, what can we expect. A tragedy and the end of our democracy is what.
146
When I moved abroad 30 years ago the USA had the reputation for trying to do the right thing, even if it sometimes failed miserably. It is amazing to see how one soulless and deeply immoral man can trash that in just a few years.
10
Oh, Nicholas, how good people can be. God bless that reader who is donating one million dollars for the next ten years. I would like to suggest something: Wouldn't it be a blessing for those in need if we make a commitment to forgo the usual exchange of material goods, and instead gift our loved ones with a contribution to causes on your "holiday gift guide"? I'm in, for one, and I know my family will be, too.
Also, I am appreciative that the comparison between President Obama and Trump has been made. The list is endless as to the wisdom, ethics, morality, and service to our country given to us by our previous president when juxtaposed with the inner corruption, egomania, and profound narcissism of the present occupant of a now stained White House. But I do want to focus on Trump's latest egregious and brutal actions against the Kurds. I will not mince words or use euphemisms. Trump is complicit in ethnic cleansing and a possible genocide of the innocent. No more, please no more. Trump MUST not remain. Twenty-twenty is an eternity when we fathom his destructiveness.
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Mr. Kristof,
I forgot this is what you do: expose genocide and those complicit in it. Only rarely are you talking about us which is why, in my stupor over our betrayal, I didn’t initially put it together.
You are reporting on OUR administration like Duarte, or Kim or the various bad actors in Darfur or, well them all.
I am so ashamed.
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While this article condemns Trump's complicity in the massacre of Kurds by Turkey, it gives a pass to other administrations which have engaged in dangerous policies. In doing so, it fails to note that a murderous foreign policy decisions - or indecisions rather - really are a systemic issue and not confined to one administration.
Since 2011, under the then Obama administration, the US has been trying to affect regime change in Syria. To this end, the US and its Gulf allies armed a whole array of groups opposed to Assad. This included even the al-Nusra front, which was known to massacre religious minorities.
The resulting power vacuum was what enabled ISIS to capture a vast swathe of Syria, with major cities like Raqqa and Aleppo subject to its tyranny. It is pertinent to note that pre-2011 Syria was secular and religious minorities like Christians, Druze, Yazidis and Alawites could worship freely.
I often wonder, at times, why the Obama administration has been let off for its role in destabilising a country and causing 5 million of its citizens to flee abroad.
The article tactfully absolves Obama of the blame early on, presenting the man as a paragon of virtue compared to Trump ("acted... honorably"). It focuses on one individual policy action of his but ignores the policy (in)decisions - motivated by an interest in regime change - which ignited the civil war in the first place. Trump is a murderer, but how is Obama different?
9
@Jack
Normally, @Jack, this kind of Whataboutism isn't worth engaging. But on this occasion, whether you agree or not with what Obama did, at least he was trying in good faith to do the right thing.
Since Trump lies about absolutely everything, and since he made his decision based on one phone call, we have no idea what his motivation was, though if his past behavior is any indication, we can assume there was some angle to it that benefitted him personally.
All CICs who order military action are responsible, in a sense, for death - which is why Obama repeatedly referred to his military responsibilities as the gravest that a president wields. Trump is the only one who we can confidently suspect is acting on his CIC powers solely because it's to his personal benefit.
38
@Diego
Diego, you have a very interesting counter-argument, if any.
Tell me, was Obama "at least he was trying in good faith to do the right thing" when he intervened in Libya and plunged it into anarchy. What would you tell those families who had to flee the violence through perilous boat journeys across the Mediterranean?
Of course my argument (derived from empirical fact) "isn't worth engaging" to the you. You don't have a counter. You gloss over the refugee crisis precipitated in Libya AND the one in Syria. Who created these?
One more thing, why do you choose to ignore atrocities by the al-Nusra front and the fact it received arms from the US during the Obama administration?
You don't strike me as willing to consider any evidence which could challenge your worldview.
3
@Diego
The issue I'm raising is much larger than some petty Obama vs Trump comparison. I am using empirical fact to highlight how efforts to destabilisation countries have hardly been confined to one administration.
It's very convenient to shoot down someone's argument, but unless you have an argument substantiated with fact, rather than a fancy unsubstantiated narrative, I would find it very difficult to take you seriously.
Anyone who glosses over points raised in an argument, probably has no relevant answer to them. I await your reply on the al-Nusra Front and the Libyan refugge crisis. Cheers.
3
So many people. (usually on the Right, but apparently including Mr Kristof) buy into the notion that Obama "failed" in Syria because he did not send missiles in after Syria was accused of using chemical weapons. Do they forget that Obama succeeded in causing the dismantling of the chemical weapons infrastructure? Do they forget the videos of the trucks transporting the chemicals to a special Danish ship for de-commissioning? I consider this to be one of Obama's greatest achievements - hardly the failure that seems to be accepted common knowledge.
338
@Optimist We disagree here, and some of Obama's aides disagree with you as well. Some 400,000 people were killed and millions were displaced, destabilizing Jordan and Lebanon. The exodus to Europe of these refugees was probably a factor in Brexit and the rise of neo-Naziism in Europe. What happened in Syria was truly cataclysmic. President Obama overruled Hillary Clinton, David Petraeus and others who recommended supporting rebels because he thought that Assad would fall anyway. That was a reasonable view but it turned out to be wrong. I think that if Obama had known in 2012 what would unfold, he would have intervened. So my view is that Obama made a wrong decision, but that he made it conscientiously after consulting the experts (and overruling them). These are tough decisions. The contrast between Obama's deliberative decision making process and Trump's impulsive recklessness could not be greater.
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@Optimist
I agree with Mr Kristof that President Obama’s greatest foreign policy failure was to not stand on his red line. In consultation with and perhaps the support of our allies, we could have have destroyed whatever percentage of Assad’s Air Forces we chose in a matter of a few days or less. No warning, no declaration of policy, no “ No Fly Zone” necessary. The use of chemical weapons was in and of itself an offense worthy of retaliation - Middle East policy aside; And We Said We Would Not Tolerate It!
What the eventual outcome on that struggle of such a response would have been I do not pretend to know, but I have to wonder - if Putin’s decisions in Ukraine the next year might have been different.
4
@Optimist Yeah he stated the mission was only 30 days and now 10- years after Trump correctly wants to leave that civil war. Obama as candidate and as a Senator was against these wars and voted against them. He became President and did the reverse and restarted them and new one here in Syria and also in Yemen. I believed his lies in voting for him twice but Trump at-least is trying to do what he promised far cry from Obama. Get out of these miserable Civil wars and stop causing massive death and destruction globally.
2
When Trump said that Kurds are “no angels”, it reminded me of when he said America was “not innocent”. (2/5/2017) I now know that this is Trump’s way of justifying a betrayal, and that in Trump’s view Americans as a group are no more worthy of his concern than Kurds as a group.
229
@Yeah Trump is contemptuous of everyone not named Trump.
7
@Yeah Hello were we angels when we used lies to destroy Iraq? not only 5,000 US troops deaths but close to 500,000 total Iraqi casualties that grows even today. Can we mention Vietnam or Iran in CIA admitted military coup in Iran etc. Yes we are not Angels quite the opposite.
3
Thank you, Mr. Kristoff. Your steadfast and simple decency is a light at the end of the tunnel. I am so ashamed of what is being done in my name, and so worried about where we are being taken. Please know that we are finding fortitude in each and every one of your columns.
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@Robert While I too am horrified by Trump's behavior, I am not ashamed. I did not vote for him. I voted for Clinton. The ones who should be ashamed are those who voted for Trump, or who didn't vote. His unfitness for the office was on full display for decades before he ran for President.
I do think that Trump voters would be ashamed if they would bother to inform themselves about what is really going on. They are not deplorable people; they are lazy people. And once again, a big shout out to Justice Anthony Kennedy for making our political systems so utterly corruptible.
4
@burfordianprophet
In my own mind I sometimes think of them as mostly good people who have made a terrible mistake, and are still digging the hole deeper every single day. Sometimes I find it difficult if not impossible to be that generous.
1
Two points, from someone who is not a Trump supporter overall but likes this move.
First, as regards to the deployments in Saudi Arabia, leaving troops in Syria is more dangerous to the troops that having them in Saudi Arabia. To the best of my knowledge, there have been no US casualties in Saudi Arabia while at least 60 US troops have died in Syria. I would much prefer to have our forces somewhere that no one is shooting at them.
Second, as to the claim that this is an unprecedented act in US history. This is a common trend, dating back at least 100 years with the abandonment of the White Russian allies to the Communists in Russia. The US, like every other country in the world, remains allied with indigenous forces for just as long as it is expedient to do so. To quote one of the most honest political leaders ever, Charles DeGaulle, No nation has friends, only interests.
9
@michaelscody As to point #1, if the point of the US military is to protect the wealth of the wealthy of the world -- their oil, their shipping lanes, their infrastructure, their kingdoms -- then, yes, perhaps it's a safer job. Thus, we have a mercenary army, whose lives are not beholden to the nation they purportedly serve.
56
@michaelscody If the idea is simply to keep our army safe, then we should probably station them in Denmark or Norway. Very few guns there.
68
Of course we have a mercenary army. There is no draft as proof on point. It is the most efficient method we can ordain.
11
Whilst I feel for the Kurds they never should have taken America's side over Bashar al-Assad. He was never going to lose the war and it was only a matter of time before the US abandoned them. They weren't going to protect them from the Turks forever.
Donald Trump is the first American president who is not a war monger in a long time. Him wanting to stop the endless wars in the middle east should be celebrated. He should be receiving a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. Instead you have even liberal media identities criticising him. It is a very strange phenomena indeed. American should get out of the business of war and thanks God we finally had someone like Donald Trump doing it.
6
I think that you are editing facts out that lead to a different conclusion than the one you express.
Trump ordered America troops to stand aside. Those troops were not prepared to withdraw and could not remove themselves and their equipment in good order. They were forced to blow up things instead of remove them. The Turks attacked Kurds who fought for us. ISIS terrorists were able to escape before the prisons could be secured from the Kurds under attack. It was all a completely preventable mess.
56
@ST
And thank god the guy in the White House is doing all of those good works. Like writing letters to other leaders, scheduling conferences at his resort, directing others to do his dirty deeds, and most of all, being honest and truthful.
Aren't we lucky to have such a great guy leading us?
36
@ST Wanting to achieve a goal and executing a plan to achieve that goal are two very different things. A three year-old could just say bring everyone home. An adult would look at the consequeces of varioua actions and devise a detailed approach. Trump is much closer to thrre year-old with respect to knowlege, insight and maturity. His narcissism is ageless.
41
It's not Trump; it's the people who elected him and who support him. They don't care. They care more about the outcome of the baseball playoffs than the plight of non-Americans.
287
tanstaafl,
"It is not Trump, but the people surrounding him" who are at fault? What planet are you living on? Everyone has been telling this fool all the players and consequences of a quick pullout of American troops from Syria. He made this debacle with no help from anyone else. Blue wave 2020 !
1
@joe parrott
You distort and incorrectly state the comment. It is about the people who elected him, the voters, not those surrounding him.
5
In his op-ed to the Washington Post, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell went out of his way—three times—to drag President Obama’s “red line” in Syria through the mire and slime of Donald Trump’s ignominious behavior in this theater.
The major difference, as noted by the author, is that one president sought the advice of many—in and out of government and from both sides of the political spectrum. He *cared* about doing the right thing. Donald Trump does not. The slaughterhouse that he created he is proud of.
The Republicans would be better served to be outraged by the present—not the past. This is “not Obama’s fault.” McConnell’s false equivalency solves nothing and adds daily to the misunderstanding of what Trump has wrought—no one else. He sold out the Kurds and McConnell wants to blame someone else.
656
@Red Sox, ‘04, ‘07, ‘13, ‘18
There would be none of this if Moscow Mitch had not allowed all the lies and corruption of this administration to go unchecked for the past 1,000+ days.
This debacle is on McConnell's head every bit as much as it is on Trump's.
220
@Red Sox, ‘04, ‘07, ‘13, ‘18
Obama and the red line, that was one of Obama's few bold actions.
He refused to obey the Washington Foreign Policy Establishment, and chose NOT to bomb Syria.
Actually removing the chemical weapons was a much wiser choice... but the Establishment and its media howled for blood, choosing not to acknowledge that the intelligence was iffy, as told to Obama by James Clapper, his Director of Intelligence.
Seems that Turkey may have slipped some thing evil to that lovable opposition to stage a chemical attack.
I will try to give links later.
Something in London Review of Books about it...
25
@Red Sox, ‘04, ‘07, ‘13, ‘18 " :
Additionally, how conveniently Mitch and the GOP forgets that Obama went to McConnell for congressional approval - as the constitution required - of enforcing that red line, and it was McConnell who refused to grant it.
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Considering 45’s betrayal of the Kurds what charity is helping them? They are certainly deserving of help this holiday season
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@Pat Barnett
The Donald J. Trump Foundation. Oops! I forgot they dissolved.
How about the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA). Good luck with that!
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@Pat Barnett perhaps the Trump Foundation could be revivified??
@Pat Barnett
No charity can stand between the Kurds and the Arab militias or the Turkish gunfire, what's more, Trump's charity has been disbanded.
Leave it to Trump to redefine war crimes so that he ought to spend the rest of his life in The Hague for dooming allies in exchange for business in Turkey and Russia.
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This all brings me back to the movie for people who never went to war. I also failed ny Vietnam era physical after winning the Draft lottery. I was 9 pounds underweight, they told me to go home and fatten up.
As for the movie, 'The horror' rings in my mind.
"Apocalypse Now"
I watch it once a year.
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@Lost In America
The first thought that came to me as I read your comment about being told to "fatten up" was that an appropriate response would have been, "for slaughter, right?" As Herbert Hoover once remaked, “Older men declare war. But it is youth that must fight and die.” Some things never change.
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Trump's foreign policy, such as it is, only seems incoherent and contradictory.
It starts to make perfect sense if you just remember he will favor countries and leaders in which he has significant personal economic interests (i.e., Turkey), or which have significant personal economic leverage over him (i.e., Russia).
So, Turkey wants to attempt a "final solution" to the "Kurdish problem"? No worries--the Kurds don't have any Trump hotels in Rojava.
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Trump is not so deep. What you see is what there is. He reacts to things as the affect his wants and to unconscious needs unfulfilled, that is all.
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The Middle East is now peripheral to U.S. foreign policy concerns. We no longer need the one thing they produce, oil; we have our own, we are now actually exporters. People in that part of the world have been fighting among themselves for centuries, we should have learned by now to stay out of their battles. If the Russians want to get involved, let them; if they're such savvy operators they ought to know better. Mr. Trump's way of disengaging is inelegant, but effective.
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@Ronald B. Duke The U.S. is still a net importer of oil. In addition, because crude oil is a world market, any interruption in crude oil supplies anywhere in the world will affect the U.S.
https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=727&t=6
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Ronald, if only the problems on the other side of the world managed to stay there. Your little world in Oakbrook Terrace was much safer last Saturday than it is today.
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@Ronal
If the U.S. no longer needs the Middle East or it’s oil and Trump is getting us out of there, what happens to Israel?
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Holiday Gifts is a good idea. I wish there were a way to help end the scourge of homelessness, affecting our cities. I think it's a political problem, but any suggestions would be welcome.
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@Liz- CA The way to end the scourge of homelessness is to build housing for the homeless. That's the short answer.
The long answer is to treat mental illness and addiction with compassion and as a priority, which it must be, if we want our streets to no longer be full of poverty stricken sick people.
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@Eric I absolutely agree. I was wondering if some of Kristoff's Holiday Gift money could go to folks dealing with homelessness?
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According to Erdogan, Pence agreed on behalf of Trump to guarantee the removal of the Kurds from the Turks' 20 mile zone and within four days. If this is true, then Trump-Pence have agreed to implement and assist ethnic cleansing of the Kurds from this part of Syria neighboring Turkey even though there is no secure place for the Turks to go and with an abandonment of their property and homes in the 20 mile zone that Turkey claims. And the U.S. president agreed to this horrendous and uncivilized act? Do either Trump or Pence or Pompeo know and understand what they agreed to do?
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@Harold R Berk They probably do not understand what they agreed to. The bigger problem is that they just don't care.
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War crimes?
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To paraphrase Trump: “There’s a lot of sand” , implying that the Kurds could easily relocate elsewhere. He is a crude, hateful racist who knows exactly what he is saying,
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