In over five decades, neither of America's major political parties has ever seen a military adventure or an undeclared war that it didn't like and that major lobbyists didn't support.
1
derogatory Trump comments a side, let's not forget 2 yrs ago ISIS was a major threat in Syria and Iraq. Trump policy seems to have worked. We're now squabbling over pulling out too soon.
1
Call me crazy but I would swear all of that was a ploy to get SecDef Mattis to resign....
So. Trump's plans and assertions have been turned on their ear, we have lost Mattis. timelines are no longer firm timelines, more money needs to be spent in the pull out and more troops will have to go in to pull the others out. Right...
2
The game now is that the US President can say anything and do anything else. The US and the world accept that words can have any meaning and that Trump can make any claim.
When Trump leaves office he will say Americans are 100 times, no make that a million times, safer and richer than when Obama left. And it appears the Republicans will clap.
4
Ha! Ha! Very funny. Who exactly is the boss here? Obviously not Trump.
@Tom Erdogan is the boss. He in fact requested the delay in the original conversation. He needs time to prepare ethnic cleansing and the replacement population. For Afrin, it took about a month.
2
"OK, what the President meant to say was..."
1
So the adult in the room is Mr. Bolton? How long will Mr. Trump allow that to continue?
1
I’m so confused. Unfortunately, so is the administration.
3
It seems that America has a puppet government. Bolton runs Trump, and Netanyahu runs Bolton. What is the point of voting?
5
Bolten contradicted trump? His days are numbered.
2
@John M.:
Trump's? we can only hope. Even Bolton would be a massive improvement as a President.
Then again, so would my dog.
2
Bolton reversed Trump. A complete 180. When is he resigning?
3
@Doug Lowenthal:
We can only hope that he -- Trump that is -- will finally get the hint. Alas, there's not sufficient brain matter for that to happen.
2
@Doug Lowenthal He didn't. Erdogan requested the delay in the original conversation Trump's original statements referred to. It is the turn toward Erdogan and Kurdish genocide that caused Matthis and McGurk to resign, not the timetable.
Mr. Bolton just committed Trumpocide.
3
Who would have thought that Bolten would turn out to be the adult in the room?
5
I refuse to hold the President alone responsible for this revolting situation. The Republican Senate and its cowardly silence in the face of anything this Presidential Clown does and says are equally responsible for the horror show that is the Trump “Administration.”
When you vote for Senators who don’t believe in government, you get NO GOVERNANCE and NO GOVERNMENT. Are you lovin’it yet Wisconsin? Michigan? Indiana? Pennsylvania? So much winning! I’m dying from it and so are thousands of other citizens.
8
Trump has no credibility.....and that should be stated every day
by the media...
It is necessary that this mentally ill President must be contradicted
by his staff; and members of his cabinet …
The sooner that Trump is dismissed because he is obviously
mentally ill...the sooner that our government can function.
6
Only Trump could make John Bolton seem like a temperate hero.
9
Trump is a do it first, 'Shoot first and ask questions later' kind of guy. Mostly he is shooting himself in the foot. Of course, he fires anyone who says that is what happened as well.
3
Call it the Trump Shuffle: a spastic declaration/pronouncement followed by a walk back without admitting a mistake.
6
Bolton's days are numbered,far fewer than the thinning hairs on his head. His royal highness, the Donald, does not take kindly to being corrected. Soon, like the fictional character Pi, King Donald will be the only one left in the boat.
2
I'm grateful the US will protect the Kurdish people. Without them the US would have lost thousands more American lives.
Agree it was a quagmire from the start, but they joined and died with us in battle. We have to provide for them. It is the American way to do the right thing.
5
If you want US troops to be safe you’d applaud their coming home to their families.
2
It's like the keystone cops over there! How embarrassing - again....
6
It almost seems as if Trump did this to force James Mattis out because he was too scared to fire him (and John Kelly, the resident ax man in his last days on the job, probably refused to do so).
3
@L Now that Bolton sided with Mattis, Mattis should come back.
2
Well, Mr. Bolton, it was nice having you in the Cabinet. We hope your resigna.., er, retirem.., uh, firing is pleasant.
3
So clearly we should contact Putin or Netanyahu next time we want to know what to expect of the US military.
16
Or, Knott’s Berry Farm.
5
Donald Trump is the Commander in Chief.
Think about.
Would you want this guy to be leading your platoon?
Would you even want this guy next to you on the perimeter?
Can you imagine him trusting his gut when it comes to deciding whether to stay with his wounded men or to leave the wounded behind and pull back from an attack?
Can you imagine him planning anything with interdependencies?
Neither can I.
13
Global elites can't stand Trump and will take any and all opportunities to criticize him when he puts regular Americans first over globalist policy and he is attempting to keep other countries, including our allies in NATO, from taking advantage of our country.
For example, wealthy Germany only spends 1.2% of GDP on defense (with a NATO target of 2% of GDP) while the US spends over 3%, some of that to help defend Germany and NATO. Germany is effectively using US taxpayer subsidies of their defense to fund German social programs.
Trump speaks out against this wrong and that makes US globalists upset.
Robert Mercer and his daughter Rebekah, the later who was more involved with getting Trump elected. Rebekah was involved with helping to appoint key individuals in the administration including John Bolton. She can act silently through appointees like Bolton to help to moderate missteps of policy.
The point is that there are moderating voices in the administration on the few instances were Trump might initially misstep.
I hope Bolton will be involved in getting Germany, Italy, and the UK to put forces in Syria (to join 1000 French troops). It is time for the European countries of NATO to step up and not have the US do absolutely everything for them using our money and our soldier's lives.
3
@David MD No problem with the tax cut that drove the national debt 1.5 trillion higher?
13
Please tell me that the MD stands for Maryland.
14
@John Harper
JFK cut taxes: tax cuts stimulate the economy. This I might argue is particularly important for parts of the country that have higher unemployment such s parts of the Midwest.
If you're going to criticize Trump you should also criticize JFK's move.
Regain cut taxes twice.
A part of the tax cut was cutting the corporate tax from a globally high 35% to 21%. (Obama was unsuccessful in his attempts to cut the tax to 28%). This corporate tax cut encourages firm globally to invest in the US and thus higher more Americans.
Also Trump's tax cut effectively increased taxes for high income individuals because they prohibit deducting more than $10,000 of state taxes from federal taxes.
Interestingly, it NYS Gov Cuomo and governors of other high tax states that are trying to lower taxes for people who had their taxes increased under Trump.
@Robert
Perhaps you have a constructive criticism.
I *do* wish that more readers of this newspaper would take the lives of US soldiers more seriously. Perhaps you might comment on why the Germans, Italians, and British can't replace US troops with their own since they are far closer to the conflict.
1
Bottom line: Trump has no idea what he's doing.
10
There is an operational, real-time back channel between Trump and Putin. Make no mistake Trump is getting immediate advisories and feedback on what Putin wants him to say and do. This is most likely accomplished by using a Trump family member as the go-between (most likely Jared Kushner). This is a family of traitors to America.
9
As a wise person once told my husbond: “Never be afraid of the enemy’s generals, but be very wary of your own!”
If you and your country’s now almost former “partners” cannot rely on your Commander in Chief, what are we to do?
Please, restore your democratic system, so educated voters can vote in reliable and educated leaders.
Or we are back to the days of mad “royalty” leading, I seem to remember from history one “mad” George?!
I rely on you educated US citizens to react quickly now, before it is really too late and permanent damage to the world stability, economy and power has been inflicted!
8
So who actually IS president - Sean Hannity, John Bolton, Putin, Netanyahu or Ann Coulter?? We know it isnt Donald.
13
90 days was always the minimum for logistics, and I always assumed that the Turks would not be allowed to kill our friends. I would like to fix the Kurd problem by swapping Kurds in Iraq with Kurds in Turkey, then a somewhat independent state in Iraq. Nobody even mentions this so it must be impossible.
@vulcanalex You assumed? That figures.
Nah, just cant deployed in a vain effort to make this stuff seem vaguely sane.
Lol. How everything Trump does turns out to be wrong, struck down by the courts and just plain dumb. No one supports Trump, unless they are a crackpot too.
5
How's it feel to have the PM of Israel running our foreign policy????
13
It's all about what it is always about .... money.
Bolton's really trying to fish one out of the punch bowl.
And swear it's okay to drink.
It merely highlights the deep and severe mental illness of the "President"
8
Check your pockets, Johnnie.
3
So glad to see Netanyahu finally setting Trump straight. Wonder what took him so long...
2
Trump was way too busy frantically tweeting over the holidays that he totally missed Bibi’s call, and Bolton rushed over to Israel to assure him that he sorted Trump, and all is well in Syria and Iran “containment” is indeed Job One.
4
With Bolton we now know the truth, which Trump is apparently unable to tell directly to the public. U.S. mandate is no more ISIS defeat but Iran's influence containment. The presence of U.S. in the Middle East will be essentially in 'defence' of Israel finally. Now, it's an international ascertainment that Israel is not really searching for a serious peace proposal with the Palestinians or its neighbours. It evades systematically all balanced projects, even the one by U.S. President Obama not long ago. Instead what we witness is the constant progression of colonies and illegal settlement by Israelis in the West Bank. And this is what causes the staunch opposition of Iran. Take out the conquering stance by Israel, establish a solid plan for peace and the Iranian 'problem' will disappear. Is it irrational to think U.S. may one day carry the good doctrine of Peace and Development in the Middle East?
5
@José Ramón Herrera
Trump’s decision to get out of Syria has met with its predictable reaction. The war-party/friends-of-Israel axis is busy ensuring that a pullout will never happen.
At first glance it seems astonishing that Trump has “advisers” who so openly undermine his own directives.
But there really is no mystery.
Bolton was hired by Trump at the urging of a billionaire Republican mega-donor whose sole interest, within the sphere of foreign policy, is to make sure that US actions in the Middle East are aligned with the wishes of the Israeli government. That donor is Sheldon Adelson who has given 80+ million dollars to Republicans in recent years. Besides hiring Bolton, other Sheldon-pleasing accomplishments include moving the embassy to Jerusalem and reneging on the Iran nuclear deal.
The government of Israel wishes the US to remain in Syria as pushback against Iranian presence and influence there. Israel could care less about ISIS, whose lingering survival actually serves as a nice excuse for the US to stay. But Israel greatly fears Iran. Trump’s process of “getting the message” has already begun.
Therefore, the US will be remaining in Syria.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/21/us/politics/advising-bolton-a-shadow-nsc-of-cronies.html
7
Trump bragged that he had defeated ISIS.
Claimed he did what Obama could not do.
Yet, here we are still fighting ISIS.
... just another lie, what is the current count 6,000?
6
The US will be sure not to obliterate ISIS or it would lose its excuse to be in Syria indefinitely.
In October 2016, the audio of a conversation between Secretary of State John Kerry and Syrian opposition leaders was leaked to the NYT, and the NYT reported on some of the conversation.
In January 2017 Wikileaks posted the full audio, and clearly the NYT reporting left out the bit where Kerry acknowledged that the U.S. was WATCHING ISIS growing in strength, thinking that ISIS would threaten Assad to the point of negotiating with the U.S.
The NYT did not report Kerry viewing ISIS as a useful tool. A 2012 Defense Intelligence Agency document, published by Judicial Watch, said that the West will facilitate the rise of the Islamic State “in order to isolate the Syrian regime”.
Since 2001 the US has added some six trillion to the debt for the purpose of wrecking whole countries,while being responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands, creating millions of refugees now destabilizing Europe, and making the US less safe and the world more unstable.
That Trump wanted to bring the troops home made him look sane.
The Establishment, its Media and the Military Industrial Complex have won, and the insanity of US military action will continue in Syria and where ever else the US can metastasize ISIS as an excuse.
5
How long will this current iteration of a pull-out plan last? Will there be another plan next week?
There seems to be no overarching policy here other than isolationism and then walking back isolationism.
3
@Barbara:
Yup.
This is what you get when you elect a clown to be President.
Sad.
Bigly sad.
6
I'm confused as to who is in charge of our strategy in Syria.
When Trump announced via Twitter our withdrawal within 30 days I assumed it was Putin.
When Mattis resigned I assumed it wasn't him or the Pentagon.
When Bolton openly embarrasses Trump by reversing his withdrawal plan I assumed it was the Military/Industrial GOP donors.
My guess is the GOP's donors but what do I know?
10
@CarpeDeam:
Sadly, you're correct on all counts.
4
So who’s in charge, last week Trump announced to the world that he is withdrawing our troops from Syria immediately, Bolton went overseas and said they will stay until the last of ISIS is defeated. Didn’t Trump say ISIS is defeated, and that’s why he’s withdrawing the troops? Did Israeli prim minister and Saudi prince made the decision for them?
3
@BB:
No . . .
Word has it that the Buffoon-In-Chief is governing by Ouija board.
2
Hilarious, just hilarious...all those “liberal interventionist” whiners bleating about “stupid Trump’s precipitous military pullouts” from both Syria and long-suffering Afghanistan now find themselves allied with one of their all-time neocon bête noir John Bolton...beyond “strange bedfellows”, it illustrates the consequences of a lock-step “never-Trumpist” line that even leads people who at one time would have wholly embraced military withdrawals from losing causes now finding themselves in cahoots with the Bolton permanent war/occupation line...just spiffy...feh.
2
@Vic Bold II
Your post makes no sense, whatsoever.
For self-proclaimed conservatives, labeling their opponents is necessary, they believe their opponents to be less of a person than they are.
2
Missed the point entirely. Read it again. It’s about liberals and Bolton now being bedfellows. Nothing about labeling.
1
fYI, never-Trumpists are all Republicans.
Might wanna pick up a program; I think they sell them in the lobby.
2
Thank you for that clarification, President Bolt.
oh, wait......
3
John Bolton may receive his walking papers soon.
4
Many commentators don't seem to realize that the Kurdish militia occupying Syria's side of the border with Turkey is far more dangerous to NATO member Turkey than the presence of an Iranian militia in Syria is to Israel, yet we go to great lengths to counter the Iranian militia while forcefully supporting the Kurdish militia. This is confused and contradictory.
There are no Iranian terrorists attacking targets in Israel, whereas the Kurdish PPK organization has been committing terrorist acts against civilians and military inside Turkey for over 30 years. That is why the Turks are as determined as the Israelis to prevent the territorial establishment of a hostile militia on its border.
The US has designated the PPK as a terrorist organization, but the US nominally supports the Kurdish YPG militia in Syria despite the US Intelligence and Defense communities regarding the YPG as the PPK's "militia force in Syria."
We have formed a sentimental attachment to the Kurds as our allies against lSIS in Iraq and northern Syria, but the alliance against a common enemy out of convenience. The Kurds' ambition is to carve their own territory out of Syria and Turkey -- with US assistance in Syria, in defiance of international law. The Turks will never allow that to happen, so what is the US goal in continuing to support a terrorist organization that is a direct military threat to a NATO ally?
2
So who is Commander-in-Chief now Bolton or Trump? Will Trump be allowed to declare a national emergency to build his wall? Is he still performing his other presidential duties? If he is unfit the 25th Amendment must be activated so that the proper succession can take place. Who is in charge now is it a group of cabinet officials? They are the ones that should be activating the 25th Amendment not assuming extra constitutional power.
4
@Denis
Trump has been unfit to hold office from the day he was sworn in. He is a puppet, for sale to the highest bidder.
4
Clever. He gets to say he’s “bringing troops home” whilst they actually stay out there until “conditions are met”.
3
Bolton as a sensible voice in the WH! Admittedly, he comes across as sage by comparison in the WH fun house mirrors.
Bolton has been quoted when speaking of the Syrian Kurds: "I think they know who their friends are." Most likely in view of recent events, they have serious qualms.
2
Bolton is walking back the Trump declaration in plain sight of same. I'm not sure of whom I should be more concerned.
6
Bolton has no authority to "put conditions" on anything or to dictate foreign policy decisions large or small. I don't want to hear anything about what he says or does. His job (btw neither elected not Senate-confirmed) is to advise the President, and I can't prevent him from doing that. But I don't want to see him conferring with foreign heads of state or speaking on behalf of the United States of America.
6
Foreign and domestic policy via Magic-8-Ball.
"It Is Certain"
"Don't Count On It"
"Ask Again Later"
"Without A Doubt"
"Very Doubtful"
"Cannot Predict Now"
Take your pick...
3
Terrific. Trump gives us an international black eye, then Bolton says, "Just kidding."
5
Instead of “Bolton Puts Conditions on Syria Withdrawal Suggesting Delay of Months or Years”,
a better headline is:
“Bolton Overrules Trump. No Syria Withdrawal Until Who Knows When”.
3
Well I guess Trump isn’t anti-establishment after all. He’s now in bed with the Neocons.
3
Who's on first? What's on second..and our foreign policy...well, no one really knows what base we are on.
2
Didnt we just lose Mattis over this?
Now we go backwards and stay in Syria as Mattis felt was necessary- only without the main guy in charge?
Trump is a joke.
16
Not funny.
2
Art of the Deal:
Fold...then pick up your cards and go around the table pleading for some more chips.
A 'pulp' fiction novel with this entire presidency in it, word-for-word would never have sold ten years ago.
Now, its "Reality".
I can hardly wait for the Season 3 opener...
1
Somebody help me: Has ISIS been defeated or not? Or does it depend on who's talking, and in which day of the week?
11
Who's president here?
trump said, "30 days".
Well, I guess HE got his orders!
4
The neo-cons will always find excuses to continue wars, some of which have dragged on for many years and clearly hurt our national security. The neo-cons should be kicked out, and let's get out of these endless wars. We never elected Bolton to anything.
9
Trump is so incompetent and doing so much damage, I don't understand why the GOP is standing by him. It is they who now must be labeled "incompetent" for not doing what would be right for the country - getting rid of Trump. There's politics and then there's this craziness, unexplainable and very scary.
4
There is no doubt in my mind that we are the laughing stock of the world. What is worse Trump isn't even embarrassed by his constant walk back's. The man is clearly unfit to be the leader of a great nation.
6
another Trump lie, after Mattis quit and hawk Bolton had to rein in unindicted individual 1 and protect him from his lies
5
John Bolton is wildly dangerous and thinking he was actually talking for the president is terrifying to me. Another 2 years of this nightmare...
8
Bolton is "qualifying" Trump on Syria? I expect that to lass less than 6 months before we see another chair rotation.
5
How many months should we give Bolton? Who can Trump dredge up next to replace him?
6
So why isn't Bolton being fired for disagreeing with/contradicting the president?
8
@On Therideau Bolton isn't being fired because Bolton has BeBe's endorsement for this scheme.
12
Now that the adults have walked back Trump's tweet, perhaps Mattis can come back.
3
Isn't this change in Trump's previous Syria strategy usually referred to as 'flip-flopping'?
9
One promise kept - I'm really tired of all this winning.
4
Many suspect that in the things that matter, real power does not lie in the hands of president and Congress.
This event in which Bolton vetoes the president will feed this impression
7
“This is the reality setting in that you’ve got to plan this out.”
The need to plan is a new discovery?
10
So once again, Trump's big mouth and braggadocio is found to be false. (The Generals asked for more time, but I said no... we've beaten them badly... everybody out).
Once again, someone has to circle back on his decision and inject a bit of logic.
Trump is simply incapable of making a statement that does not put him in the forefront, either as the tough guy, the big hero, or the victim, when it suits him. No diplomatic statements with implied meanings will do. His base might not get those, so the tough talk is made to satisfy those who need more direct words to understand.
One day he will go too far and we will have a major international situation to deal with.
7
trump has fired everyone that has disagreed with him up to this point. I suspect Bolton is safe because no one else will take the job and trump knows that. trump basically has an 'acting' cabinet. Hilarious.
1
Does Bolton really believe Trump will follow his 'recommendations'? What do Limbaugh, Fox News, and Coulter think? Those are Trump's real advisors.
8
Something I find very hard to fathom. A few scant days ago, General James Mattis approached President Trump and implored him to delay the removal of American soldiers from
Syria---and seemingly because Trump refused to budge , Mattis resigned (which of course Trump in his typical twisting of truth labeled a firing.) So at that time Trump said the soldiers have to come out now, and did not allow for delay. And today John Bolton is suggesting that exit from Syria will take a long time, maybe years. So something is not clear. Is Bolton ignoring the president, which is folly to do with Trump. Or did Trump again flip-flop and tell Bolton that he never meant to take the soldiers out immediately. Or was his firm stance with Mattis for quick withdrawal only a ploy to get rid of the bothersome General who does not show him the full respect he demands--unquestioning obedience to all his grunts, no matter how stupid or dangerous. As always with this White House. it seems more chaotic than reasonable--- impulsive actions that never think ahead.
7
You know things are bad when Bolton is the voice of reason.
13
It is beyond sad that the United States is led by a man who appears to be congenitally incapable of articulating a clear, reasoned opinion about anything. How many times has Donald Trump or his secretaries had to walk back one of the boss's ill-considered, incoherent policy decisions. We deserve better.
4
"Immediately", then add four months, then add "until ISIS is COMPLETELY defeated", then add "Turkey guarantees the safety of the Kurds". There's an election in one year, ten months, makes me think of "Painted into a Corner".
2
Has Trump considered building a wall along the border between Syria and Saudi Arabia? Or perhaps the border between Syria and Iran?
I don't think it would surprise many of us if this were the case.
3
It would surprise me, as there is no border between Syria and Saudi Arabia
1
When Bolton becomes the voice of "reason," we are in trouble. As to whether he has a lock on policy - -- maybe he's betting that Trump will be gone soon?
He's filling is all the holes, along with Lindsay Graham, in the President's vacuous pronouncement: now Trumpo can claim that he initiated a pullout - and didn't pull out of Syria, covering all possibilities.
4
Asked about the shifting timeline on Sunday as he left the White House for meetings about border security at Camp David, Mr. Trump told reporters that he had “never said we were doing it that quickly.”
——————————
But he did. Yes, he did.
I still sit in amazement at just how many blatant, verifiable (watch the videos) LIES this man is allowed to spew without suffering any consequences.
And anyone pointing out the lies is branded as an “enemy of the people” and/or a purveyor of “fake news.”
And his cult members cheer him on.
It is a complete puzzlement!
14
The pictures tells it all. Bolton shaking hands with the Israeli Prime Minister. Our entire involvement in Iraq, Syria, and potentially Iran is to fight Israel's efforts to destabilize any non-puppet Muslim country. We should leave Syria tomorrow.
12
When John R. Bolton is the voice of reason in the White House, you know we have reached a low point.
So...who really is running the show?
6
Bolton, it seems, continues under the influence of that blithe spirit, Alex Haig, who until this day hovers over the White House, believing that "as of now....".
3
@Londoner
Welcome to our nightmare.
Our commander-in-chief changed his mind
But won’t admit that he’s disinclined
To acknowledge as much
So he’s using the crutch
Of a scheme his underling outlined
6
After this fiasco, i.e., Trump deciding to pull out of Syria without first discussing it with allies in the fight against ISIS, Israel, the State Department and Defense Department, it is difficult to see how anyone with a brain and a conscience can vote for him.
4
How reassuring this must be to our allies. Putin, Kim and MBS.
4
Wow, that was close. We now have 'adults' back in charge of US Middle East policy. Bolton, Netanyahu, and MBS can breathe a bit easier. It must have taken 3 scoops of ice cream to sedate the mercurial Trump, but no matter. Now we can get on with perpetual American military commitment managed by the militant anti-Iranians. Somehow it's always best to underwrite tribalism with US weapons, blood, and treasure.
7
Ah yes, the art of the deal: give everything away for less than nothing, then have the adults clean up.
Trump really never did get past the second grade in his mind. He never needed to, always had daddy there to protect him.
6
This photo speaks a trillion words - Who is really leading us - unelected Bolton and Netanyahu? Shaking hands on our destiny for their profit, with plans to control the world's resources and profit from selling arms to anyone who will pay.
8
Oh yeah, Bolton really talks for Trump? Doubtful. Trump is pals with the Turkish president and it's doubtful he cares about the Kurds. Turkey wants to invade the Kurdish region of Iraq and I suspect that Trump will be willing to look the other way.
John Bolton was one of the main instigators of the Iraq war in the false claims of Sadam's WMDs. Now, he is allegedly the "truth teller". This is a very bad state of affairs when a known prevaricator covers for a serial liar.
15
Total disarray. Our nation Is officially unmoored due to chief bone spurs constant need to drive the media attention away from the myriad investigations.
2
Looks like Bolton is overruling the president and making it look like he's not in charge. We've all known that Trump shouldn't be in charge of course; he's far too ignorant and unstable to lead even a banana republic on matters of national security.
But sooner or later, won't Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, or one of the other wacky nutcases who tell Trump what reality is warn him that he's been (GASP!) disrespected again by a disloyal employee?
5
So much for Trump being the Commander-in-Chief.
3
New year, same old Trump...
“We are pulling out of Syria.”
“ISIS has been defeated.”
One week later...
“We will be out of Syria only after ISIS has been defeated.”
6
Two questions:
What is it that makes an "Afternoon with Bibi" cause us to roll-over to whatever whim he wants?
Who is warming up in the bullpen to be the next Secretary of State once "Individual 1" asks him to take his scary mustache elsewhere?
He axed Rexy for less....
6
So how long does Bolton have before he decides “to tender his resignation?”
4
Looks like Bolton will soon be on Trump's hit list.
1
Lemme get this straight, Bolton's the new adult in the room and we in the U.S. hear about all of this from a news report after Israel is informed. Got it.
11
Two things: First, lied to again by the President. Immediate removal of troops. Big announcement, Twitter storm, etc. Then, quietly, a few days later, "um, no, sorry, that's not happening".
Second: Regarding the lives of our troops, this is now an all volunteer Armed Forces. If people are not aware of what our Armed Forces are used for, these days, maybe they should find out before they enlist? Or, if they are clear about what they are signing up for, then why should I feel sorry or concerned about them doing what they signed up to do?
6
If Bolton is walking back Trump's withdrawal, does that mean he is also part of the deep state?
12
It’ll be dependent on Turkey agreeing not to slaughter our Kurdish allies. Yeah, just like Kim Jong Un promised to think about denuclearization.
Trump will fall for anything. I never thought I'd be happy to have Bolton in the loop, but there it is.
Turkey, if left unchecked, will embark on genocide against the Kurds. Our allies. Our best allies and perhaps only allies in the middle east - and I'm counting Israel. We cannot, must not let that happen again.
We left the Kurds hanging after Desert Storm, as Saddam attacked them in northern Iraq. We let them twist in the wind, but they came back to help us defeat ISIS. Let them have their own country, I say - let them be another bulwark against Assad and Russia and Erdogan. It would be the smart move to invest blood and treasure into our friends, the Kurds.
9
Trump has made Iran, Assad, Turkey and ISIS very happy with his spontaneous, stupid decision. Certainly, not the Isrealies. Bolton is trying to put his thumb in the dyke.
6
Military intervention in Syria was not only necessary to power balance in the region but was done so to protect American interests ensuring defeat terrorists. Kurds militia helped to exterminate ISIS. Sacrificing lives in fight along Americans.
Instead troop withdrawal means power vacuum, which likely will fill with enemy once defeated. International coalition might form to upkeep current balance. Mr Bolton understands risks underlined strategy. He has to influence the President to halt the decision.
To fill power vacuum as an option is to create independent state of Kurdistan. Which will be built on democratic principles and may become closest ally of the United States. Kurds were willing to fight for some American interest. Radical change in Middle East policy to fight wars by other hands, with willing party to do so.
1
There were reports that Bolton wanted Mattis ousted; Trump is notoriously unwillingly to fire anyone in person. So perhaps the entire Syria withdrawal announcement was a scheme to allow Bolton and Trump to shake up the world and take down Mattis simultaneously. Very Machiavellian.
2
Day 1: Yes. Day 2: No. Day 3? It is like whiplash or the backstroke with the Trump administration. Fodder for the base I guess.
2
When Trump made the announcement a few weeks ago, I wrote "I'll believe it when I see it". I was right. And we have this sinister, warmongering neo-con, Bolton, announcing new policies. This country is in bad shape.
13
Fellow neo-cons Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz should have been imprisoned as war criminals. Bolton is indeed a bird-of-a-feather.
7
We can all make comments saying how ridiculous, dangerous, treasonous, corrupt, sexually "misguided", that a person we all elected due to action or inaction, is. It seems to me however, , that the only solution is for removal by force or vote. Our country is in trouble.
6
Trump says the soldiers are leaving. Which personally I think is a good idea. Bolton goes over to Israel and then gets his marching orders from our Middle East Master, the Real Boss, and now we are staying. Staying in a country where whatever job we had is done. We were never invited, nor the Israelis. Staying to help protect the Israelis while they kill Iranians they deem to close. Iran was invited in as well as the Russians. it's their neighborhood. And both of those countries have helped in a big way rid the country of ISIS, and will continue to do so. It is in no one's interest to have a failed lawless Syria with pockets of extremist (Sunni) groups funded by the Saudis reeking havoc all over. Iran by the way has also stabilized Iraq.
So now by us staying we are basically helping the same groups we went in to get rid of. Yes we can help keep Turkey in line with regard to the Kurds. But what is the end game there? Trump says things and in his own bumbling way this time he's correct, ( Syria ). His people don't even listen. They just do what ever the overall master plan calls for... Bolton ... this guy was never right about anything .. and he wants war with Iran ( which would be a disaster ) very bad.
7
I guess our President has a habit of folding in the face of a strong authoritarian with a clear plan. Now he is folding to Netanyahu who isn't even one of Trump's generals (I guess all his generals are all gone now anyway). Earlier it was folding to Putin. Then to Xi Jinping. And earlier to Kim Jong-un. Whether or not it is better for the country to keep to the original rushed tweet isn't the point - whether or not the country should appear so clearly to take direction from these other folks is.
5
I don't care for Bolton but at least he is an adult that can restrain Trump's ignorant decisions.
1
Dream on
1
Trumps foreign policy is like a girlfriend who continually threatens to break up with you, then apologizes the next day. How can our allies possibly trust and support us, when we've shown that we're willing to throw them under the bus at any given time? It'll just take another phone call from Erdogan, or Putin, and there goes another POTUS Tweet saying we're pulling out immediately.
3
This whole article continues the long line of proof that Trump just says stuff that later needs to be walked backed or corrected by others in the Administration.
And I should know because nobody knows more about this Administration than me! ;-)
3
The USA does not need to stay in Syria to defeat ISIS. ISIS is a creation of Saudi Arabia and the USA could try a bit of Diplomacy to get Saudi Arabia to stop financing ISIS. Alternatively USA might bomb Riyadh?
5
It makes good sense for the US to stay in Syria and kill Iranians in Syria rather than letting Israel do the dirty work.
It also makes sense for the US to confront Russia/Syria/Iran in Syria. This will be the final conflict for control of the Middle East.
@JBonn This will be the final conflict for the end of civilization. Anyone who wants war should have to go and fight and live in the remnants until they are whole again. Those who are drumming for more war are never those that fight it and suffer from it, but only those who profit. Bring back the draft and see how the neocons disappear back into their swamp.
8
True. There has not been a peace movement or a peace candidate since the draft was ended. So much for the passionate peacenicks of the 60s
There will be no walking this one back, Commander In Chief Netanyahu has spoken.
14
Trump's populist gut was operating correctly for once. But it has been tamed once again by the Prilosec GOP orthodoxy. This is the real reason we have tax cuts for the rich, no wall or better yet an immigration policy that actually works to meet our needs, an enviromental policy dictated by fossil fuel plutocrats, and social policies that keep our citizens free dependent to the corporate health care tether and have returned the 50 hour work week. An American pullout from Middle East political problems is the correct solution for it and us. A slow down keeps the muck and more dragging us in. To think that 'mad dog' John Bolton is an adult in ant room is beyond the pale. The American military-industrial complex has retaken its role in U.S. foriegn policy, abetted as usual by its academic-military-yellow journalism sub-complexes.
2
In other words, this "pullout" was just another smokescreen Trump threw up to draw attention away from whatever the scandal du jour was on Dec. 18th.
4
Trump reminds me of Queen Anne in the film, The Favourite.
Keeps changing his mind, and needs to be carried (metaphorically).
2
This is what it's like when you're a passenger on a plane cruising at 35,000 feet and you see the flight crew abandoning ship.
3
Trump is a fool and a liar. His staff openly rejects his Twitter policies and he can't keep anyone employed for more than two years other than the ones who are stuck there by blood or marriage (though perhaps soon separated by metal bars). Yet his lies are caressed by the soulless Sara Sanders and gobbled up by the uneducated buffoons who believe Fox News is a viable source of truth, and the Republican party is thus beholden to the lunatic core of its voters. Meanwhile 55% of the US populace (and growing) and some 8 billion others stare at the insanity and wonder why we have done this to our planet?
Hopefully Mattis is ready to talk to Mueller and the impeachment gets underway soon. We can't take much more of this chaos.
11
This is the Trump red line. "We're leaving Syria......not so fast."
5
We finally have a foreign policy decision I am 100% in agreement with and what happens? It gets rolled back to the typical temporizing mush that is the Department of State's specialty. Exactly what is in Syria that is worth a single additional American life? Let the Syrians determine Syria's future.
5
@mikecodywe havent lost a life in over a year. It's the syrians who have.
@jeremyp April 1, 2018 is less than a year ago, and who can say when the next will be. If US troops are not there,m they cannot be killed there.
It’s hard to imagine any world leader taking Trump seriously...he changes his mind like the weather changes.
3
We are not leaving until ISIS is completely destroyed and Turkey promises not to attack the Kurdish military? Yeah, that’ll work. Bolton is as confused as he appears, trying to parse the policy of an intellectual incompetent! And who’s tat guy he’s talking with? So now it’s him and that crook dictating US policy? Welcome to Animal Farm.
4
So glad we're getting out of Syria right away and so glad it may take years. Must please everyone.
5
"This is reality setting in ..." Trump is a joke.
* Iranians leave Syria ...
* ISIS defeated ...
* Turks guarantee safety of Kurds ...
None of these is going to occur in the foreseeable future:
* Iranians have supported Assad
* ISIS fighters have their AK47s buried in plastic bags while waiting for the wind to blow more favorably.
* Turks hate the Kurds for supporting uprisings in Turkey
Trump apparently didn't know that!
Trump's unwillingness to read briefings, listen to advisers and making "gut" decisions simply makes him utterly totally incompetent to be President of the worlds biggest and most complex government.
7
Until ISIS is completely defeated and Turkey promises not to attack the Kurdish military? Bolton is as confused as he looks trying to explain a policy dictated by a intellectual incompetent!
2
So, Trump successfully deflected news about closure of the Trump Foundation by announcing withdrawal of troops. Then after the news cycle was over, successfully went back to putting the troops back and more (minus Mattis).
I think NYTimes and other publications need to keep a side column on the front page, dedicated to the most recent egregious Trump acts so that people don't forget them.
9
This fits one of Trump's most basic strategies:
Lie with a promise that his isolationist base eats up (promise made, propaganda kept)
Let the lie get argued about and please his base even more when they see how the opposition is riled up (school the libs)
Ignore the reality of what's happening and deny that his administration is doing something different from his comments (Trump just responded to this article with a tweet about the "Failing NYT" being Fake News)
Keep pretending this is a win.
8
Just another reminder that the press should stop reporting Trump’s empty words - meaningless dissembling - and start reporting his actions - the theft, grift and sexual assault.
11
Why would anyone talk to us, much less negotiate? What this Administration and Pres say means nothing.
3
Bolton just trumped the president on foreign and military policy, and that arrogance is consistent with his record as a hawk.
6
I want to hear from all the Trump supporters who called John Kerry a flipflopper for saying something like,I voted against the Iraq war before I voted for it. Now , all we hear from his detractors are daily flip flops.
6
Thanks, NYT commenters. We're now in Syria for the newest forever war stint. End of IS. End of Turkey's threat to our Kurds. 'Til the Russians and Iranians leave. 'Til democracy blooms. Until the second coming.
Forever and a day. The US way.
9
What does it say about an administration in which John Bolton is the voice of sanity?
10
"...After that conversation, Mr. Trump tweeted: “I just had a long and productive call with President @RT_Erdogan of Turkey. We discussed ISIS, our mutual involvement in Syria, & the slow & highly coordinated pullout of U.S. troops from the area. After many years they are coming home.”
Once again, another despotic world leader played our clown king into thinking he knew what he was doing when, in fact, he had no idea what he was talking about or even what the stakes were in the region. Erdogan convinced Clown Man that pulling out of the Syrian theatre and leaving the Kurds swinging in the breeze was the right thing to do. No worries, I'm sure Erdogan assured him. We'll take good care of the Kurds. And, once again, the knowledgeable crowd is caught off guard and left scrambling to make sense of this clowns impulsive yet clueless leadership and straighten it out before his disastrous decisions can be acted upon with the inevitable disastrous results. Please Mr. Mueller, we can't afford to wait until 2020 to end this dangerous charade. The hammer no, the guillotine, needs to come down now!!!
6
Once again!
1. Trump gets up in the morning and decides to tweet something ridiculous without consultation, without thinking, with no warning.
2. His "handlers" scramble around making excuses, rationalizing his rash edicts
3. Confusion ensues.
4. His courtiers reassure the world that he didn't really mean it, that it isn't what it appears, that it will be different.
5. The original edict is eventually walked back, making the United States look inconsistent and foolish. Trust diminishes, U.S. policy is discounted as mercurial and unreliable.
This has now happened multiple times in the Trump administration. Does no one care that he is obviously incompetent to run our affairs? Dotard indeed! When do we get so sick of this, we dump him, or confine him to quarters in boxing gloves so he can't do more damage.
9
I have often thought that our fumbling around is just a show to cover a 20 years plan. Here its control of IRAQ for its oil, and the long drawn out slug fest would have no point if we lose control of IRAQ, hence why we probably have 15,000 or more troops squashing any and all dissent but.......time is running out.
11
@katesisco Maybe if Trump didn't insult Iraqi leaders during his recent trip to Iraq - giving them no notice and treating them as an obligation he wanted to avoid -- then maybe his fall-back position to fight Isis from Iraq could have worked in U.S. withdrew from Syria.
But instead, the rude Commander-in-Beef shot himself in the foot with his bad attitude toward "allies" - which now results in Iraqi leaders demanding foreign (U.S.) troops leave Iraq.
"Last week, Arabic-language Arabi21 online newspaper cited MP Ahmad al-Assadi, the leader of the Iraqi Construction Alliance, as saying that the legislature would discuss withdrawal of the U.S. forces amid rising unease at Washington's meddling in Baghdad's internal affairs. He said the lawmakers would step up their demand that the Iraqi government force the foreign troops to leave."
5
John Bolton is the voice of Reason? What happened to him?
Ok Bolton. Now draw down Afghanistan as we negotiate with the Taliban for control of their country.
3
So the actual commander in chief is an unconfirmed advisor. Where is Congress on this?
10
Bolton studying how Israel's experience with walls will be helpful on our southern border.
3
Behold, the ready-fire-aim approach to American foreign policy.
7
Netanyahu wanted the troops to stay four more months...to benefit his election campaign (elections in April). He already is pressing the US for recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights, a long-sought goal. Tail wags dog.
11
@sharpshin
I wonder when Putin will draw comparisons to the US approval of Israel taking the Golan Heights and its attitude toward Russia's annexation of Crimea.
Crimeans voted enthusiasticly to join Russia, with whom they shared a long history.
I doubt that the original occuppants of the Golan Heights would have voted to join Israel
3
I wouldn't trust Bolton as far as I could throw a tank....
10
My country, under the Trump-Pence-GOP regime, has gone through Alice's looking glass. As proof, we now see John Bolton becoming the voice of rational pragmatism.
8
I think Donald Trump is the most patently unqualified person to be president of the United States and will be remembered as the nation's worst president. Nonetheless, he isn't always mistaken.
The Syrian civil war is over. Assad won. No one has ever explain what interests the United States has in Afghanistan. ISIS, despicable though it may be, does not represent an existential threat to the U.S. Would someone please explain then why getting out of Syria and Afghanistan are a bad thing? Why, rather than having a discussion about our entire orientation in the Middle East we seem to have this knee jerk reaction that leaving places we either shouldn't have entered, or where we cannot achieve our objectives whatever they are would be an unmitigated disaster? Especially given the real possibility that an accidental clash with Russian forces in Syria could lead to something no one really wants. Our southern border, whether rightly or wrongly is a point of concern. Imagine what we could do there if we invested the money we're wasting in Afghanistan in Mexico and Central America?
U.S. policy in the Middle East is an unmitigated disaster for a variety of reasons not the least of which is its militarized nature. I think it's past time we had a real discussion regarding both how we craft and implement policy instead of what we have been seeing since Donald Trump announced he wanted to contract our empire of bases.
6
This is no way to run a country! Even then, anyone who sought deferrals five separate times to blatantly avoid military service is not qualified to be president let alone commander in chief. Trump doesn't know the first thing about military service or sacrifice. This awful bungling is a shameful national embarrassment now on full display for all the world to see.
5
Stay in Syria until last remnants of the Islamic State are defeated? AND Turkey provides guarantees that it won't strike the Kurds? Islamic state will always be around in some form, within and outside Syria. Who in the world would trust Erogdan's word on anything?
3
Yes. Bolton’s impossible conditions are in fact a veto on the president.
Let's get ourselves used to a living lie and the liars who make it possible: the withdrawal from Syria wasn't a serious proposal. It was designed to make General Mattis jump, and to give Messrs. Bolton and Trump more control. Trump's whole game plan is to shift serious players around as he wishes and to keep the country in a condition of ceaseless confusion and upheaval--while policy gets done on the fly, or not at all. The only thing necessary to make this succeed is not entirely for good men to do nothing but for deep cynics like Bolton to play their game as the confusion machine in the White House gins up its daily diet of tweets, lies, diversions and outrages. Meanwhile, of course, what do good people do? Hide behind Mitch McConnell? Play rope a dope with Shumer and Pelosi? Who knows? But, hey, here we are again. Who knows? That's how this whirl works, until it doesn't. Meanwhile, nobody knows for sure what will stop the whirl.
2
... next up - Mr Trump disavowing what Mr Bolton is reported to having said, and holding firm on the idea of a rapid pullout...
Mr Graham: “This is the reality setting in that you’ve got to plan this out.”
So, in other words, Mr Trump hadnt planned anything other than that he would make an ill-timed, ill-informed and ill-planned announcement. So much for leadership.
God protect our service members, and those of our allies, from this fool.
5
can you imagine if Obama had done what Trump did: we would still be taking about it.
3
Well, we've got a new generation that knows nothing about their history or descent, just war and occupation. We've emptied cities of their educated and professionally trained, we have deprived scientists of institutions and funding to build on discoveries, and yet here we are commenting on this endless pointless degradation of intelligence, repeating once again our history of violence and greed. How is this possible after Vietnam?
69
@katesisco
There is no draft.
Only than, would the US citizenry focus on the bogus narrative that the Establishment, its Media and the Military Industrial Complex has sold a complacent, somewhat uneducated, very busy citizenry.
Can you imagine the thoughts of those Syrian children in refugee camps for years. without education, and lots of time to become hateful. They they are not reading the NYT and learning of the nobility of US aims in wrecking their country.
10
@katesisco
Because the lessons of Vietnam were never learned. At least not by the GOP.
George W. Bush warned us not to make the same mistake in Iraq that we made in Vietnam, "which was leaving".
First off, we didn't "leave" Vietnam. And second, we shouldn't have been there in the first place. Those are the two most important lessons we needed to learn, along with, "Never go to war unless you absolutely have to". And that, of course, is a thought that never seems to cross the mind of the modern GOP.
2
@katesisco Two Americans have been KIA in all four years of the @coalition anti-ISIS campaign in Iraq and Syria. It is in every way the opposite of Vietnam.
1
That's funny, I do not remember voting for John Bolton, was he a write-in?
12
So, simply put, Trump made an announcement which he believed would make him look like a strong and successful leader and earn him bragging points. Including a pat on the head from Erdogan. And then —oops — Trump’s reckless and selfish move has to be walked back to where we were before he made a fool of himself, endangered our troops, and betrayed our allies. Just another day in the incompetent, chaotic, and pretend foreign policy of the Trump administration. Suggest everyone read again Secy. Mattis’ letter of resignation.
14
@kath, yes foreign policy from dictators, domestic policy from Fox Entertainment show hosts.
4
It’s good that President Trump is letting Bolton walk back his initial decision to remove troops in 30 days.
Hopefully Trump can realize correcting an initial mistake is not a weakness.
1
@Midwest Moderate Trump just got confused about whether to obey Putin or Netanyahu.
5
Sen. Graham asserts that “the president is slowing down and is re-evaluating his policies in light of those three objectives: Don’t let Iran get the oil fields, don’t let the Turks slaughter the Kurds, and don’t let ISIS come back.” Really? All of this with only 2,000 American troops?
It brings to mind the words of British prime minister Winston Churchill of RAF airmen in WW2 'Never in the history of mankind has so much been owed by so many to so few'.
5
The only now question is how long it will take Trump to contradict Bolton. A day? A week? An hour? This is government by flip-flop at its finest.
So very tired of all the winning.
17
@TO
As soon as Sean Hannity tells Donald that he's being bamboozled by the deep state, he'll change his mind again. Declaring bankruptcy and stiffing contractors (the Kurds) is what he wants to do anyway.
7
@TO. Time stamp on his demial tweet is 9:55 AM. He beat ya to it.
3
@TO as soon as Fox Entertainment howls about it, or trump gets another phone call. Putin praised the announcement of the Syria withdrawal, so I’m guessing the next call comes from the Kremlin.
3
Has someone, anyone shared these "conditions" with Trump?
Who is in charge over there?
5
@Mac. Maybe Trump will realize that if he fires Bolton there's no one else crazy enough to take the job.
2
The president of the United States makes a sudden, irrational decision. Troops are withdrawn without consulting the leaders of the military or the cabinet. Our allies are shocked. The Secretary of Defense resigns in protest. Only a a few days later, the President claims the Secretary was fired because he was doing a lousy job. And a few days later, the national security advisor walks the whole thing back. Without a word of comment from the President.
If this had happened under the first woman President, Hilary Clinton, or under Barack Obama, Congressional Republicans would be in an uproar. Fox News would throw a tizzy. Right wing talk radio and internet would be demanding impeachment. Chaos, weakness, complete failure of leadership, no one in charge, unfit for office.
Under white male Donald Trump, elected with the votes of white men, this is just another day at the circus.
There is no way a woman or a non-white man so thoroughly unfit for the office would ever be elected president, and no way they would be allowed to continue in office after demonstrating their gross incompetence so thoroughly. Donald Trump is, above anything and everything else, a great shining monument to American bigotry.
32
The one really good thing that Trump has said is that the US would get out of Syria, which the US has blundered into, and beginning a pull out of Afghanistan. Bolton a leading front man for Sheldon Adelson seems to have veto power over Trump's statements. None of the reasons stated for the US being involved in Syria and then staying there make any sense. The dumb notion that US leaving Syria is a victory for Putin follows the neo con script of personalizing world instability to Putin which is wrong. Russia arrived in Syria to keep sectarian jihadists from overthrowing Assad's regime. It seems the idea was to allow the jihadists to win then defeat the jihadists. A truly murderous policy. Israel is no danger from Syria. And the current situation allows Israel to violate Syrian territory any time the whim strikes them. Bolton wants to retain the USs ability to harm Iran everyway the US can.
4
A day late and a dollar, short. Why could not Trump have listened to this advice a month, ago?
3
@Casual Observer
He didn't like the way it was presented by Jim Mattis, but apparently, he will accept it from Bolton. It's all subject to change anyway if he hears different from his puppet masters in right-wing media, especially if they tell him he's being used by the "deep state"...
3
Roger Stone and Joshua Green came up with wall idea in 2014 as a memory aid to help keep Trump the Builder's very concrete brain on message during the campaign. Now the "wall" is about the only domestic agenda the resident has, concrete or otherwise. Foreign policy is crafted by John Bolton, except during moments when Trump takes very good advice from very good friends like Erdogan. Trump didn't know that his outgoing defense secretary was excoriating him as he headed for the exit, either because he didn't bother to read it or he is unable to read with comprehension. Senior staff consider him so erratic and dangerous that they hide documents before he has a chance to sign them. What part of all this is an example of being fit to serve?
8
@childofsol Don't underestimate Putin's and Netanyahu's ability to control Trump's foreign policy.
1
I can just imagine Netanyahu's initial reaction upon hearing Trump's imbecilic plan to abruptly abandon our military presence in Syria. That's what spurred Bolton to get into Trump's ear and say Whoa, Nellie! Mr. President we need to walk back this plan. I'm betting Trump dispatches Bolton. Trump cannot bear to be corrected. Stay tuned.
7
So once again the official US policy communicated to the world is "We have no idea." Thanks President Trump. The man really knows who to run a well-oiled machine. If he was skipper on the Titanic, you'd think he was aiming for the icebergs.
14
Meanwhile back at the ranch in the US the EPA is being gutted, the CFPB is being dismantled, Dodd–Frank is being compromised, the deficit is going through the roof, huge chunks of public lands are being sold off, world free trade is being seriously assailed, the justice department is being revamped with a slew of GOP biased judicial appointees, and all while the FBI is being disemboweled
25
Apparently, Mr. Bolton is carrying a tape recording in which President Trump assures whomever it may concern that at the time of the recording he had authorized Mr. Bolton to speak on his behalf. That part of the tape goes on with President Trump saying that the authorization covers "then" but may not cover "now" unless he has since made another tape specifically saying that "now" is also meant as "then" unless canceled by a third "now" tape or a phone call to President Erdogan.
As of "now", no one is taking Mr. Bolton seriously.
7
While the nation has been spellbound in dwelling on the president's Tweets, Mr. John Bolton, suddenly mainstream, has stepped into the vacuum to become the de facto face of American foreign policy.
He'll now become a bi-partisan favorite for Sec. of Defense in 2020.
3
If this situation - a mindless decision from the most powerful individual on the planet unceremoniously reversed by his underlings - weren't so serious it would be extremely funny. I for one am grateful to discover that Bolton is not the hot headed fool I took him for and in fact may turn out to be the only remaining adult in our rapidly evacuating government.
5
@James Klosty
Don’t rush to his defense. There’s profit to be made in war, and Trump’s hasty decision probably jeopardized a lot of pocket lining. The last word I would apply to Bolton is “altruistic.”
11
All Trump cares about are acolades to tell him that his people love him. He believes that his people love him so much they will go without paychecks and not pay rent or feed the kids. If this doesn't happen (the ratings are down) it's someone else's fault. Scary!
3
Never in my life did I think that John Bolton would ever be the adult in the room under any circumstance and nor did I ever think I could ever have reason to have even a twinge of gratitude towards him. That's how much this country has fallen in the last two years.
15
"President Trump’s national security adviser, John R. Bolton, rolled back on Sunday Mr. Trump’s decision to rapidly withdraw from Syria, laying out conditions for a pullout that could leave American forces there for months or even years."
Since when does an underling "roll back" an executive decision?
Does Congress exist any more? Where are the House/Senate Armed Services Committees? Why are they not holding hearings into how our troops are deployed, and why? And who, if anyone, is in charge of our armed forces?
This is beyond absurd. While the Boy King plays with his gold-plated soldiers and watches his gold-plated TV, his ministers are all vying for power and making unilateral decisions affecting American lives. Is this how a democracy functions?
38
This is exactly the same deal we got at the beginning of his Presidency...he would say something inappropriate and then his staff would walk it back or try to spin it out of context that it meant something different than the actual words. Trump is a danger to our country and the world.
18
@Ronald J Kantor
The President, any President, may not have the ability to end US military adventures.
The important question is "Why?"
The six trillion added to the debt by all military adventures since 2001, as well as the consequences of those military adventures, are the real danger to the US.
The consequences of US military adventures include creating more hate and more terrorists, and creating millions of refugees flooding and destabilizing Europe.
Trump showed some sanity when he campaigned to bring the troops home.
4
@Lucy Cooke
NOTHING IS MORE DANGEROUS THAN A MILITARY ISOLATED FROM ITS PEOPLE.
No local bases, no local familiarity, no local exchanges mean no commitment or recognition of commonality. No uniforms in the local grocery or seen on the street.
You might ask yourself what is being gained by having 1000 non combatant US military bases around the world. Successfully isolated from their school team friends and neighbors.
Certainly we gain multi-lingual power brokers for the future, but we lose a military that sees itself as neighbors. THATS AS DANGEROUS AS IT GETS.
2
@Lucy Cooke---The problem is, he didn't think it through. He never does. His entire process is limited by what he can get out of it at the precise moment.
3
If Donald gets too much bad publicity for this, it may be time to tell the acting Attorney General to tell the acting Secretary of Defense to tell the acting Chief of Staff to get rid of the National Security Advisor...
21
Bolton must have gotten calls from Benji and MSB soon after Trump misspoke, and waited until now to contradict him. Given Trump's attention span and memory, the timing of the announcement seems about right.
11
For decades, far-right Republicans have harped about "cut and run" liberal Democrats. This has always been a cartoonish stereotype, of course.
But in reality, the "cut and run" strategy in Syria has come from a president who boasts about having 93% support from Republicans.
Even more ironic is that the "adult in the White House daycare center" has been a man known for his hyper-aggressive foreign policy. Trump has managed to make John Bolton seem like the voice of reason.
Think about that.
21
Looks like there is at least one adult still in the White House. It's rascally old Bolton showing a grain of sense. Still Bolton is stupid. Trump is impulsive and stupid. Subtract impulsiveness from that equation and you can have Bolton.
But I think the real truth is that Bolton is liar like all the other neocons who want god knows what, but the terms 'suffering' and 'mayhem' come to mind. No, ISIS is not the principle reason to have mere 2,000 U.S. troops in the area--that's a side show now--nor are the Kurds, though that sentiment could be laudable coming from anyone other than some murderous neocon like Bolton.
No, the reason to have a few troops in the area is that it--apparently--restrains the local murderers, ISIS and the Turks being two. You see, we still owe the people of that region a lot of consideration after unleashing all this hell over there with our murderous invasion of Iraq. That led to the rise of ISIS and all the chaos, death and destruction wrought by the U.S. neocons before that since 2003.
So, we might as well take our debt to these peoples to include the innocents of Syria being brutally murdered by the monster Assad. Might as well do so while we're trying to repay our debt--if that is what we will do.
Add in restraining the murderous Russians and you almost complete the picture; except for one thing: the real reason U.S. conservatives want to be there. That question leads us to say, "Follow the money." But then that's always true.
6
@jstevend
Assad as a monster is as real as those Iraqi WMD, created and hyped endlessly because the US has been working to destabilize Syria since 2006.
Or you can google Syria coups and see how much the US has interfered in Syria since WWll.
Before the US successfully instigated a civil war, Syria under Assad was modern with the many ethnic a religious groups living peaceably. The US with Saudi Arabia has long encouraged revolt among Syrian Sunnis, as part of plan to isolate Iran...
The US has made the world more unstable and violent, but a reliable buyer of the US major export weaponry.
1
@jstevend
The US goal has always been the creation of a new country to funnel IRAQ's oil/gas to the MED to reward the EU for hiring our weapons. The quiet occupation of IRAQ, now that we have eliminated of locked up the anti American segment, is to preserve the central point of our invasion, IRAQ control. Losing IRAQ means leaving in a bigger hurry than from Hanoi.
Look at the big picture: this war in Syria and Afghanistan are all part of a whole, that whole being the restoration of the US as a power broker, and not the abuser of Vietnam. Almost 2 decades of war allow the creation of a generation that knows no other than occupation and violence. I suggest this was planned to dishearten the native population, to deprive them of the memories their parents have for which they fought so hard. I suggest this has been found to be the most effective war weapon at our disposal. We found in Vietnam people knew what they were fighting for; hence the reason we used Saudi Arabia to effectively erase the orchards, green valleys, farms of the grandfathers in Afghanistan. We have found scorched earth the most effective policy to allow the occupation by a foreign force.
Says Sen. Graham: “The president is slowing down and is re-evaluating his policies in light of those three objectives: Don’t let Iran get the oil fields, don’t let the Turks slaughter the Kurds, and don’t let ISIS come back.”
You're doing all this with only 2,000 American troops?? That's about equal to the number of NYC police employed for the Thanksgiving Day parade. Syria is a big country and I'm not understanding how so few soldiers are considered so pivotal.
8
@John H. Obviously, 2,000 American troops cannot hold off the Turkish and Iranian armies. My understanding is that their function is both advisory (training and organization) for Kurdish groups like YPG, and deterrent, since neither Turkey nor Iran really wants to get in a shooting war with the US. The 2,000 US troops provide a foothold that makes it much easier for additional troops to arrive quickly.
3
It's not about winning, it's about avoiding blame. We knew in 1965 that Vietnam was a lost cause, and it took 10 more years of deaths to admit it and get out. Same goes for Afghanistan 18 years on, and most of the rest of the places where the US military is bogged down worldwide. Nobody soldier wants to be the last to die for a lie, and no general or politician wants to admit it was all a pointless and tragic waste of life.
5
@John H. The rump troop level is the camel's nose under the tent. They are there so that if any harm comes to them, we can blame the Iranians and send in the big guns. It's as simple as that. The US State could give a hang about the Kurds or even the remnants of ISIS.
1
I wonder if in this process of trying to fix the mess made by our incompetent president any thought at all has been given to the troops serving in Syria. Or the cost of all of this. Plans are being made to move troops and equipment within Syria? Why? Because it makes strategic sense to do so? Or because they’re trying to throw said nut job a bone and/or cover for him instead of just saying never mind Trump was wrong we’re not doing this? The man is a menace. He needs to be removed from office.
14
We no longer have a executive branch of government to put our faith or our confidence into. I would imagine even Trump's base is beginning to recognize this. John Bolton is yet another B-Team adviser on clean-up duty. The Senate won't do it. This would be, in effect, an admission of guilt that their Republican president is a weak failure.
We now have to put our faith in the new House, Nancy Pelosi's level-minded judgement, the stalwart defender of blind justice - Robert Mueller, the Constitution and the hopefully still intact ability to vote these incompetents out of office.
This direct quote from John Bolton ought to put it straight where his mind is at. "I confess I had no desire to die in a Southeast Asian rice paddy. I considered the war in Vietnam already lost." - explaining that he decided to avoid service in Vietnam because "by the time I was about to graduate in 1970, it was clear to me that opponents of the Vietnam War had made it certain we could not prevail, and that I had no great interest in going there to have Teddy Kennedy give it back to the people I might die to take it away from." Think deep about the meaning of his words - our president's current adviser.
84
@Daniel
Bolton is just one of the many neo con warmongers, most of whom supported Hillary for President.
What needs thinking about is, why are we in Syria?
And don't believe for a moment that it is because Assad is evil, though he has been extraordinarily and successfully demonized by the Establishment its Media.
Assad is simply not a submissive puppet who will do what the US wants.
In 2012 a leaked diplomatic cable stated that the US was working to destabilize Syria since 2006.
The US actions in Syria are not legal under international law, and those actions have accomplished nothing positive, but have made the world more unstable.
13
@Lucy Cooke
Left with two choices - Hillary or Trump - even war mongering neocons had little choice I would imagine.
If we had a Legislative branch with spine and followed the Constitution, every military action would require a vote (except Trump's state of emergency on our border type decision. Yeah, right.)
Bush, himself, put it to a vote for Iraq. Obama put it to a vote for Syria. So why Syria? Take government out of the equation and you get very powerful oil interests, banks and Citizens United type people deciding for you. That is the crime behind the crime!
11
@Daniel Perfectly said.
5
Stake out a position. Any position. Hawks feeling needy. Cruise missle attack. Evangelicals feeling needy. John Bolton. Israel feeling needy. Evangelicals. Isis, Kurds, SA, Palistinians, Pakistan, Korea. China.
To the members of our congress. Had enough yet? What's it gonna take?
By the way, don't send Jared Kushner. He's helped us enough.Sitting in on real estate negotiations are not a portfolio.
The extreme hawks are in charge. Only one outcome. War.
16
While an immediate pullout is folly, one does wonder, WHO is making USA policy... the president, Bolton, the generals, Erdogon, Netanyahu, WHO?
27
@vincentgaglione
Putin. No one benefitted more from the pullout than Putin ( and its new chum Iran). Trump Tower Moscow is going to be really nice however.
28
@vincentgaglione
Is this question rhetorical or real?
I'll take it as real: it ain't over till the Foxy Lady, Ann Coulter and the coterie of deep thinkers of the alternate news, have taken their turn at the microphones to tweak the ego of the Great Leader.
* until the policy changes . . . again
8
The Royal Baby Sitters have quit, the latest Kelly and Mattis. Now a new one, Bolton, is in place and the Baby seems more calm and resigned to following recommendations, that is, at least until his next tantrum.
12
You know we are in deep trouble when Bolton is the voice of sanity!
39
Getting Erdogan to promise that he won't attack the Kurds is like asking Trump to give up on his Wall. It ain't gonna be easy.
6
"The remarks also reflected the disarray that has surrounded the president’s decision,..."
I think it's fair to say we're familiar with this disarray, having experienced it after every one of his decisions.
11
So the President again lied to the American public. Or talk without know anything. Republicans, it's time to end this nonsense.
12
Trump has given me a reason to respect John Bolton! The world is, indeed, upside down . . .sigh . . .
6
@Dolsen Did you ever in your life think you would say John Bolton is the reasonable one?
1
@Davy_G Oh, I haven't brought myself to actually "say" it yet. I'm still coming to grips with the "thinking it" part.
It appears that Trump has replaced America's slogan, "e pluribus unum," with "Remember what I said? Nevermind."
7
Syria: Trump's non-withdrawal withdrawal. Let's see. This is Lurch #3, 847. OK, partners & soon-to-be former partners. You can come out from under your beds. Geppetto has clarified the situation. And we lost Gen. Mattis for nothing. Next up: Return to North Korea. On second thought, maybe we should all stay under our beds for now.
6
How many votes did John Bolton receive in the 2016 Presidential election?
How many votes did John Bolton get in the Senate when Donald Trump named him National Security Adviser?
5
Bolton is an ADVISOR, not a decision maker. So how can he put conditions on anything?
Seriously.
5
“This is the reality setting in that you’ve got to plan this out.” What happens when you can't just say "Never mind"???
1
We'll just have to wait until Trump watches Fox news on TV this morning to learn if they think Bolton is up staging him. If so, watch out for a Tweet storm!
12
Too bad that it took an attack by Isis (1 Kurd dead, 2 Brits seriously injured) to wake up the Administration to a reality: Isis is not dead. (And of course, Turkey would have sought to annihilate the Kurds). Sorry, but you are there for a while yet.
4
“We have defeated ISIS in Syria.” — President Donald J. Trump, December 19, 2018, justifying his order to withdraw US troops from Syria within 30 days.
“They’re all coming back, and they’re coming back now.” — President Trump, December 19, 2018, announcing his order for troop withdrawals.
“They said again, recently, ‘Can we have more time?’” Trump said of U.S. generals. “I said: ‘Nope. You can’t have any more time. You’ve had enough time.” — President Trump, December 26, 2018.
“The reality is we have defeated ISIS” — Vice President Mike Pence, January 3, 2019, on Fox News, justifying Trump’s order for troop withdrawals from Syria.
January 6, 2019, around meetings in Jerusalem and Turkey, John Bolton announces that US troops will remain in Syria until “ISIS has been defeated.”
“We won’t be finally pulled out until ISIS is gone.” — President Trump, January 6, 2019.
“I never said we’re doing it that quickly.” — President Trump, January 6, 2019, speaking about troop withdrawals.
“This is the reality setting in that you’ve got to plan this out.” — Senator Lindsey Graham, January 6, 2019, speaking about Trump’s order for troop withdrawals.
35
@Scott Fordin
If the plan is to confuse the enemy and keep them guessing, then it's working fantastically well. But it's confusing everybody else, too -- so maybe not such a great plan. Thank God there's at least one adult in the room.
2
@Scott Fordin: Thanks for summarizing this.
@Trump supporters: Please read the above and explain how your golden boy is competent to hold the world's most important job. We don't have to criticize him; it's sufficient just to summarize his airheaded comments on any topic.
4
The photos say it all: Israel still dictates our policy in the region, and even more so under Trump. Until we start making our own (smart) decisions and stop serving as co-oppressor of the Palestinian people, we'll be spending billions to defend against terrorists, when we were never the primary target. We were punished for our role in propping up the neighborhood bully.
How quickly we forget: How long has it been since 9/11? Why did Al Qaida attack us in the first place?
We keep making the same dumb policy decisions in the Middle East, administration after administration. Israel is the worst "ally" we could ask for.
11
Bolton contradicts Trump. There goes Bolton. Fired for disobeying a direct order from his fearless leader.
3
@G.--General Mattis also disobeyed a direct order. Trump ordered him to kill Assad a few months ago. Mattis went back to his office and told people "We are NOT doing that."
"... Mr. Bolton, making a visit to Israel, told reporters that American forces would remain in Syria until the last remnants of the Islamic State were defeated."
Ooooops! His boss already publicly boasted he had defeated ISIS. Another one bites the dust ............
3
So in other words there is no withdrawal.
6
I am just glad they managed to dial back the President’s ill-conceived order.
4
Bolton said, “American forces would remain in Syria until the last remnants of the Islamic State were defeated and Turkey provided guarantees that it would not strike Kurdish forces allied with the United States.”
Or – “Never!”
US taxpayers have borrowed trillions of dollars and lost thousands of American lives in the middle east. Who benefits – other countries such as the State of Israel, military contractors supplying bombs, equipment and support, wealthy individuals from a country, for-hire soldiers of fortune, etc.? Most of which are significant contributors to, and supporters of, Elected Politicians.
Apparently, not the US families of those lost or putting their lives in danger or US taxpayers!
We must find a way to hold self-interested and self-enriching Elected Politicians, government officials, their staffers and operatives from both parties personally and financially liable, responsible and accountable for the lies and half-truths they have told US, their gross mismanagement of our county, our $22 T and growing national debt (106% of GDP), and our $80 T in future, unfunded liabilities they forced on US jeopardizing our economic and national security, while benefiting themselves, their staffers, their party and special interest donors
55
@US Debt Forum
Who benefits? I have a friend who served in Syria as an enlisted airman. Launching and recovering drones. That sort of thing. I once asked him whether joining the military was worth it. He told me "I came back alive so yeah, it was worth it. I don't have to pay for college anymore."
Meanwhile, I have friend who retired from Northrup-Grumman after 30 odd years. He bought widgets used in building airplane radar. The salary allowed him to comfortably raise a family of four on a single salary without a college degree. None of his children were ever involved in the military.
You might also want to ask yourself why supporting countries like Israel militarily does in fact benefit US citizens at home. Policing the world has benefits both tangible and intangible for our nation. I'll give you one often overlooked example.
The US status as protector has granted the US dollar the privileged status as the global reserve currency. Do you have any idea how valuable this status is to our economy? China isn't going to let us keep it if we checkout from international conflicts.
We can debate how and why to spend our blood and treasure. However, don't pretend we aren't benefiting. Is it the best way to spend a trillion dollars? Probably not. But I'm getting even less in return from Trump's tax cuts.
13
@US Debt Forum Ironic isn't it. Israel has a Medicare for All healthcare system basically funded by us through the billions we give them. Yet, us? I 'm so tired of all our politicians from both parties ignoring our needs for our "security" concerns. What a transparent cruel joke. It there one glimmer of a positive aspect to Trump's election that I saw on election night, it was his stated intent to get us out of these wars, but it looks like the establishment in both parties and the intelligence community got their hands on him. When so-called liberals tout the the wisdom and character of the CIA, FBI, military generals, and now John Bolton, I see no hope for us.
3
@US Debt Forum I'd wager the Bush family has seen significant benefit.
3
Please tell me again why trump has rock solid support by republicans. When John Bolton is the voice of reason, we have something to worry about. Geez!
7
Who would have thought that John Bolton would be the voice of sanity and reason within this White House?
5
The left hand in this administration simply has never met the right hand.
3
I sure do wish that President Trump would talk to his National Security Advisor occasionally.
2
In this chaotic administration, does anyone know "who's on first"?
The old Abbott and Costello comedy routine makes more sense than these guys do, and the whole world knows it.
The APPRENTICE POTUS sails his ship of fools toward an iceberg.
This will not end well.
2
I'd say I Don't Know, but he's on third.
3
How long until he doesn't like the optics, or being "upstaged" by Bolton or Pompeo, and reverts to his original, irresponsible statement? This is another example of why trump is not up to the job of President.
3
How long before our country becomes a real life episode of Aesop's Boy Who Cried Wolf?
Lying about Mexicans and "the wall", troop withdrawals, our allies, our enemies, our justice system,his taxes, his political opponents and Trade negotiations. And just for good measure, lying about who's lying (it's always Trump).
There are thousands of whoppers.
So far, and fortunate for us, they have only lead to chaos and a diminished standing in the world, but Trump will eventually get our country into something we can't get out of.
What will it be?
5
This is chaos; and while it's one thing for the US to careen erratically from one international stance to its opposite -- often within less than a month -- it's another when it forces allies to do the same.
Erdogan held back on attacking Kurdish forces on the Syrian side of the border with Turkey, based on President Trump's assurances that he was removing US forces within 30 days and handing over the anti-ISIS campaign to Turkey. This would allow Turkey a free hand to then attack the Kurds, who themselves reached out desperately to the Syrian government and Russia for protection, believing that the US was abandoning them.
The Turkish people fully back Erdogan on his promise to remove what they see as a threat of increased Kurdish terrorism in Turkey from over the border with Syria. Now, with Bolton's reversal of Trump's promise, Erdogan is left looking gullible and indecisive. He won't allow that impression to remain.
20
@Nick Wright Chaos is good, and he just has to promise not to attack in Syria.
@Nick Wright Putin permitted Erdogan's annexation of Afrin, and used the S 400 to fine tune the ethnic cleansing (1/3 million men women and children were expelled and replaced https://twitter.com/syriahr/status/1076539297153646592).
The 'delay' is entirely at Erdogan's request.
Great, so nothing's changed. Of course, for years now Mr Trump will exclaim about how he got us out of Syria, and how that makes him so extraordinarily better than all other US presidents, ever! And some will vote to re-elect him on that basis.
1
You know we are in trouble when John Bolton appears to speak as a voice of reason in regard to the proposed Syria withdrawal.
2
We should all be very concerned with who is running this country. It is obvious that there little collaborative decision making on major issues. This could very well be an example of the republican deep state at work.
Finally, we have a President who will force the issue of establishing criteria so that we can have a plan for removing troops from Syria. It took taking a hard position to do it. The media, of course, was apparently not sophisticated enough to understand failure of DoD to establish workable criteria nor responsible enough to report on the need for it. From what I've read they still don't understand why the President had to take the position he did to get the ball moving. Good for him.
"laying out conditions for a pullout that could leave American forces there for months or even years."
So basically Trump made another announcement with no meat behind it, but managed to panic our troops and allies, and embolden our enemies and Putin.
North Korea, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Russia, time and time again Trump has shown the same temperament that lead him to bankrupt his own businesses and put him indebted to foreign bailouts.
7
This article describes in a rather low-key way how Trump's order, as Commander-in-Chief, was countermanded by both internal & external forces almost immediately after it was given. In short, Trump was managed & forced to revoke his order or else face a public mutiny based on the fourth Nuremburg Principle & an outright rebuke from Israel. Bolton's (& Lindsey Graham's) management of this problem, which would not only make Trump look weak but also ignorant, sought to recast Trump's order as merely misunderstood & downplayed the outright pushback he faced from all fronts. Clearly, Trump went along with this option to save face, again pointing to inaccurate, fake news reporting of his order despite the video evidence documenting it repeatedly.
Lindsay Graham was there to help Trump save face politically & rescue his administration from the joke book in the bathroom. "The best way to do this, Mr. Trump, is to tweak the language and qualify the order, even borrow some favorite elements of your fake news claims. This way, you remain intact."
This might also explain Trump's reversal on the budget talks & his decision to shut down the govt. Guy's got to show that he is a strong, powerful man, not a bossed-around president. He needed that theater for his performance in the play "I Wear the Mantle" to show that his power is resolute and fierce. Sure, beat up on some poor Central Americans, cast them as ISIS & point the military at them. Leave Syria alone.
79
If Lindsey Graham really cared about the position of the United States in the world order, as a military hawk he claims to be, he would be loudly advocating Trump’s impeachment instead of carrying a shovel and a bucket, trailing along behind this GOP elephant.
19
@macktan
I don't see it that way.
But the revised policy makes imminent sense. Help the Kurds to finish off remaining 2,000 ISIS fighters cornered in the desert and protect the Kurds from any bad intentions the Turks have. I think that Trump recognized his mistake, with inputs from Mattis, Bolton and Graham, and set a new direction. The President's intention was nobel - bring the troops back and let our allies mop up. I presume he received a promise from Erdogan, by that Friday phone call, that he would rep!ace Kurds with 15k Turkish trained SDF. However, he was convinced later of Turkey's intention to wipe out the Kurds.
He now has a problem with Erdogan's false promise hence Boltons current trip to Turkey to deliver that message and secure perhaps a written agreement to protect the Kurds.
@Frank Leibold--Stop trying to envelope Trump with the reasoning of a normal man. He did NOT "recognize his mistake" because he believes his "gut"--which means he thoroughly believes he cannot make a mistake.
13
China looks 10 to 20 years ahead with major decisions,THe U S under Trump looks 20 minutes.Even more disturbing are the GOP Politicians that continue to follow and support such a weak mind. The end game is China will have long term wins and the West will have a few short term gains which fade away in time.
6
Surely, if you let the enemy know when you are leaving, all they have to do is save their fire until you have gone??
Hey? Who needs experts!!!? How hard can it be??
For goodness sake Trump develop some humility and listen to the people who know stuff.
6
Our fearless leader was emphatic that the troops are coming home.
Did he change his mind? Did Hannity tell him something else? Do you think he made a mistake? Oh the mere thought of der leader back tracking is unthinkable. It must be Pelosi and the dems fault.
5
Another mistake! Another example to show how clueless and incompetent the President is when he makes decisions. I guess he will run to watch Fox News to make his next decision. What will it be next?
4
This is now a pattern in the White House. Trump makes a declaration and, within a matter of days, an underling reverses his statement. Do we now have a "shadow government" in operation (history buffs; Edith Wilson deja vu?).
Anyone who thinks this is acceptable should remember that we can't recall airborne nuclear missiles.
3
What’s taken me a long while to realize is that I shouldn’t get upset by any of Trump’s horrifyingly ignorant statements, whether by tweet or otherwise. Absolutely nothing he says holds any real weight… It’s just stuff. We have a POTUS that just throws stuff out there. Whatever he happens to be thinking at the moment, sans any filter, just gets thrown out there.… what I’ve also come to realize is that a lot more of us should be upset by the fact that a total incompetent is leading this nation. We should all be out in the streets with torches & pitchforks demanding that sanity be set free from the White House basement!
14
Trump essentially never assumed the presidency. That's clear by his empty schedule and the fact that he spends most of his time playing golf. Any powers he assumed he has essentially abdicated to incompetent extremists and TV opinion show hosts.
16
Well, it seems that the Prime Minister of Israel decided it would not be in the best interests of Israel for the US to pull out our troops. I wonder if Mr. Bolton gently asked the Prime Minister if he would kindly consider providing Israeli troops?
11
@Ev
No, they prefer much more of a "let's you and him fight" approach.
4
Let's tackle health care, then build a border wall. If we need it.
2
John Bolton may soon find himself out of a job with these comments. And what about the two Americans who were arrested in Syria two days ago after being recruited by ISIS?
As Lindsey Graham should put it, "the reality is setting in that the president doesn't have a clue about anything".
3
Any bets on how long Bolton will be the national security adviser? With Trump's fragile ego I give him 4 to 6 weeks.
4
"....Pentagon that it was logistically impossible and strategically unwise. " says it all. The guy blurts out withdrawal without thinking about the details. Just like repeal of the ACA, which was done with no replacement in place nor the logistics of going to a different plan if there was one! Amazing!
1
Hey Donald! There doesn’t have to be anything inconsistent between your previous announcement that US troops would be withdrawn from Syria immediately and John Bolton’s announcement that they would stay until ISIS is completely defeated. Just bring back one soldier at a time. Heck, you could even add more troops as long as some come back. Problem solved.
1
Blind leading the blind.
Worrisome that Evangelicals and Israel expansionists are setting the pace for USA Middle East politics. The Brits and the French in their "Divide and Rule" did it a century ago. We see the results.
So... not really a troop pullout.
More of The Usual Trumpeting.
3
What will be the straw on that camel’s back that finally causes its collapse? trump needed to be removed from office back when America was great. You know, before he ever announced his candidacy.
3
Bolton's turn in the barrel and God knows he deserves it. No one believes anything Trump's advisers say, its well established by now that Trump will undercut his own people at any time if he hears something on Fox News that sparks an impulse.
This goes double for Pence who has proven beyond any doubt that he has no spine whatsoever after all the humiliation he continues to endure from his boss.
That said, I wish we would get our military out of Syria, and Afghanistan, and Iraq, and Korea, and Germany, and the Philippines, and Turkey, and the Horn of Africa, and Congo...
I know more than the generals he proclaimed. I have a secret plan to defeat ISIS he bragged.
Well, first off, a general who resigned before being summarily fired appeared to disagree with what ever policy the "president" had conjured up at any particular point in time.
The bottom line is there is no policy that will not be discarded by the end of the day, or sooner. Trump policies and decisions are moving targets.
I hold little hope this "president" will ever get a grip on reality.
2
Wow again someone (Bolton) under trump has to go and fix his misspoken words, we aren't going to leave Syria quickly, now there is a time frame. Plus we still need to defeat ISIS, another trump lie, who claimed they had been. Now does anyone understand why there shouldn't be one penny for a border wall, because the reason/justifications given are based on continuous lies. trump made this promise to his base during and after the election, and two years have gone by with no funds from his own party. so now its two years until next election, so he is feeling the heat to get it done. so the democrats who are in charge of the house now are being put into the position of blame (for his base), since it didn't happen when his own party was in charge. its all about trump saving face with his base, because like Graham said, no wall, no reelection.
2
Bolton has been a force in the Federalist Society for years. Trump's position with this critical constituency is much weaker. Earlier, when Trump stated that "Iran can do what it wants in Syria", Trump appeared to be taking steps to cut out Bolton. Bolton did not inform Trump of the Huawei arrest in Canada as Trump was negotiating with Xi. Bolton's assertiveness to advance the unilateral U.S. sanctions against Iran even if it threatened Trump's trade deal with China appears to have irritated Trump.
Now that Trump is pre-occupied with his Wall, Bolton will remain as the WH policy architect. With Mattis gone, restraint on Bolton from DoD will be much weaker and the risks of conflict with Iran could increase in view of Bolton's dream of regime change.
1
This entire fiasco illustrates how unfit Trump is as our President & Commander in Chief of our armed forces.Bolton has saved the day by his recent comments which took issue with Trumps comments about withdrawing our Troops in Syria.However,the discourse in Republican ranks still exists .As long as, Republicans stick with Trump they are losing a great opportunity to gain moderate Democrats that are disenchanted with the Party because of it’s Anti Zionists, Socialist Position.
1
Bolton’s and Trump’s statements, although diametrically opposed, are both pointing to horrible policies.
Trump would have withdrawn immediately regardless of anything. But Bolton’s conditions will never be met, at least in the estimation of a hawk like Bolton, leaving us there forever and probably leading to mission creep. Neither has a thought on a strategic goal and how to reach it.
This is what happens when there is no strategy but just a couple of guys making gut calls when they feel like it.
2
At some point Trump will realize that all those objections that he hears are not real objections but obstruction. That it is ridiculous that the army needs four months to sort out what it wants to do with its stuff. That it is ridiculous to worry so much about a few Iranians in Syria. And that the Kurds will sooner or later happily return to government control anyway. The real issue is that the military-industrial lobby wants to keep troops in Syria.
His best strategy probably will be to take one step at a time. Not withdrawal from the whole of Syria at once. But first from al-Tanf. Then from Tabna. Then from southern Syria - leaving the remaining ISIS members for the Syrian army to handle. Etc. Etc.
Forget Russia. The main priority of POTUS is to guarantee the safety of the American people. How is this not being unfit to hold office when his decisions put the country in harm’s way and others need to intervene to protect us from irresponsible behavior?
2
Sen. Graham's, "This is the reality setting in...." is a telling comment. We have all known, even before the 2015 campaign, that with Trump, reality is always tacked on the backend of any statement or decision, however trivial. And that "reality" is always an exercise in rationalization. In the case of the Syria imbroglio, both our friends and enemies are thoroughly confused A confused friend looks elsewhere or stands on the sidelines, a confused enemy is liable to make errors in judgment. Both are dangerous and unsustainable.
5
"Mr. Trump told reporters that he had “never said we were doing it that quickly.”
Well, when he said "now", he really meant later, until he didn't, but that was then, and this is a new "now".
He's a man of his word until he isn't. The stable genius isn't so stable after all. At least he's consistent in his inconsistency.
5
I wouldn't pay much attention to what Bolton said - focus on where he said it instead. Then watch what Pompeo WILL say in Ankara and put all of it it in context. Add to the mix the Kurds' deal is with the Syrian government, Putin's deal with Erdogan and finally Netanyahu cozying up to Putin.
Then - and only then - will you have the full picture.
3
Both Arab Sides,
Turkey,
Russia,
Iran,
Palestine,
Women,
Rich,
Poor,
will be making babies and cooking meals before America leaves.
Slight delays while we deal with why some people still believe in climate change.
4
So Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now making US foreign policy decisions. Why don’t we just make him a cabinet member? He can take Bolton’s position as NSA after Trump tweet-fires him. When republicans call this administration “tough” I laugh my head off. Putin, Bibi, MBS... they are running the show. We do whatever they say.
91
Okay, so can we have Mattis back now?
62
@Goyo P "Okay, so can we have Mattis back now?"
Are you serious? To continue fighting permanent, unwinnable wars? That's what Mattis and others in the Washington DC establishment stand for. Mattis and the rest of that crowd have zero credibility now. Why in God's name would you trust them after all the damage they have done?
1
What is going in this White House? Is this really a reversal by Trump or will Bolton be next in line to be out the door?
20
Russia and Iran are in Syria at the invitation of the internationally recognized government meanwhile the US is there without UNSC or congressional approval...kinda dissonant doncha think?
11
@Autodiddy not dissonant. The US is in Syria on the invitation of local population, i.e. the Syrian Kurds and their Arab allies. To a democracy, in this case the US, the will of the people matters more than that of a dicator, i.e. Assad. Quite simple really.
First he eliminates nuclear capabilities in North Korea, now he pulls the troops out after a decisive victory against ISIS. What a Great Man; if any of it were true.
153
@Canadian - Well North Korea still haven't met the pre-meeting conditions set by Obama.
4
@Canadian
Had Trump been able to resist the formidable pressure of the Military Industrial Complex, the Establishment and its Media, like the NYT and actually brought the troops home, he would have earned respect.
He caved.
@Geraldine Mitchell Right. That's why he didn't meet with them. Compared to Trump, who met with them in exchange for nothing, and declared that he had won a great victory when they promised to do a bunch of things that everyone on Earth (except for Trump, apparently) knew they were lying about.
So tell me, whose approach makes America look more ridiculous.
3
The moral of the story is, if your boss makes a foolish decision, don’t quit in a huff and make a scene.
Quietly sit down with the boss and explain why his decision is flawed and what he should do instead.
2
@Seriously That sounds too logical for Trump. He is the decider, just ask him.
1
@Seriously
.....Were it possible to "quietly sit down with the boss and explain why his decision is flawed"
2
When John Bolton becomes the Voice of Reason in the Oval Office, we can pretty much assume Reason is locked in a dark room in the White House basement and is being tortured just as Logic has been for the last two years.
132
The act is tiring. The "president" makes an inane remark or a fool policy change, then someone has to step in to correct him. Bolton the war hawk of all people this time.
What has this country done to itself?
89
@David Henry. Our Electoral College voted for the prettiest candidate even though we didn’t see the swimsuit contest and I’m not sure he can sing, although he paces with an angry face fairly well.
1
What an absolute mess.
It now appears that Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Israel are now running USA international policy.
What a joke administration. The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. God help us if the USA actually encounters a real crisis.
Decisions made by Trump flipping a coin.
97
@Brett B
Trumps decisions are based on what Limbaugh, Hannity, and the rest of the Fox News crew have to say. Bolton uses whatever alternative facts agree with his hawkish point of view. If it was a coin toss, we'd get it right half the time. Your theory is hereby disproven.
3
After three deployments to this area I can say that our involvement is worthless and only makes the overall situation worse. Trump, unfortunately, had the right instinct but he is afraid. I thank the rabid opposition by the New York Times, among others, to his withdrawal from Syria and potentially Afghanistan made him walk it back. Obviously Israel revels in the conflict because it takes the heat off them as they continue to colonize the West Bank. The problem is Trump is not well read, not well educated and he is, as a consequence, not self confident. Were he better educated he would fire Bolton get out of Syria and Afghanistan and demand that Israel get out of the West Bank. The notion that we are oil independent now is stupid. We are simply scraping the bottom of the barrel and when fracking and horizontal drilling have been tapped out we will be tapped out and once again dependent on the Mid East where the largest oil reserves in the world lie. We are being played once again. Our nation is being led by Riyadh and Jerusalem. If Trump does not get us out of Syria and Afghanistan he can forget winning in 2020.
25
@as
I was wondering if we aren't actually being led by a cabal of global elite corporates. I suspect our hard fought occupation of IRAQ is the center of our Middle East conquests and the surrounding wars are both to add to and to protect the gains in IRAQ. We lose IRAQ and the creation of a new country of ROJAVA allowing access to the MED for oil/gas lines is moot.
@as, Trump is creating a ME that will destroy America. Trump will not be around in 2020 as he is ready to flee to Russia!
2
@as Nice to hear the comments and analysis by someone who has been there. Good analysis.
John Bolton is the grown up in the room and I trust his judgment. He is a skeptic when skepticism is called for and a hardliner when compromise hurts our interests. He’ll argue against a deal with N. Korea for ego rather than for verified denuclearization; for keeping the pressure on Iran until they stop their nefarious behavior; and for maintaining a US presence in Syria until their is an orderly transition.
With an impulsive POTUS, it’s important to have Bolton at the table.
3
@Pragmatist In CT
That's what everyone said about Mattis, McMaster, Kelly, etc.
I think the mere fact that people are saying Bolton is the adult in the room is a career limiting move. Start the Bolton countdown clock.
7
It's nice that Bolton told Netanyahu, what he wanted to hear.
And it's nice that Bolton claims that Erdogan is not going to slaughter the Kurds.
But it really doesn't matter what Bolton says.
Or Pompeo.
Or anyone else in the Trump government.
None of it is true.
Trump has already stated that we're leaving Syria immediately, and that Erdogan can do whatever he wants.
Bolton better remember, that he can be fired just as easily as he was hired.
He can be back to working for Fox television, before the six o'clock news.
9
Trump moves toward a stimulus much as an amoeba does and with pretty much the same amount of thought. So we get a quick sugar high of withdrawal followed by a bit of reality and then who knows what the final "decision"might be.
What a random and bizarre way to run the most powerful country in the world!
29
Are we watching an actual regency develop around our incompetent executive? These can actually work for extended period of time (see the madness of George III), so long as the regents prevent the executive behind the desk for the moment from breaking things that cannot be fixed. Our regents are going to need a vigilant nanny to keep a sharp eye on their boss.
12
It remains to be seen whether Trump will resent Bolton for contradicting him. Yesterday in response to Bolton’s announcement that withdrawal of US troops from Syria would not be immediate and with strings attached, he said he remained committed to withdrawal, but told reporters: “I never said we’re doing it that quickly.”
Yet he tweeted on Dec. 19 that US troops are “all coming back....now!” This triggered global confusion and panic, leading to the resignation of James Mattis and other high profile military advisers. However he later extended the withdrawal to four months.
At least when it comes to Syria, Trump won’t be able to do what he wants. Now he might shift his focus and target countries that Bolton views hawkishly, because he needs distraction desperately.
11
This bumbling President makes the Keystone Cops look good by comparison. The problem is that this silent film series was comedy fiction. Trump is real.
21
Mr.Trump is the Apprentice on his own reality show.The big problem- the American government is a serious enterprise governed by a Constitution.Americans are not governed by a pretender who floats ideas, ignores rules and punishes and bullies.Trump is more than Obstructing Justice , he is an ill informed , erratic, and out of touch chief executive who can do immense damage.Time to replace the CEO!
23
The Kurds can breathe a sigh of relief, now that they have Bolton on their side.
Speaking to Fox TV as the coup plot unfolded in Turkey on July 15, 2016, John Bolton said : “I have no charity in my heart for Erdogan, if he goes down I'm not shedding any tears. I do not believe he is a friend to the United States.”
It explains why he is so eager to keep Erdogan in check, especially when it comes to protecting the Kurds in northern Syria, who fear that Erdogan would wipe them out once the US troops withdraw from the region.
7
With confusing signals coming out of President Trump's earlier announced pull-out plan from Syria and now a prolonged military presence of the US troops until the decimation of the ISIS as revealed by the national security adviser, John. R. Bolton do not only point to a highly divided US foreign policy vision for the Middle East but also exposes the US national security vulnerabilities to threats posed by the Islamist militancy from the already turbulent West Asia. Isn't it amusing and strange that how the President proposes a pull-out plan only a week ago stands cancelled the next week by his national security adviser?
11
Sounds like Trump's petulant and impulsive tweets are just so much mouth-flap, or Bolton will be a here and gone. This administration becomes more ineffectual as everyday passes. In this case, I actually agree with Trump. How does our presence in Syria help? Who is Bolton to tell Turks what military action to take? I don't want the troops to be endangered, but shouldn't the president of the United States give their safety a second of consideration before he mouthed off?
4
Poor, sycophantic Lindsey Graham, slapping lipstick on a pig: “The president is slowing down and is re-evaluating his policies in light of those three objectives: Don’t let Iran get the oil fields, don’t let the Turks slaughter the Kurds, and don’t let ISIS come back.” Well, duh.
So far as not letting the Turkish army slaughter the Syrian Kurds, is concerned: the sole reason Erdogan wants a Turkish presence in Syria is precisely to slaughter Kurds in order to prevent what Ankara fears most: any possibility of a Kurdistan in part at Turkey's territorial expense.
So far as the Trump's other friends, the Russians, are concerned: their sole purpose in Syria was to prop up the murderous Assad regime and create a permanent and powerful Russian presence in the Middle East with all the mischief that portends. The Russians have never cared much about ISIS. Any Russian anti-ISIS activity was purely cosmetic: to make it possible for Russia to claim its presence has some kind of moral foundation. Ending the US and Kurdish role in northeastern Syria is an invitation to an ISIS revival.
Finally, accepting Russian hegemony in Syria means accepting a major role for Iran in Syria and Lebanon, while disregarding Israeli security concerns. Russia and Iran are close allies.
If we are to extricate ourselves from the Syrian maze, we are going to have to think and negotiate our way out. You don't just leave.
22
@Dr. O. Ralph Raymond
Why? A President (Obama) simply decided to enter the Syrian civil war so why can't another one decide to leave? Once in there's no escape?
2
Trump chose Bolton for his famous hawkishness, and because it appeared that Bolton would be the lapdog Trump wanted regarding foreign policy (not that Trump knows anything about it). One wonders now how long it will be, with Bolton reversing Trump's Syria withdrawal decision, before he too becomes the subject of Trump's petulant tweets and finds himself fired. The adage "bull in the china shop" was never more apt than in this administration.
10
@Shonun - Bolton probably passed the 'loyalty conversation' before he realised what was meant by that, having first thought 'how bad can it be?" Now he knows that Trump's policies come from immediately wanting crowd pleasers out on Twitter to keep his ratings up with his base.
Now a really skilled stratagist would have spotted that before!!.
Never thought Bolton would be the face of reason. How typical of Trump - his indigestion tells him to get out of Syria and he backpedals through Bolton. His tariff “deals” are weakening the global economy and his war of words over a wall are crippling our economy and forcing people into foreclosure. All this from a group of Wall Steet wolves and the bankruptcy king of the country. McConnell counts his 30 pieces of silver and allows Trump to run amok.
16
With Mattis gone, now Bolton is the only adult in the room? We’re running out of adults, here.
11
In other words, the Trump Administration has walked back its Syrian troop withdrawal announcement.
Nothing Trump says/tweets has any value beyond the immediate news of the particular day.
This is the definition of chaos.
581
@Ralph Averill
And the corollary is:
Nothing Trump says/tweets has any value beyond what helps him and his immediate family on any particular day.
16
@Ralph Averill Go back and see Putin's comment when Trump announced the withdrawal. He didn't think for a minute it would happen, because he knows who really runs the show in the US, and it's not the fool in the White House.
14
@stuart
You should be concerned about exactly who runs the US foreign policy.
Presidents campaign on bringing the troops home... but they never can.
There is a World to control, Money to be made, and Weapons to sell.
9
Oh good. There's still an adult in the house.
2
Looks like common sense and a thoughtful appraisal of our role in Syria has prevailed over Trump’s “guts” - thank heavens. His decision to pull out was so clearly disastrous and stupid on so many levels it was the last straw for Mattis. The mission in Syria is a textbook example of how best to use our military and evolved from the bitter mistakes we made in Iraq. Two thousand troops there provide essential forward air and artillery support to our valiant allies the Kurds who have been doing the real fighting there for years and taking all the casualties. Our troops have not had a single casualty in the past year. They prevent the stream of arms from Iran into Syria and also serve as a critical tripwire to prevent the Turks from invading Syria and killing the Kurds. They also prevent the brutal Assad regime from committing more atrocities in that area. We spend more on our military than the next 10 countries put together. If this is not a wise use of our military power to protect allies like the Kurds and Israel and check bad actors like Assad, Russia and Iran, then I don’t know what is. Guess we aren’t such “suckers” after all.
4
@Guy Wiggins why do most of the commentators over here spell it out so surely, as if they had ever seen Turks slaughtered Kurds in here? I believe one of previous US presidents, should be Wilson, in early 20th century, had promised Kurds an independent state ,to ensure Jews attain a grip to their so-called Promised Lands on the northern strip of Iraq and Syria. US president is trying hard to build a wall alongside of the Mexican borderline where there is no real threats to American existence other than people looking for better lives whereas Turkey has already been hosting almost 4 million displaced Syrian refugees at the expense of the welfare of its own people ,be it a Turk or be it a Kurd, and spent 35 bil USD to support them to date. I wish you could read a few history books before you say whatever comes true to your minds when sitting on the couches of your houses' comfort with your big bellies. To me, Americans are more than welcome to remain in Syria for as long as you want but gents spend some money than preach. :)
Who would have thought getting the troops home would be so difficult ...
8
Think about how you’d feel if you were stationed in Syria.
As a soldier, you’d have to realize the President of the United States has no clue what he’s doing, and he has no clue what he’s going to with those soldiers, those individuals. He has no clue about the reality of their lives or their futures.
He doesn’t seem to get that the United States, yes, does impact the world, and yes, the world impacts us, even if the part of the world he talks about is “6,000 miles away” - his words.
So sick of other people having to step in to do a president’s job because this insanity is allowed to hold our country hostage.
38
Trump, last December
So, our troops are leaving Syria.
The job is done. We’ve defeated ISIS
This is not our fight.
"It's not fair when we burden the — when the burden is all on us, the United States."
Oops - rewind it all. We’re staying in Syria.
Wall, Wall, Wall.
8
General Mattis resigned because of Trump's impulsiveness. He even forced him to leave 2 months earlier. Now Trump backs off. How cruel is Trump.
7
So now we know that Trump doesn’t just listen to Putin, Erdogan, Ann Coulter, and Rush Limbaugh. He may listen to one of his advisors sometimes—until he fires them or they quit.
5
I think a beautiful wall around the Kurdish territory to keep the Turks out is a fabulous idea. I've always said so. Dick Cheney stands ready to let the contracts. It will be completed in 60 days. Problem solved.
3
Well how about that ! There are some reasonable thinking adults calling the shots.
Bolton, I would have thought this action could take take place before Mattis resigned or was he fired,
1
I'm sure Bolton was more than happy to see Mattis leave. More power and influence for himself.
19
To think that Bolton now counts as the adult in the room is gob-smacking.
But this is and has been Trump's way of doing things; make some ill-considered comment on Twitter, sow confusion and chaos, then have someone try to walk it back and make it even somewhat coherent. We saw it with the travel ban, the Obamacare repeal, the current shutdown negotiations, as well as Syria/Afghanistan. This is precisely why he is such a laughingstock and our word means little. It will take us years to recover from the discord he has sown. And who benefits? Russia; think there might be some connection?
3
We are leaving Syria, but we are not leaving Syria -- is that the plan?
6
So the president has made an unequivocal announcement,
"... they're coming back now,"
and stood by that position for 24 hours - long enough to upset many allies and two cause the resignations of two really significant advisers. Then the administration has spent the next couple of weeks trying to row back from that position, with diplomatic trips that appear to be taken up with little more than mending relations with allies over this issue. In the end, nothing seems likely to change. This is a mammoth own goal for US on the international stage.
Also, in complete isolation from any other action, it shows that Trump lacks the temperament for the role of president. He seems to have listened to an idea from one very biased actor in the piece - Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey - and set that above the advice of everyone who should be on his own team. I don't think I can possibly reserve judgement any longer. This is not good enough.
321
and that is a good thing. during all this time everyone is too busy to do real harm.
You had been reserving judgment til now?!
4
@Londoner
Thank you for putting the issue in clear perspective. We wouldn’t allow a ship to be captained by someone without a pilot’s license, yet somehow we are allowing a complete novice without historic and diplomatic perspective to steer our ship of state.
Despite the daunting complexities involved in international diplomacy, far too many Americans have come to believe it may be accomplished via 280 character tweets, without the advice and consent of key members of the cabinet.
Our current president regularly engages in such folly, an absurd and extremely dangerous process, and we will be lucky to continue to promote an astute, productive foreign policy while it continues.
6
The damage done by Trump's publicly stated military plan is a demonstration of a combination of arrogance and ignorance masquerading as leadership. The concerns of Mattis and allies had no impact until Bolton showed up in Israel. But Trump might still expect his orders to remain in place - is Bolton being Trump's voice? The dangers of Trump's variable approach to reality are more than alarming.
25
And in the meantime the Trump base could not care less and the fundamentalist "Christians" are reveling in their "King Cyrus" theories that this is all Gods will. We are so deep in ignorance that there seems to be no good end in sight.
They say nothing unites like a common enemy. Until Trump becomes so outrageous that the Republicans in congress become more concerned with his behavior that with their own re-elections, we are doomed.
Until the shut down, the economic mismanagement, and the geo-political fiasco brings the Republicans around, the country is in deep trouble.
16
So Defense Secretary Mattis resigned because we were pulling out of Syria and now we are not. Knowing that Neocon John Bolton is handling this stuff with Netanyahu whispering in his ear makes me very nervous. The goal of both these men is American troops in Iran.
72
Trump told reporters that he had “never said we were doing it that quickly.”
Why, in the face of recorded evidence saying otherwise, does he dissemble like this?
Why, in the face of recorded evidence saying otherwise, do we not flat out challenge the lie?
What is wrong with us?
67
@SMKNC
It's not so much what's wrong with us but what's wrong with Trump is plenty. His lying is more than just that...it's gaslighting - "a tactic in which a person or entity, in order to gain more power, makes a victim question their reality. It works much better than you may think. Anyone is susceptible to gaslighting, and it is a common technique of abusers, dictators, narcissists, and cult leaders." It's important that we see him and his tactics for what they really are.
12
@SMKNC It looks like Bolton got to Trump after Erdogan. Trump probably doesn't even think of himself as lying, just that things are true because he said so.
9
I'm well aware of him and his tactics, but we're failing to demand accountability from Congress. If we don't, who will?
4
I never thought I'd see the day when John Bolton's would be the sweet voice of reason.
8
Does the left hand know what the right hand is doing?
8
How many more weeks does Bolton have in his job before he too gets fired?
6
It takes a couple of days for Trump’s rage to build and his stewing to reach a boiling point, after hours and hours of watching the sure-to-come news reports about who is in charge, so expect the tweets about John Bolton (“failed”, “loser”, “ugly mustache”) to appear around, say, Tuesday evening or early Wednesday morning. Then, expect a journalist to ask Trump if he’s going to fire Bolton. Trump will say no, he has no plans to fire the loser now, and two days later John Bolton will be gone. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
60
It's so unusual for the mad king to say something which he retracts minutes, hours or days after he said it. For most people the advice would be "think before you speak."
5
There is no way for the likes of our current president and his reduced staff to insure that Erdogan will treat a promise to him with more respect than promises from Trump’s other favorite dictators. In any event, the Kurds, who have been our most reliable allies in the area, now know that they now cannot trust the United States for continuing support. Bolton surely knows that this is nothing but a face-saving ruse to allow Trump to turn the entire area over to Putin.
5
For so many reasons I can't wait until Trump exits the White House. One reason is that right now we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg. Yes, there are a lot of leaks from those working on a daily basis only feet or yards away from the President. But the real stuff will eventually come out and we will be surprised to find out that it was far worse than we ever imagined. But one can bet on one thing that many of those who attend his rallies and decked out in their T-shirts and funny red hats and cheer for him will never accept that he wasn't great!
8
John Bolton represents the remain of the neoconservative movement, which brought the Iraq tragedy.
Now, there is a micro neocon movement to keep the US military in Syria, despising the so called international law rules the US government is supposed to apply and defend.
The strangest coincidence is that the neocon action is strongly supported by the liberals anti-Trump, who go so far to push for a permanent, military occupation of a Syrian territory just because this is another pretext to criticize the POTUS.
What is happening to the government of the uni-polar global power, who should save the world from the evil of rogue states?
5
So now Bolton is the acting adult in charge of U.S. Middle East policy? Not much, but it beats Erdogan and Trump.
But what's next? Is there room for hope?
Will Ann Coulter relent, and roll back on Trump's Wall of Hate, and let the government fully reopen?
OK. So much for hope.
4
I recall reading that in desperation, the Kurdish forces had reached out to Assad for reconciliation and protection, and that Assad had agreed. What happened to that now that the Trump administration has reversed itself?
5
We've know this is what Bolton wants. He is a Forever Wars guy to the bone.
The question is what Trump will do. Nobody else has ever controlled Trump. Better men than Bolton have tried.
Bolton's bureaucratic skills are legendary, but they are built on backstabbing and outright lies. Can Trump be controlled that way?
Trump is not an underling nor competitor, he the boss man, and cares about that status more than anything else. Trump is exactly the wrong fit for Bolton's usual style.
Furthermore, Bolton did not control Trump regarding North Korea, nor China, nor NATO. Bolton got some things, but there are many he did not.
As for lying and backstabbing as method, Erdogan is no easy mark for that either, and that is the one guy who seems to have had Trump's real ear on Syria.
In short, I don't believe Bolton. He's bluffing.
10
"Saying what you mean and meaning what you say," for this administration and particularly Trump is, "Say what you think sounds good, don't think before you say it, if caught in a lie or contradiction, say you didn't say that or blame the media for distorting what you said.
Our allies are confused, we are confused, most of all the administration itself is confused.
How many of us would be out the door if we did that with our bosses. So why do the Republicans put up with it. This alone is enough for the 25th amendment!
168
“I say what I mean” means “I mean what I say” is like saying “I see what I eat” means “I eat what I see”, as a Liddel girl’s friend reminded us.
Though I believe Mr. Trump would have a problem understanding the difference - tell him to go ask Alice, who understood and laughed at the logician’s joke a very young age.
5
@A P
Meanwhile, how much damage has been done to trust in the US and to its image !!!
7
""This is the reality setting in that you’ve got to plan this out.”"
Well, duh! Nothing like hindsight to jump into high gear. I'm amazed they got the president to fall in line on this, even though nothing is to stop him from reversing course again if Erdogan calls.
Speaking of which: creating role for Turkey, who's eager to wipe out the Kurds, is insanity. Asking Turkey to take over our strategic mission there is astounding, as they've already told Triump their desire to simplyvcrush the Kurds..
Is it any wonder the Pentagon and military planners are not on board with this?
Bolton or no Bolton, our role in Syria remains a mess.
99
@ChristineMcM They didn’t get the President to fall in line with it. Bolton is pulling the 21st century version of Alexander Haig’s “I’m in charge here” statement.
Syria left Trump’s mind a few minutes after he said it. Based on his comments over the past few years I wonder if his memory is shot as he seems to forget what he said previously, even if it occurred only minutes earlier.
10
@Paul I honestly don't know which is scarier--that we have a corrupt, intentional demagogue in the White House, or an undiagnosed Alzheimer's patient. He's only had one physical, that sham with Dr. Lonnie Jackson. It's beyond time for another, which I suspect the GOP isn't pressing for, as it's clear this man is not of sound mind and body.
10
As there have been no tweets from Mr. Trump contradicting or attacking Mr. Bolton, one might assume that Mr. Bolton's comments reflect reality.
As Mr. Trump had been roundly attacked for ordering the withdrawal (within 30 days), one might also assume that this then is the correct decision. The troops stay, the Kurds are happy and the troops continue to do what they were doing before.
23
Well now we know who is running the show, As if it was ever in doubt.
48
Trump says the U.S. is out of Syria. Natinyahu tells Bolton that he’ll squeal to the Evangelicals if the troops leave so Bolton attempts to squeeze Trump back into the toothpaste tube. Who’s running your country??
287
Geeze. Some people always find a way to blame Israel rather than an administration that
can’t get it’s act right.
6
@Lewis Sternberg
Besides the evangelicals, don't forget the talk radio with Anne Coulter, etc.
20
@Lewis Sternberg
I'm not sure the Evangelicals stand for anything except fear and hate. The immorality and lack basic human empathy that now defines them. It might be time to put Trump in the back of the short bus before he destroy the planet. Evangelicals holding The Rapture over our national interest is a horrifying prospect.
41
Well, I am confused. Who is president?
150
@NJLatelifemom Sadly, it seems that at this time, we have no real president.
9
@NJLatelifemom Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter. Didn't you know that? It's been true for at least 2 years.
9
Trump has a good idea---removing troops from Syria---but then he caves under the slightest pressure.
13
@Kevin Cahill And the idea was never his in the first place, it was that of Erdogan. Shiny objects, not analysis, guide this president time and time again! He must go!
6
@Kevin Cahill
Agreed. As he also did when conservative talk show hosts and the Tea Party remnants in Congress goaded him about The Wall.
2
@Kevin Cahill
He wouldn't have to cave if he would think it through in the first place. He could defend his position.
Withdrawing from Syria is only a good idea if it's a policy resulting from deliberation about desired consequences, and not just words that float out of the Great Orange Baby's mouth because he's reacting to something he just heard.
4
This news is surprising and totally absurd!
Trump says one thing and Bolton says another. As for those that are knowledgeable of the region's history since "Divide and Rule" colonial policies of post WW1, they are totally in line. More recently, Israel's intrusion as an aspiring Eretz Israel/Greater Israel aspirations, supported by USA Evangelicals, the "Divide and Rule" politics and conspiracies are again being awakened.
Syria, squeezed in-between contending ideologies and arms sellers to the regional countries, does not have much oil but it is at a pivotal point where this oil logistics converge.
The US needs to act as a leader should! Think twice, act once, but act RIGHT! However, as we witness in the press, if such news are factual, the USA is off on a tangent obliging to those clever statesman that do not have the best interests of the region's countries, to the USA, nor to World peace!
30
a genuine fifth column...the lot of them, bolton,the departing generals...subversives dedicated to the erosion of this president's authority, the office of president and then entire "we the people" form of democratic government.
in this particular case, the entire cheyney-bush (and complicit congress) war and the regional fallout, the lives its costs, the resources it consumes, will continue if bolton gets it his way...troops, our sons and daughters, btw, stuck in a foxhole without clear mission plans, including both conduct and disengagement.
8
@ecco it seems “wipe out remaining pockets of ISIS” is clear. I could work with the task of limiting Iranian influence and arms too. Going to say the mission is clear.
1
@Carsdaddyjr...granted, bolton's "clarification" (aka spin) is a clear statement, but it comes late in the game, a shout over the babble and, conveniently one that frames the "mission" in in terms that will keep the troops in syria, contrary to the president's assertive and informed, decision to get them out of the maze.
anyone who believes this lot needs to review the history of american deployment in syria...for starters.
The West is leaderless and the USA does not have a government, this in a world where saving our species from destruction by human caused climate change will require the most massive government mandated social change in human history.
181
Oh, we're fine.....people still think that biggest threat we have today is the ocean rising 2 inches in the next 50 years......it's not.
1
Trump wants out of Syria because he thinks this is what the American people want. Bringing troops home is usually a powerful act that flatters unpopular presidencies. Bolton wants to stay in country because he is a hawk out to flex American military muscle, exerting and expanding US imperium abroad. Similarly, I suspect the base is as divided as the administration.
Bolton may prevail today, but tomorrow he will be essentially fired.
138
@Marcus Brant U. S. leaving Syria is what Russia wants also.
13
@highway That certainly settles it. Whatever Russia wants, we're against, right?
If Putin declares the world is round, then we've gotta conclude it's flat. After all, Thomas Friedman told us so.
4
@edwardc Well considering the fact that the REASON Russia wants these things, is because Putin is trying to increase Russian power and prestige abroad at the expense of American power and prestige, then yes, if Russia wants it, we should probably be against it.
Vladimir Putin is trying to resurrect the USSR in all but name, and you're saying that we should what... appease him and hope that he doesn't start waging war on us and our allies? Appeasement has always worked really well in the past...
7
We are in Syria to defeat ISIS. No, wait... we are in Syria to overthrow the Assad regime. No, wait...we are in Syria to protect the Kurds from the Turks. No, wait...we are in Syria to diminish Russian influence. No, wait...we are in Syria to diminish Iranian influence. No, wait...we are in Syria to "reassure" Israel. No, wait........
Enough of the Washington DC establishment's frauds and scams propelling the Syrian misadventure. Admit it, Trump is right. We need to leave ASAP. Period.
48
This whole episode proves again that President Trump is unfit for office. He simply has no grasp of foreign policy and because of his narcistic egocentricism he has no sense of how allies who are affected by his "shooting from the hip" decisions might feel about his trustworthiness and reliability. This will certainly erode the soft power of the USA.
317
First, Trumps Syria troop withdrawal policy completely puts Israel at risk. Obama paid for Israels advanced anti missile defense system, and effectively shut down Irans nuclear program which would have been an existential threat to Israel’s existence. Despite this Bibi acts as if he should replace Pence on the ticket. Bolton who has no principles has allowed North Korea to keep adding to its nuclear arsenal and would have attacked these policies if it came from Obama or Clinton. He is the phoniest person in DC and has no principles. He acts like a tough guy only when Democrats are in power and only cares about his own power. He would never have the guts like Mathis to resign.
31
No matter what Mr. Bolton says. The damage is already done. The IS and other terrorist organizations already know that USA wants to run away and is creating havoc among its allies. And nobody in the whole world takes seriously what Trump and Bolton say.
117
We live in a world where John Bolton is a moderating influence !
He will have to do until Marge Simpson arrives.
375
So true - what a scary thought. Love the Marge Simpson reference!
13
Or Secretary of State Kid Rock.
Would anyone really be surprised?
2
When John Bolton appears to be the voice of reason, you know that the administration’s policies are fundamentally wrong.
465
@Ockham9
Seems that Bolton uses Neranyahu stamp of approval to minimize Trump reaction.
1
@Ockham9 Yes. And yet we all know what happens to voices of reason in Trump's administration. My bet is 6 months before he resigns/is forced out/ is "essentially fired".
2
The USA look like a plane with no pilot. This cannot end well.
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Olivier:
It hasn’t BEGUN well. But it still may END well after Mr. Mueller issues his report.
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The damage is already done: the USA look like an untrustworthy partner, while Putin, who saved El-Assad by sending in troops when all seemed lost, is seen as a reliable ally.
The Kurds, for fear of an attack from Turkey, have let in troops from El-Assad, and will now devote less manpower to the defeat of ISIS.
Well done, Cadet Bonespurs, well done.
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@SJP ISIS is a creation of our spooks and allies to get back into Iraq and stay in the neighborhood long term. google American embassy, Baghdad, Iraq. why built the world's largest embassy complex if we have no intention of staying?