Where is a joint letter from our former Presidents?
1
Donald is such a danger to world peace!
As we all know, he goes orange-faced offensive-crazy when he hears a vocalized disparaging remark directed towards him. I'm sure the fact that he doesn't care to read is a boon for his handlers.
My fear is that one day our commandant-in-chief, in a bond with Russia and North Korea, will order a nuclear strike against Europe, who wisely disdains him. We must impeach him NOW for world peace!
Unlike your correspondent, I saw little sign that Obama was opposed to endless foreign wars. And as for the doctrine he touts of thinking ahead about these matters, I saw no evidence of that in his predecessor’s foreign adventures. I am no fan of Mr Trump but I applaud his attempt to carry out his promise to the electorate. I’d like to see our glamour boy PM up here show the same consistency.
1
“Mr. Trump’s sudden abandonment of the Kurds was another example of the independent, parallel foreign policy he has run from the White House, which has largely abandoned the elaborate systems created since President Harry Truman’s day to think ahead about the potential costs and benefits of presidential decisions. That system is badly broken today. Mr. Trump is so suspicious of the professional staff — many drawn from the State Department and the C.I.A. — and so dismissive of the “deep state” foreign policy establishment, that he usually announces decisions first, and forces the staff to deal with them later.”
Trump’s distortions boggle the mind. His is the PERFECT blindspot. It is HUGE. He is dummy to his inner ventriloquist always watching and reacting to immediate stimuli. He is so utterly controlled by motivating energies he doesn’t recognize, he is a walking projection artist. One can only wonder when it started; did he refuse to tie his own shoes for fear of being strangled by his mother? Won’t go down that path.
The president of our country is so unconscious he morphs his profound ignorance of deeply complicated issues of state into a profound suspicion of the most informed experts, turning them in his mind into “deep state enemies.” Read deep in the mind. He asserts profound wisdom. He is the smartest man that has ever been born.
People like the author of this article are a more dangerous, imminent, and existential threat to our country than ISIS, Iran, Russia, China, and DPRK combined. They get a sick sort of satisfaction from the death of our young soldiers.
Bring them all home. Every single one. The US should not have overseas military bases. Full stop.
1
America is fed up controlling the Middle East to protect Israel. It’s time Israel defended itself. If they want war with Iran, have at it! You’re on your own. American young men lives are more important than Israel.
1
Trump did the right thing and everyone knows it. The US for too long has been the world's cop to what end? You can hate his style but still respect the result.
2
The first war Trump should get us out of is Yemen, the dirty little proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia. You know Saudi Arabia our twin towers friends. Then Iran could begin to control their army and work towards peace
2
Our leaving Syria is probably related to $$. Turkey threatened to cancel billions in Arm sales and go to Russia. Our Industrial Arms group has many lobbyists and lots of donor money. I am sure they pressured the orange menace to go along so they could have their deals. Trump, who does know a Kurd from a Taliban went along when he saw the donors would give lots more $$ to him.
The Times inadvertently boosts Trump by writing articles like this one that makes it seem there is a method to Trump's madness worthy of detail provided by its most experienced international reporter, David Sanger.
I realize that the Times is trying to be respectful of the Office of the President (if not the person in the job). But I believe it is high time to begin reporting that Trump is out of control and increasingly incoherent. When someone declares himself to possess "infinite wisdom," the narrative has shifted from excessive narcissism to something darker and more threatening: the most powerful figure on earth is completely falling apart.
1
I’m tired of the cheap cynicism of some of the Left, and the lazy hypocrisy of trumpists, and their shared total ignorance.
Get a map, stable geniuses. Find Syria. Find Israel, find the Bosporus, find the Suez Canal. Find the Syrian/Turkey border. Find the Gaza Strip, and color in the million plus poor people who’ve been stuffed there, then color in where Erdogan wants to stick another million or so. Oh, and put a big red dot where the Kurds have been holding around ten thousand captured ISIL fighters for us.
Then, color in our national honor. Where the Kurds have actually built something. Use the yellow crayon.
1
Yeah, trump will ignore those 55,000 photos of the people Assad tortured to death in his prisons.
Based on the Trump **military doctrine** which demands that nothing ever be done under any circumstances we might as well disband our army, navy, marine and all other forces as they'll never be used nor can they now be leveraged as a force since every foreign country knows they're just there for show.
1
Simply brilliant. He treats foreign policy as he does personal grudges. In other words "can you hear me now."
1) ISIS is Sunni and will go after Shiite Iran. Why not allow America's enemies weaken each other? Next: get out of Afghanistan and let India, China, Russia go at it in their own backyard.
2) 2500 of those prisoners are EU citizens, and could well show up with the next flood of refugees any further disturbance will send Europe's way. Trump feels slighted by Europe on many fronts. Again--can you hear me now.
3) But most important, it creates a real world crisis on many levels to suck all the oxygen out of the impeachment hearings. This is a bushel of hot potatoes that makes vintage front page copy. There's enough here to keep foreign policy wonks busy for years. If it unravels--well, we better keep the unraveler in place and hope he knows what he's doing, because no one else does. This is outside the box, and the Oval Office is no ordinary box. It's sheer madness, wishful thinking of what cannot possibly be possible. But no politician ever lost by ending an endless war.
"No one in the world knows what the President might do next" might be a fine way to run a real estate development firm, if quick decisions are necessary in order to make money quickly, and move on to the next deal. However it doesn't seem like it's working well as a method of running the most powerful nation on earth. Trust is important, and our current President is making it clear to all nations and peoples that our country is not to be trusted or relied on in any way, shape or form. Mr. Trump doesn't see this as a problem. His supporters need to ask themselves - "How would you feel about this person if you were the one being continually jerked around?" "If you did this to your friends, do you think you would have any friends?" "Do you think anyone, or any nation, can thrive if no one can trust them?" Yes everyone wants to lash out, or make a rash decision that will hurt others, once in a while. Sometimes it feels good at the time. But usually we resist the temptation, and when we don't, often we regret it, and suffer for it. Living vicariously through a bully is no way to live life.
We can’t be the policeman of the world,” Pres. Donald Trump, Oct. 8, 2019
David E. Sanger may well recall when The NY Times editorial board supported our military withdrawal from the Vietnam War much along the arguments of ones like Trump’s defense of his withdrawal of US troops from Syria.
As domestic opposition to the Vietnam War crossed party lines, there were daily calls on the op-ed and editorial page here that echoes Trump, like this one in support of our troop withdrawal:
“So the setting by the U.S. of a firm and early date for its withdrawal would not only serve overriding U.S. interests, but would also be the best way, probably the only way, by which we could properly facilitate a political settlement and constructively end the deadlock in Paris. In this way we might Vietnamize the peace rather than the war.” — “Getting them out,” Op-Ed, New York Times by Charles W. Yost, former U.S. Delegate to the United Nations, July 5, 1971 during the Nixon Administration
2
It's like I keep saying: Praise the Devil, even, when he decides to do something right for a change. In this case, the Devil is Donald Trump, though Gawd knows he's only taking this appropriate and long overdue step in an attempt to deflect attention from his criminal misbehavior. Because, guess what? Contrary to every bit of brainwashing we've all been relentlessly subjected to, US troops have no legitimate business in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Panama and all the other places they've attacked and occupied in recent decades. Read what the Constitution says about CONGRESS's power to declare war; it's not the president's prerogative! It's probably a completely hopeless dream that some day America's permanent war economy might finally end - but keep dreaming.
"Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the United States Constitution, sometimes referred to as the War Powers Clause, vests in the Congress the power to declare war, in the following wording:
[The Congress shall have Power...] To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water..."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Powers_Clause
2
No war is too small to stop.
No Forever deployment is too small to question.
They are not small, either, not in budget terms, not in terms of impact on foreign policy, and not to the guys who get killed and wounded or their families.
I doubt Trump's competence and good faith in these things.
However, I am absolutely certain of the bad faith of the war hawks who attack him for it. They want the wars. They want the deployments. They are Forever War neo-cons who deny it, but do it right in-our-face as if we are too stupid to see what they do.
Too many media figures see it perfectly well, and then play stupid.
4
Why should we overthrow Assad? How did removing Hussein and Khadafy work out for us?
Maybe, it is time for Moscow Mitch and his sidekick "Russian Ron" Johnson to contact their Kremlin handlers, otherwise they'll just rollover and play dead in a day or two, after pretending to care enough not to capitulate to their Daddy Don.
American liberals cheering on endless war is quite an astonishing sight.
And they rationalize their warmongering with the bizarre notion that Trump is somehow a Russian agent, while at the same time arguing he's just trying to make a buck for himself.
International law, like the fact that our presence in Syria is completely illegal, doesn't seem to bother them.
Under the phony pretext of caring for the Kurds, one of our many mercenary forces in the ME, they are attacking Trump from the right, aligning themselves yet again with the CIA and the military/security/surveillance/corporate/political complex.
None of that "care", of course, was at display when Obama extended W.'s 2 wars into 7, obliterating Libya and starting the genocide in Yemen amongst other things.
And, when everything else fails, they justify their warmongering by claiming it is the "process" of troop withdrawal that’s wrong here.
When it comes to war and the care and feeding of defense contractors, there is but one political party and that's the war party.
The Democratic Party voted unanimously to support Trump's $739 billion military budget, the trillion dollar "nuclear
train-wreck" initiated by Obama, and the additional billions for private detention centers. In fact, the Democratic Party has actively promoted regime change wars in Syria, Iran, and Venezuela.
Apparently, the relentless propaganda machine has also turned the entire electorate into warmongers.
4
The Ugly American is doing what administration after administration has done. First, we pulled out of Vietnam (probably did not belong there in the first place), then we pulled out of Afghanistan (remember "Charlie Wilson's War) and left two countries to flounder, Now we are doing the same thing. Wonder what the reaction will be next time we offer aid and support to an ally?
What is the point of invoking the 25th Amendment? If Trump is evil and corrupt then isn't his cabinet and VP Pence evil and corrupt too? Why would the cabinet and Pence turn on the person who gave them such cool jobs in the first place?
This decision in particular, only makes sense when you look at how his financial interest in Turkey could be affected. Erdogan has his number because he can cause Trump to gain or lose money on the Trump Towers in Istanbul. It is as plain as day.
Don't bother blaming it on Trump's supposed ignorance of foreign policy or misunderstanding of same. He is a salesman and will say and do anything to protect his business interests or those his business partners and those who hold the notes on his loans.
Trump's initial defense of this calamitous, impulsive, and secretive decision is all based on business and trade. The Kurds, our allies, his generals and even our own troops and anyone else in his way be damned.
3
While the Syria action by the President has wide ranging impacts and deserves the attention and condemnation it has received, it is not the point. This is a diversion from the impeachment crisis. Why would anyone act to get so widely condemned? That is exactly the point. The condemnation drives the whistleblower and impeachment story off the front page and diverts our attention. It undercuts the momentum of the impeachment depriving it of its lead news story status. Ironically, the potential dire consequences of the President's action may also have the effect of making the Ukraine story seem less consequential, less compelling as an example of wrongdoing. We have the classic, “Wag the Dog,” strategy that reveals how far this President will go to use his power to shape the actions of the U.S. government to protect himself and his interests. That is the real significance of the Syria decision.
1
Was I the only one to think that the "great and unmatched wisdom" tweet was a spoof on late-night tv, not something that any president, not even Donald Trump, could have said? But he's serious!
As one of those comedians pointed out, Mr. Trump is right: his wisdom is unmatched.
A quote from FDR in 1940 pretty much encapsulates what has transpired in Syria by Trump..."The hand that has held the dagger has stabbed into the back of its neighbor..." who was speaking of Italy declaring war on France.
In this case, Trump has stabbed our brave Kurdish allies in the back with no warning and giving Turkey (apparently) free license to do the Kurd's whatever they want. This from a man who has no moral compass, Donald Trump. I say a pox on Trump and all those who continue to follow this morally and ethically bankrupt man whom only thinks of himself, first last and always.
1
Trump tweeted that he, “would love to send Ambassador Sondland, a really good man and great American, to testify, but unfortunately he would be testifying before a totally compromised kangaroo court, where Republican’s [sic] rights have been taken away, and true facts are not allowed out for the public to see.”
That’s not the same thing as invoking executive privilege, lacking any contention of privileged consultative activity by Sondland. It is undoubtedly obstruction. Is there any way to get expedited judicial review, as occurred during the Nixon impeachment hearings?
1
The Wall Street Journal does a much better job in today's edition at laying out the geography and the chess match being played out here in real time between a wide array of bad actors.
Context is King, and unless or until you delve into the strategies and tactics, it's best to not prejudge any decision by Trump or his Administration.
This may take some time to sort out, and it serves NO U.S. Security interests to stay in the middle of a battlefield between a bunch of different parties hellbent on killing each other.
Would you want your son or daughter in that theater, just because Obama put them there?
2
Endangering the lives of allies whom we have armed is not a strategy. It's a travesty. A "leader" would be trying to broker peace between the Turks and the Kurds, not agreeing for one to exterminate the other, especially not because the would-be exterminators can pay cash for weapons.
This transactional president goes too far.
While I agree with complete troop pull-out in the middle east, let's not pretend Trump has any effective strategy for doing so other than to open Trump Towers in Istanbul.
2
Having a U.S. "presence" in the Middle East is what motivated the 9/11 bombers.
I dislike Trump but agree with pulling out. Maybe these endless wars sell papers. As I recall the NYT beat the war drum loudly in 2003 when it couldn't even discern what most people knew, that there were no WMDs in Iraq.
The American people are tired of these conflicts that go back to Bush I, probably Eisenhower.
4
Thinking about the recent picture of Putin whispering in Trump's ear, I find myself wondering if this U.S. troop pullback from Syria was what that little secretive message was all about. I just can't imagine something this traitorous to our allies coming from any segment of our government, let alone this president who is supposedly representing our country's best interests.
This apparently happened after a call between Trump and Turkey’s President. Were any “favors” exchanged on that call? All conversations between Trump and other world leaders are now suspect.
1
How I hope that some very high ranking military leader has told his subordinates to ignore any command from trump to launch a nuclear attack.
When Nixon was losing it, drinking and wandering the White House in the middle of the night, exactly that was done, ignore any launch order.
3
“Great and unmatched wisdom” is the scariest part.
3
This will sound incredible, but please consider repeatedly defining the meaning of “troops” to the American public. Many many people understand that word to always mean groups of about 250 soldiers. However (via NPR) “Of course, a troop can also refer to a group of soldiers, boy or girl scouts, or a squadron. However, there is also that quirky little conventionalization, where one refers to a thousand troops when one means a thousand soldiers.” Mar 27, 2007
Good illustration of why President Obama decided not to send an army into Syria. Once boots are on the ground, it's the very devil getting them out again.
1
Our procedure concerning military actions (in or out) definitely need an amendment to protect us from the actions of incompetents like the president.
Must have consultation with the Military , State Dep't., etc.
No midnight tweets by one unknowledgeable individual as foreign policy!!!!
You write as if this is what Trump wants instead of the reality which is this is what Putin wants. If you ever wondered what a Manchurian candidate would really look like you need to realize that you're looking at him right now.
1
The print edition of today'a Times has this article by David Sanger in a longer version. There you quote Lindsey Graham, who in the past has never shown himself as being averse to lie for Trump or to tell his own in defense of his master, saying the following: The assertion that ISIS has been defeated is "the biggest lie being told by the administration". Surprise! Graham begins to see some light in the political world darkened by Trump.
But in the realm of telling lies, it is useless to try and measure which of Trump's unlimited flow of lies is biggest. His lies clothe him like the "clothes" which garbed the Emperor and without these lies he would stand naked, without any defense for his manifold malfeasance. All his lies are big.
Gosh, if only there had been some previous indications that Dotard is too dumb to take advice and too incompetent to actually carry out a well planned withdrawal.
Maybe the first casino bankruptcy might have been a sign? Maybe the fourth? Maybe the Trump University fraud might have established that the man is simply a con artist? If only we had seen this coming...
3
It seems that nobody wants to discuss that (a) placing an army in a foreign country without its permission is an act of war; (b) that action above needs a congressional act and (c) AUMF clearly restricts action parties responsible for “attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001”.
America has a typed “viewable on the web” constitution.
1
It's odd that "endless wars" and "get out" are in quotes. Isn't that what the left clamored for, for years under the past 2 presidents?
I lived next door to a major US Marine base for many years after 9-11. I watched the planes coming in, and the funeral procesions, week after week and year after year, bringing home our predominantly young men and women to be buried for our endless wars in countries that hate us and that have made zero effort to create their own peace and prosperity.
Yes, I care deeply and it breaks my heart to see the regular people of the Middle East suffer so much, for so long, and I'm not blind to our nation's part in this suffering. But their perpetual, endless fighting is not worth one more American life, I'm sorry. I fully support the president's desire for us to be OUT, period.
And I am far, far, far from alone in our country in this heartfelt belief.
24
@Kouzelna. One must take the long view to see the potential, if not likely, consequences of an overnight abandonment of the Kurds. In the long run, more Americans, more Europeans and, needless to say, more long suffering innocents in the Middle East will likely die, as a result of Trump’s action, which plays to the favor of Russia, Assad and ISIS. The immediate consequence is that the United States’ word isn’t worth the paper it’s written on. “America First” is truly “America Alone and Untrusted.”
9
@J. I certainly don't disagree with you here, at all. But I've been hearing the same thing, verbatim, for 50 years. At some point you have to say "enough is enough" and allow the world to sort out it's own problems, without putting thousands upon thousands of our young people through someone else's meat grinder, and dumping money our country's infrastructure and poor need down a sewer. Because in the end, that IS what we are doing, regardless of the reason.
The whole point, is that these issues never have an ending. I for one want us to stop, stop our kids dying, stop interfering, and stop wasting money that we need (desperately, am I right?) here in the US.
9
@Kouzelna I thought this article stressed that stationing troops on the border of Syria, alongside the Kurds, was relatively low cost and low risk for our troops, and far outweighed the benefits of pulling them out, forsaking our allies (the Kurds), and effectively handing the region over to other hostile powers operating in that region. So I don't understand why you make such a dramatic point about "kids dying" when the article stresses that wasn't quite the case here.
5
Many politicians, not just the Biden’s, make money on wars. Time to stop.
26
@Morgan01944: Time to stop the lies about the Bidens.
7
@Morgan01944
2016 =From Little Misery to Big Misery.
"honed over 75 years of global leadership"
Rest assured that the rest of the world is in two minds about that, or is using a very different characterization, not as flattering, as you may assume.
While I am definitely in two minds about this specific situation since I have zero sympathy and confidence in Sultan Erdogan, I in principle do support ending the endless and often pointless presence of US military all over the world. Serves no particular purpose, is often unwanted or at best tolerated, and costs arm and leg. Better spend it more wisely, opportunities on our own soil abound.
6
With "go in" our largely failed national strategy since the 1950's, it's time we "get out," even if it's at Trump's urging.
We urgently need to address our own social problems that we have ignored in favor of costly forever wars that we treat like infinite Sunday football games.
Who fought our gravely consequential civil war for us, when the stakes for humanity were so very high?
6
Just think of what we could do with even 1/4 of the military budget. People like this author are responsible for a lot of death and a lot of problems.
2
"No American troop presence abroad is too small to escape his desire to terminate it." Good for him. Why isn't this the goal of every American? We have no business in Syria, or any other Middle Eastern nation. Bring 'em all home.
10
I have no problem with Trump pulling out of Syria. Same with Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, ISREAL, and the rest. Our sons and daughters should not be dying defending someone's religion, status , way of life, oil or anything else. We have enough problems with everybody (it seems) absolutely hating us because of our foreign policy. I guess they don't need our money then, either.
10
I'm going to disagree with all the commenters big time.
I want Trump out of office as much as anybody but the US has to stop engaging in boutique wars, endless wars, and the pursuit of conflict. This is all done for the benefit of the military-industrial complex, which includes contractors, and yes, officers, who are like firemen with no fires to fight if they don't have their pick of foreign engagements.
Let's realize a few things:
1. No nation state is going to attack us.
2. Non-state terrorists will probably always be with us.
3. Our engagements in foreign countries do not produce a safer world. Drone attacks, for example, only cause deep resentment and a desire for revenge.
4. The moral side of each conflict is always gray, never black vs. white. For example, ISIS is a product of GWB and his invasion of Iraq. They resent us and the Shia. The Kurds don't like Sunni ISIS but they don't like Sunni Turkey either. Why are we supposed to stay involved in this centuries-long conflict?
5. We have to put our collective energy in saving the planet. We have to get off fossil fuels and stop the ecological destruction. The collective energy focusing on these useless conflicts only drains our energy from accomplishing what we need to accomplish. And no, we can't do both at the same time. This is not a time for multi-tasking.
6
"1. No nation state is going to attack us."
And now, with that assurance, we can all just settle back and enjoy Father Knows Best. (or Sirlar, whichever sitcom you prefer.)
Sadly, I remember people in Congress saying that about Japan right up to the minute she attacked us at Pearl Harbor !!
Thanks. It’s important to be reminded that “leftists,” can be every bit as ignorant and thoughtless as Trumpists. By the way, isolationism is isolationism, and we can’t clean up the planet alone.
1
@Robert I missed the part about "leftists"in this story. Fill us in, please.
Turkey hosts 4 million Syrian refugees, and we have had enough. All Erdoğan wans is to send them back to Syria, but how? first thig to do is to create a safe-zone. That is exactly what he is doing now. This has nothing to do with the Kurds.
5
Thank god, end the endless war. Stop the scare tactics from the military. A trillion dollars per year and they can't even keep up with the Russian and Chinese.
6
Trump has no National Security stragedy. Putin, Netanyahu, the infamous Saudi Prince and Erdogon define and have collaborated in their own best interests at great costs to America's relationships with Western Allies. All calls need to be retrieved inI order to restore the damage they have committed for their personal gain.
2
Of course, not a word about Obama's hasty retreat from Iraq, which precipitated the ISIS crisis and is the original cause of the US involvement in Syria.
1
@Mike And nothing about General Grant at Gettysburg either.
If the Headline, "When ‘Get Out’ Is a President’s National Security Strategy," were instead, "When Is ‘Get Out’ a President’s National Security Strategy?" …. Wait: 'Make that' -- if it were not just a headline but a question posed for all the citizenry and residents of our nation to consider ... I would be jumping up and down, shouting, "I know, I know" … and, if 'called upon,' I would tell this truth to all who would listen:
"When the evil twin of Peter Sellers's character in 'Being There' is 'your' POTUS -- having gotten there as 'pointedly' (with malice for all and charity for himself) as "Chance the gardener" 'made his place' accidentally (with malice toward none and whatever charity a child might offer)."
1
@Thomas Murray You lost me in Paragraph One. Paragraph Two did remind me of a great film, but I didn't get the connection.
@kenneth
'Put aside' trump's evil machinations and 'associated deviltry,' and you have a Potus-head as empty as was Chance-the-Gardener's.
Hey,
Iran helped us on Afghanistan after 9/11, and look what we’ve done to them.
Why should the Kurds be any different?
Their fighters do look quite fetching in the regalia NYT pictorials often show us.
Still, thousands have been killed in Kurdish terrorist attacks in Turkey. Likely having 60,000 Kurdish fighters by its borders is not particularly appealing to Turkey.
You know what, maybe the Kurds aren’t any different in our policy decisions (or whatever one calls Trump’s latest tweets).
Maybe the only thing “different” is how we treat Iran. Interesting. Maybe a Saudi crown prince can help guide us? Wait, is that chainsaws I hear in the background? Nah, just screams.
3
Trump is the president of everyone who doesn't care about anything except their own bankrupt, depopulated counties and who can't survive in even a small city because they're afraid of anyone who isn't White. Living alone on the Lone Prairie is not conducive to liking other people.
2
@Jamie Lynne Keenan And now back to this story about "national security strategy."
Judging from the pictures of a desolate wasteland as a result of Assad that is now Syria, what much is there to “get out” from? Being there makes about as much sense as this latest Democratic impeachment delusion.
1
@John Doe Huh? Democrats want to impeach because of a Syrian wasteland?
This pending "annihilation" of our great allies, the Kurds, is all on the Republican Senators who created fed and encouraged this hideous monster called Trump.
3
Trump is being played like a sucker by Putin. The Kurds will fall right into Putin's and Assad's protective embrace to avoid being wiped out. Assad might even grant them some sort of semi-independent self-administered territory. The result of this will be the obliteration of the West's influence in this critical part of the world. Putin will expand and consolidate his international reach. Erdogan will rule uncontested.
Well done Trump.
3
@Andy
Your analysis is correct with one correction. This is what Putin told Toxic Trump to do.
I wonder whether the Kurds took up arms to help us eradicate ISIS because they had an understanding -- a quid pro quo, if you will -- that the U.S. promised to help them secure if not nationhood, then at a minimum a protected area in northern Syria that could be policed by, say U.N. peacekeepers or US military police.
Such an offer could have come from Obama, and even from Trump. Or perhaps not, and the Kurds mistakenly thought that their sacrifice of some 11,000 fighters would earn them a modicum of respect. How foolish, in retrospect.
Yes, we want to withdraw our troops. Who doesn't, ultimately? But can it be done in this corner of the world by abandoning the one political and military force that played the lead role in defeating ISIS? Is our relationship with foreigners one way only: do our bidding, period?
It's clear that Trump hasn't bothered to contemplate these issues, but what about Pompeo, or whoever is the acting Secretary of Defense these days, or his national security council advisors? If, as it appears, Trump decides everything on the spur-of-the-moment and with little regard for the consequences, is that not an obvious sign of a man abusing his authority? Do we prefer to abandon all of our allies, or so confound them that they are reluctant to deal with the U.S. government in good faith?
It's a discussion we ought to be having, but we're not.
23
It is ironic that if this was proposed by a Democratic president they would be supported as "all knowing."
I'm not sure if this is Trump or someone else is calling in the plays so to speak from the sideline.
But it is quote ironic that those who could not wait for us to get out of the middle east because we did not belong there, are up in arms about this withdrawal.
also ironic to those who say that the United States is a pawn for Israel, when supposedly this benefits Iran.
Although his tweets are overboard, some of the questions he has been asking about our relationships with allies and foreign policy issues, things that have been triggering for those who care so much about how the world views us like it's a high school popularity contest, are actually questions that should have been asked all along.
Not that we destroy the relationships, but all relationships need to be re-negotiated at some point. He just has a non-diplomatic way of going about it.
I liked Obama as a person, but the world loving him and supposedly the United States by extension, did nothing for us in the International arena.
3
trump is finding out that this foreign policy stuff is complicated, even with his great and unmatched wisdom.
4
@maturin25 No. He's still convinced it's all very simple...if only everybody else in Washington would just get out of his way and let him reign supreme.
Thank you David for the news that Obama had "promised" to bomb Syria if Assad used chemical weapons. I had thought he had said that the use of chemical weapons would cross a red line that would change his calculus. Now we know. And of course I understood that a feckless Congress when asked for support for bombing Syria had failed to concur with such a course of action. So nice to have history corrected. I do agree with the thrust of your commentary, of course, and appreciate the history lessons as well. Stan Betzer
2
Are we aware that we still maintain very expensive and very large military presence in the UK, Germany and South Korea...to name a few?
I wouldn't want to dismiss the loss of lives in fighting zones as a reason for caution. But is this president so really incapable of any kind of reasonable perspective?
No.
1
Defeat of ISIS in Levant is a result of many forces and not just the Kurds in Syria. When ISIS came roaring from Syria to Iraq through Mosul, it became an existential threat for the Iraqis and the Shia Muslims in general. This resulted into the Sistani fatwa for the Iraqis to rise up and defend the homeland- this resulted in the eventual formation of the PMU. These were forbidden to go to Syria to fight against anyone.
The Iraqi Kurds moved south and took Tikrit and other oil producing regions, they did stop prior to entering Mosul. Mosul was liberated by the US advisors, Iraqi troops, Iranian backed/trained PMUs etc. Iraq has been a lot more complicated area to be liberated and it is still a work in process as is Syria.
Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon came to help defend Zainabia (a suburb of Damascus) where Shrine of Prophet's Grand Daughter is located and is a revered site for Shia Muslims.
ISIS was pushed back by the Iranian supported PMU, US advised/trained Iraqi forces, Hezbollah advised forces in and around Damascus
We are stretched all over the world and we interfere in every country's internal affairs. We have organized our Department of State such that we do have CIA, Security Department, and other counter insurgency as our diplomat fighting our wars in almost every country where we have Consular presence. Now our so called Diplomats are fighting wars for us?
In re-organizing the State Department into a fighting force do we need any Congressional input?
2
There are two major entities who will benefit from US withdrawal from Syria; Iran and, most notably, Russia.
At this point there can be no doubt that the President of the United States is a Russian asset. He may (or may not be) too stupid to know it, but the fact remains.
The other sad fact that remains is that his supporters despise the liberal segment of their own country far more than they worry about our being played by Putin.
Our only hope is that one of Trump's boogeymen, "The Deep State", does indeed exist as his implacable foe and can somehow extricate us from this nightmare.
3
These Kurds are the principal troublemakers of the world. Regarding service to America, they were hired hands - mercenaries. Mercenaries do not have LOYALTY to the group they happen to be serving at any one time. For example, if China gave them a good offer, i.e. supplied them with MONEY and MATERIEL, they would be just as grateful/ungrateful to them.
America is a merchantile nation. An America President once said, something to the effect, 'the business of America is business'; NO LOYALTIES, NO FRIENDSHIPS.
Thump's behaviour is also mercantilist. This is the reason he is trying to break agreements PACTS/AGREEMENTS with other nations because the pacts/agreements of 4 years ago are deemed not so good by the new ADMINISTRATION.
1
As a former Ranger who spent too much time as is over there, this is THE reason Trump is going to get another vote from me. It’s also the reason why I donated to and volunteered for Obama in his primary against Clinton, and why I enthusiastically voted for Obama over McCain and Romney.
Invade the world, invite the world is unsustainable, unreasonable, and just plain unsound. Trump gets this, and this is why most of us in the Ranger community get him and will continue to support him with our votes.
4
@Ben
Interesting. Our democracy, our election process, our Constitution are all being burned to the ground by trump and his ilk. The deficit is imploding, the tariffs are killing off our farmers, and health insurance for millions is being threatened by this administration. His deregulations in the environmental areas are threatening our clean air and water. And his deregulations in the financial area are creating threats to our economic stability.
Trump attacks our free press and our intelligence people. He is in love (his word) with a brutal dictator in North Korea, and he is implementing policies to assist Vladimir Putin in every way possible.
Umm, tell me again what you support about this corrupt sociopath in the Oval Office.
2
It has been stated that there are about 800 military installations in the world, at that rate, most must be in quiet peaceful places, so I ask; Why would you remove troops from where they are needed? Trump is scary. He made tacit approval of the Khashoggi killing by his support of the Prince and Saudi Arabia, and now wants to free thousands of ISIS to repopulate.
2
Trump thinks isolationism is the answer. Problem is he doesnt have a clue about world history. Our nation is broke thanks to his tax breaks for corporate America and his horrific waste of money on pet projects (if you can call that immigration debacle a pet project). Pretending that we are spending too much on our allies is a joke on middle class Americans who have no health/dental care, meager food stamps now, lousy wages, astronomical food prices and stripping our military forces of their benefits. The Dems are falling down here. Go to middle America and point these things out.
3
So, how long should we stay in these places?
1
Until the 5th of Always. I work jn the Defense Industry, but it wouldn't bother me one little bit if we pulled out of everywhere. We don't need to be involved.
Near oil rich Saudi Arabia, there must be oil and gas in Syria. Is this how international trade works?
2
“to exercise American leadership”
Brief. Easy to say. To mantrafy.
And the reality is that McConnell,
the source of this “caveat,” and
President Trump, it’s focus and target,
and many other known and
hidden minions, are
models of its meaning!
BEing personally unaccountable for the
implications and consequences of
their harmful thought-out, as well as
thoughtless words and deeds.
When the led and the leaders,
elected, selected, and self-selected, at
ALL levels, everywhere, choose to
BEcome complacent or complicit
in mistrust,
disrespect,
i-civility,
decompassion,
dehumanization,
exclusion,
discrimination,
marginalization, and
goulashing facts, fictions and
fantasied “alt-facts,”
CAVEATs don’t care!
Mr. Trump is incapable of building any meaningful foreign policy or relationships with world leaders other than despots.
All he can do is pull-out of agreements and destroy relationships vital to our national security. The man doesn’t comprehend friendship - everything in his tawdry, gold-plated life is transactional.
Perhaps Erdogan offered something in return? Possible something to do with Trump Towers in Instanbul?
3
Why no discussion of Russia? ALL of these American pull-outs are what Putin desires.
2
This “very stable genius” has demonstrated time and again both his breathtaking incompetence and his seemingly innate penchant for corruption. All this despite his “great and unmatched wisdom”.
At his next press conference I hope someone asks him what he thinks about fluoridation of water and its effects on our precious bodily fluids.
2
Mr Trump, time and again, has demonstrated how breathtakingly ill suited, incompetent and corrupt he is as our President. All this despite the genius of his unmatched wisdom.
Someone should ask him what he thinks about fluoridation of drinking water and how it affects our precious bodily fluids.
1
Wishful thinking by establishment warmongers aside, the president's move is hardly surprising. After decades of wasting American blood and treasure what has been accomplished? The middle east is a cesspool. If other countries want to wallow in its stench so be it. The only thing that will change is the address the dead will be sent for burial.
4
"the elaborate systems created since President Harry Truman’s day to think ahead about the potential costs and benefits of presidential decisions. That system is badly broken today. "
No. I detest Trump, but Sanger is wrong here. That system was badly broken long before Trump came along. It was irreparably broken when "experts" like Sanger and the NY Times cheered us into the catastrophic Iraq War, and overextended our gigantic military all over the world. The fact that you still fail to see this is what made Trump possible.
6
David Sanger has, over time, demonstrated that he is one of the Times' top journalists. However, I would expect that by now he would realize Trump does not have any strategies, let alone policies, other than what, at any given moment, he believes will enhance his "brand." When it comes to trying to discern his foreign policy, there simply is no there there.
2
It’s unbelievable that we have to endure this madness.
What is the point of the 25th amendment if not to protect us from this?
3
What do we need the worlds largest best trained, best equipped military ii the world for.All the money we spend, $718 BILLION, and for what, to protect our southern border? It is in our interest to have the Kurds fight and die fighting ISIS (so American men and women don't have to) The Kurds are our only true ally in the Middle East and here we are, throwing them under the bus.
4
The argument against withdrawal from the Middle East is much like the argument against withdrawal from Vietnam. It’s a shame that strategic blunders end so often in betrayal and acrimony, but that’s why sensible people don’t make promises that can’t be kept.
4
What is the strategic security concern which requires American military presence in Northern Syria? Forget about entangling psuedo-alliances with a non-state ethnic group-the Kurds. We sometimes share common enemies, nothing more. If the worry is about a reconstituted ISIS, then Assad, Russia and Iran all want to eliminate that threat for their own reasons, let them do it. This is not a fight that the U.S. needs to have. Moreover, if the concern stems from terror attacks that ISIS or Al-Qaeda might launch against American interests, then we should be talking about the swath of Saharan territory in North Africa which is home to AQIM and ISIS, not Syria.
4
Of course he’s suspicious of the security apparatus. They leak his calls and conversations and generally betray his trust.
He campaigned on getting out of endless wars. That’s part of his mandate. He’s delivering on a campaign promise.
The American people are weary of the bloodshed and expense that come with being the world’s enforcer.
7
The man betrays himself, and worse, he betrays the U.S., over and over again. He doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut, and worse, makes ill considered deals with whomever has spoken to him last. Weirdly, most of his deals aid Putin.
1
They are not betraying his trust, they are defending the constitution of these United States of America. The foundational principles that define us as a different kind of government demands that patriots question their leaders are the bedrock upon the which the Revolution against the King of England. By the way, tariffs are a form of taxation without representation.
1
"I, in my great and unmatched wisdom,..."
If Trump thinks that he possesses so much, "...great and unmatched wisdom...", as to not listen to the counsel or advice of his advisers, the US is in real deep trouble ...
3
I don't usually agree with Trump on anything, but I agree the USA should stop being the world police and should stop interfering in other countries internal affairs. Hillary Clinton and the Bushes set on fire the middle east. I am not sure what we accomplished other than death, destruction and tremendous waste of economic resources that would have been better used here at home. This is especially true of Libya, Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. The belief that the US needs to impose its values on other nations is just that, a belief and a deception. If you believe see how we supported the Taliban and gave a hoot about the abuses committed against women in Afghanistan when the USA helped put them in power.
The reality is that we have oil interests. Instead of supporting this type of energy consumption by starting armed conflicts, we need to develop reliable renewable resources and perhaps as painful as it is, abandon cars in favor of mass transportation and reduce consumption to protect the planet.
That's where Trump falls extremely short. Drilling in Alaska is not the solution, but neither is the killing of people in the middle east and other countries to keep USA's economic interests. Discuss the Kurd and democracy all you want, but the truth is that we don't care about those things. We are involved in those countries due to oil and other economic interests. Plus who knows Russians want the USA out of those areas, and Trump might have to listen to Vladimir due to favors owed.
2
@Hoping For Better
Good comment! Hopefully the representatives of other countries can facilitate an end to this quagmire or at least free up some more of the country. A new constitution and election is hopefully on the horizon.
1
Yet another gift to Putin. Turkey is a Russian ally and the possibility of a Kurdish genocide is real. The Kurd's fight against Isis has been tenacious. Other Arab countries have not been outraged by the slaughter of innocent people and enslavement of women. Trump didn't have the courtesy to stand or listen to a young woman, an activist,who was pleaing for help. Barr's quest to discredit the National Security Agencies proof Russian interference existed in the 2016 election has been secretive and involved numerous countries. Trump engaging the President of the Ukraine to prove there was a Democratic party sabotage related to an imaginery server and withholding weapons to fight Russian takeover of their country was yet another outright gift to Putin. The infamous Trump performance in Helsinki with Putin by his side will remain a mystery that contributed to the progressive destruction of our democracy and any respect and credibility we hold toward inert elected officials. No president has exhibited loyalty to another nation and dismissed America in our history.
....
1
Don’t think for a minute that Trump dose anything out of love of his country or people- his pledge to Americans about getting out of “Endless wars” has nothing to do with patriotism or nationalism. He uses these themes for ulterior motives, in this case, to please Russia
His security concerns do not match mine. He is the security threat to the entire country. I trust those who have served in the CIA and Defense Department for years rather than this President who has been in office 32 months. He doesn't read, doesn't listen to experts since he is such an expert himself and I am suppose to believe that he is going to protect the United States. "Give me a break!' The damage to foreign affairs that he is doing will take decades to repair. He can't leave office soon enough for me.
1
I looked at comments and have been watching the news, haven't seen/heard anyone say the obvious: this is a pattern of distraction. Something is happening that the "great and powerful oz" doesn't want people to focus on so he creates a distraction..."look over here not behind the curtain". Since he is a sociopath he has no ability to examine the potential outcomes of his actions. Are advisors not able to intervene at all? Isn't Syria/ISIS serious enough for them to finally step up and into the spotlight to say he's mentally unstable and 23rd needs to be enacted.... They/we can't stand by any longer. Time to go full Hong Kong/ France- their level of protest is fabulous; rather embarrassing that we can't pull it off ourselves.
He's doing the right thing. Get out. And Afghanistan, too.
2
There seems to be a direct link between his Syria actions and his immigrations plans (I hesitate to call them policies). He is an isolationist in the extreme. He has no concern for anything going on in the rest of the world and believes he can keep the country safe by keeping out all immigrants. He seeks to disengage us from the rest of the world and isolate us with walls, moats, and not letting people into the country. A medieval view at best.
I'm sure when Erdogan and Turkish forces invade northern Syria and effectively wipe out the Kurds, Trump will blame, Obama, the Democrats, "The Squad", and CNN.
The bottom line: Never be an ally to a United States with Trump as President. It may be the last thing you ever do.
2
Does the so-called president have a strategy or policy on anything? I haven't seen one.
1
If ‘get out’ is Trump’s national security strategy, why am I sitting here worrying about Trump’s threats to other countries that the US is ‘locked and loaded’ (or Trump’s distorted version of the saying) or his games of ‘my military power is bigger than your military power and we can obliterate you in a minute’ or his musing about ‘Why have nuclear weapons if you don’t use them’? Trump’s insistence that he wants the US out of military conflicts with others is about as ridiculous as Melania’s (imaginary) anti-cyber bullying campaign while married to and supporting a prolific cyber bully.
1
I'm generally a strong backer of any middle east policy that removes American presence from the region. I hold the position that the US would have been better off without getting integrated in the middle east in the first place. Yet this move by Trump is incredibly wreckless. What I feel is getting lost in the whole conversation is Turkey's brutal stance toward the Kurds which at its core is racist and nationalist. Their policy toward the Kurds for the past few decades has been one of ethnic cleansing in its SE region. Instead of paying lip-service to a respect for allies, we should instead focus on how Trump has set the stage for a brutal Turkish intervention into the region and a humanitarian crisis.
Every day this president gives world leaders another reason not to trust us. Since taking office he has done an excellent job of alienating us from the rest of the planet.
The Kurds deserve so much ch more than they are getting. They have proven over and over again to be worthy allies, unlike our president.
1
Trump has to be viewed from a unique perspective. He’s not acting based on thoughtful strategy or traditional defense of US foreign policy, rather he acts on personal expedience. Did Putin guarantee him a cozy deal? Perhaps a Moscow Tower or re-election? Or both? Spending ink coming up with any other analysis is useless.
1
Rip off the band aid. Obama ran on ending foreign intervention and nation building. He never did it and in fact ramped up with troops in Afghanistan and global drone assassinations.
You just don’t like that it’s Trump doing it
2
I am so happy that we have such a stable genius in the (literally) white house.
3
How many U.S. troops in how many different foreign countries is just about right?
3
Trump, by his 'great and unmarched wisdom' sick ego building (narcissism), is undermining part of the reason we were successful in ousting ISIS from a position of religious fanatic destructive power in the Middle East, namely, the will, courage and perseverance of Kurdish forces to do the right thing, defeat religious violence in their midst...and now undermined by a corrupt and unhinged pseudo-president in the Oval Office, with total disregard to justice, reason and common sense, let alone appreciation regarding Kurdish sacrifice on our behalf. Trump does not represent the values of this democracy, far from it.
1
All Trump is doing is kissing up to military families. Whom he thinks uniformly will support him in 2020. Dangerously naive.
1
Notice the silence from the American Left.
3
Just because I live in a neighborhood doesn’t mean I should have any obligations to neighbors that I decide I don’t want. Sure, I want them to do for me what I want them to do for me. But that shouldn’t mean I’m responsible to act in like manner. Because mankind should come to realize that life best lived is properly socially dysfunctional, all about me and nothing about you or us.
2
I bet you’re the guy with the constantly yapping dog and the weedy yard who likes running a drill press at 3 AM, aren’t you.
What does Erdogan have on Trump you have to wonder? One thing is for sure, Trump doesn’t do anything that he doesn’t stand to profit from, at someone else’s expense preferably. Kurds this morning, us later on this afternoon.
13
A significant number of Americans probably applaud this action on Trump's part. He is fulfilling his campaign pledge. Obama should have never gotten the US into this quagmire and started another regime change war in Syria. I laugh at those who talk about Trump destroying US "foreign policy" in the Middle East. We have no foreign policy other than nonstop war. It's only a problem for our military and the MIC. This is a diversion from our true battle which should be against global warming which the military, and corporatist democrats are uninterested in. This is the real reason IMO for an impeachment inquiry. Trump just isn't enough of an imperialist. He will allow peace in Ukraine too which the CIA and military are probably even more angry about.
9
@Iron Felix I agree. Global warming is the real threat and we continue to take minimal action. I too think all these endless wars are in the interest of the IMO. The Middle East is a lost cause that cost national treasure and the lives of young people. I will vote and/or work for any party that gets us out of endless wars and works to deal with the existential threat of global warming. I'm a liberal but I'm dismayed at the left fighting anything Trump supports. I don't like the way he deals with problems but trade with China is a real problem as is immigration which will become worse with climate change. As a nation we are sliding out of our position as a world leader.
2
@Iron Felix
It's all about Israel which explains the firestorm around this. Israel and the US military are concerned that there will be a land corridor from Iran to Lebanon via Iraq and Syria. We have never cared about the Kurds.
2
@Iron Felix
Obama didn't start this of course.
It's the way Bush first lied about and then started the Iraq war, that is DIRECTLY responsible for the fact that former Iraqi generals decided to create ISIS, which then benefited from the weakness of the regional dictatorships to try to install a caliphate in the entire Middle East.
What Obama did was executing Bush's agreement with the Iraqi government to withdraw all US troops from Iraq by the end of 2011, and then ordering a surge, to finally get rid of ISIS in Iraq - and thanks to the strong commitment of the Kurds.
It's totally absurd to call this "no foreign policy other than nonstop war".
It's extremely easy to launch two massive wars in the Middle East, as Bush has done.
After 8 years of a totally incoherent war strategy, however, Obama inherited a mess, AND strongly improved the situation.
What Trump is proposing today is rejected by ALL experts across the political spectrum, and all the main US allies, not because they love wars, but because they want to prevent the region from getting engulfed in yet another horrible war, you see?
As to your hypothesis that the CIA would want war in Ukraine: you seem to ignore that such a war has the potential to trigger WWIII ... ? Obviously, that is not and has never been the CIA's goal ... . Actually, the CIA has no independent decision power, it merely does what US presidents tell them to do. Apart from that, AS intelligence agency, they often have information to offer..
1
Had this been Barrack Obama, the narrative here would be different. It would read something like this:
Obama finally pulls troops from Syria after his successful campaign to destroy ISIS. He is once again delivering on another campaign promise. He is also preventing us from becoming embroiled in another Mid-Eastern conflict where we have no strategic or humanitarian mission. Thany you, Mr. President.
10
@Duane Mathias
No it wouldn't.
You're just supposing that it would, based on the fake news that the media would be fake.
As even Fox News already admitted, the entire GOP, and ALL of our allies abroad agree with the main point that this article is making, which is that pulling out the few crucial US troops at the Syrian border NOW, without ANY alternative solution in place, would mean liberating tens of thousands of dangerous anti-US ISIS terrorists, and utterly betraying the Kurds, who have been fighting in our place for years now. In other words, ALL experts of the region agree that it would create a new, huge international war, and as the US has to reduce the number of anti-US terrorists in the world, it would HAVE to participate, and send in MUCH more US troops than the ones who are there now today.
So it's just not a serious foreign policy idea, you see?
That's also why Trump already sent out a tweet flip-flopping 100% on this.
4
So leaving our allies, who fought with us side by side against ISIS, to fight off Turkey by themselves is how we repay them? This guy in the WH has no business running a Walmart, much less OUR country.
3
And when all troops are withdrawn and the Kurds left to Turkey, what will Trump do with the excess military budget? He’ll divert it for another 10 miles if “beautiful” wall
6
Two Things: There is money in this for trump and pals and he needs the votes from returning soldiers' families. That would be the strategy.
6
I'm disappointed in the article title. You(we) have no idea what Trump's intention was, It seems more in alliance with Russia's best interest than the U.S.'s and I doubt has anything to do with his falsely stated goal of ending continuous wars that we are involved in. He has again significantly weakened our relationship with one of our allies.
4
Agree with Sev. Don’t people see and understand by now that he is doing Moscow’s bidding. Every time he makes statements that don’t appear to sit right with Americans thinking, he is getting orders from SOMEONE who has leverage with him. We all know what it is
6
Get out! At long last get out! It’s a decision. That’s what Presidents are supposed to do—decide instead of putting it off and sinking further into the muck of the military industrial complex and then raise one’s hands in helplessness as if there’s no other option. Bush at least had no illusions about himself. He knew he was a warmonger and lived up to it. Obama only pretended to be against foreign wars. In fact he waged them and got us in even deeper. So now the cards are on the table. The Neo-Liberals promise us nothing but more of the same.
8
US troops aren't overseas for any other reason except in US interests. That is to safeguard trade routes and to build world economies with stability. Most US Presidents since 1946 have understood that, but for this one it may be a bit difficult to grasp when to him strategy means what happens in the next five minutes
9
“...the next FIVE minutes”? You’re being FAR too generous in your assessment of our “infinitely wise and forever perfect” Supreme Leader’s cognitive skills.
Trump pulls out troops from Syria before working out any details with allies in the region, essentially allowing Turkey to attack the American supplied Kurds who defeated. Reports today say the Turkish air force bombed Kurdish forces, killing three. Sudden withdrawal without consulting anyone was a stupid, dangerous unilateral foreign policy move by Trump to the degree that Congressional Republicans (mutely) complained.
Considering Trump's criminal (52 USC 32101) Ukraine phone call with Zelensky; it makes Americans wonder what other "favors" were discussed during Trump's phone conversations with Putin and Erdogan?
If Congressional Republicans cannot join Democrats in condemning Trump's maniacal autocratic behavior, then they show 2020 voters that they care about their party more than what's good for the United States. If McConnell and his GOP Senate buddies fail to impeach Trump, then it's more proof that Congressional Republicans have failed their Constitutional Oath to protect America from all enemies, foreign and domestic.
Vote Republicans out in 2020 so We The People are represented with honesty and integrity.
9
Turkey will be left with nothing but its coffee and its rugs! Now THAT'S leadership!
1
what surprises me is that it took don the con this long to withdraw. think of the kurds as the electrical contractor on his new hotel. once the job is done don stiffs them and couldn't care less if they live or die.
12
This betrayal of our friends the Kurds is 100% legal; but it is a deed far worse than any of the illegal acts giving rise to possible impeachment. It is both thoroughly shameful on its own account and from the standpoint of realpolitik, thoroughly short-sighted. Donald Trump is so corrupt, so mendacious, so racist, that it is sometimes easy to forget what may be a bigger problem: as president, he is in way over his head, completely out of his league. He is unleashing the Turks on the Kurds, and ISIS on the Yazidis, the Syrians, the Iraqis and probably the Europeans and the Americans. Meanwhile, the president offers us protection only from helpless and desperate immigrants, and from the Bidens. It is enough to make even an atheist pray for divine help and intervention.
11
Does it not seem strange that Trump's "parallel foreign policy" nearly always benefits the Putin regime? Conspiracy theory is nonsense but a continual pattern of behavior is called evidence.
8
“My great and unmatched wisdom”? He’s unfit to be President. Abandonment of the Kurds is disgraceful. They bore the brunt of the fighting against ISIS. Where is pompous Pompeo right now? Is he still circling the globe looking for more conspiracies?
8
It's beyond hypocrisy now. republicans who howled at President Obama's 'red line' are stuck trying to defend a lunatic. "My great and unmatched wisdom".....
Imagine any other man or woman tweeting that from their high office!! It truly sounds like that little man from the Wizard of Oz: "The Great and Powerful Trump Commands You!"
C'mon, trump supporters. Everything that comes out of the mouth of trump is truth, even when it's the opposite of yesterday's truth? When trump decides to suspend the Constitution because it's in his way, the true believers will have to choose America or Putin's power grab. I'm kind of worried about which looks better to them right now!
8
@deb And you best believe that suspension of the Constitution is coming. That will be the last nail in the coffin of our nation as we know it. All with the complicit Redumblican Congress in tow. They think they have the power to pull the plug on the clown king when they get ready but the longer they wait, the deeper the despotic grip becomes. Boy is this hurtling out of control rapidly. We are in grave peril people. Please believe...
He has one view, I view what the president is doing quite differently. Traditionally they don't look long term, but rather do stuff because it is our "responsibility". They have no real understanding of the long term issues, nobody really does. Just more hate for change and a very different type of politician, one who actually tries to do what he promised, instead of lying about what would be done.
Oh, I think I understand the long-term implications of selling out a staunch ally and helping out two dictators, Iran, Putin amd ISIS all too well.
This is the one area that I am wholly in agreement with Trump. Get the US out. We have incontrovertible and abundant evidence now after decades that US military involvement in the Middle East is causing far more harm than good.
6
It must be very dispiriting to be a professional (soldier, diplomat, intelligence analyst, bureaucrat, etc) under this irrational erratic unprincipled mess of a President.
4
I miss when Democrats were Anti-War. This TDS is getting out of hand...
8
Well, he wouldn't divest himself of all his business holdings, and he owns Towers in Turkey. So, everything he does is tainted and he cannot escape the accusations that his decisions are motivated by his finances. He should be impeached.
12
Remember the standard 'wag the dog' strategy? You know, to distract the American public from domestic turmoil the President sends troops abroad to address a made up and pointless military conflict? But in this case the President is bringing the troops home from a made up and pointless military conflict. And yet the media portrays it as a 'wag the dog' action! Proof the progressives are all turned inside out and upside down over their obsessed hatred of the President.
4
There was no decision making process. Trump’s rationale is that he promised to pull out. From where and when, unspecified. I am far from a war monger. I don’t see any point in staying in Afghanistan where the government is corrupt and ineffectual and the Taliban can’t be defeated militarily. But Afghanistan is a nation state and the Taliban have no interest in promoting Sunni Arab terrorism within its borders because that would threaten its rule.
With 2000 troops in the entire country, we are not fighting a war in Syria. From attempting to depose Assad, which was a failure, our role has been to help the Kurds fight ISIS, a genuine threat to the US and Europe. Ending this strategy undermines our national security. We have no interest in helping Assad or Turkey to defeat the Kurds, who are our weapon against terrorists.
3
It's called distraction - that’s what cycled on the news last night, which shows again how entirely unfit he is for office - using matters of war and peace to deflect attention from a personal matter, the impeachment inquiry.
He would pull our remaining troops out of Syria and leave the Kurds to an uncertain fate with Turkey.
Will congress, the senate, the military, step in and prevent it?
3
“ I’m my great and unmatched wisdom..”
Can this language be real? Hubris unrivaled in public discourse..He is totally untethered..
13
I'm not sure how many people are aware of all the non-military aid we and other countries have been giving to repair the physical environment destroyed by ISIS and to rebuild civil society. They need the troops there to do their work. We are not at war now. The troops are there to protect and guard those who are trying to get back to a decent life and make it decent for other Syrians as well as to keep ISIS at bay. ISIS is already returning. Trump's idiotic statements basically hold no water in any way, shape or form.
6
It's the Russians who stand to gain the most from letting Erdogan push the Kurds out of Syria. All Trump's doing is returning the favor Putin did for him. Another of a slew of quid pro quos.
5
I guess the "Pottery Barn Rule" is no longer in effect.
I'm not a pro-war neo-con, but I sure know it's naive to think Erdogan will "work it out" with the Kurds using any other method than genocide.
And I'm also doubtful that Congress will use any 'peace dividend' to fix our infrastructure. As long as Republicans are in charge of at least one house of Congress, the only thing we'll get is tax cuts for the wealthy.
5
Go ahead, say it, you can whisper it, you can write it down and then swallow the paper, but say it.
" I agree with President Trump ".
Go on, say it.
9
maybe another impeachable offense? returning troops home from a war theater not authorized by Congress seems to be so outrageous that we must impeach! remove him as we support total war forever!
the liberals hatred of our president really distorts reality, no?
1
Please pull the obvious and public record of Trump admitting his conflict of interest with Turkey back in 2015. It does not take a rocket scientist to see his Trump Towers in Instanbul would be enough for this clown to capitulate to Erdogan. He admitted the conflict already in public.
4
Keep in mind that everything around Trump eventually blows up. No surprise that Republicans finally found something that they thought crossed a line. Let's see where this rupture leads as their Great and Powerful Leader continues to sink under the weight of the impeachment inquiry, and the Republican rats assess when it's time to cut and run.
2
There is no method to his madness. Trump is incapable of analytical thought. His lack of method & analysis results in chaos, chaos his modus operandi. Chaos is dangerous. Chaos is the result for which Putin aimed. Trump is not mentally, emotionally or intellectually capable of performing the responsibilities of this office. One who does not live in an alternate reality & grandeur of madness would be unwilling to take a position for which they are unqualified & incapable, understanding their professional, legal and moral responsibility to country & the Constitution. His narcissistic grandeur & life where reality does not exist based in pathological lying supports this unreality, serving to deceive & hide his incompetence & irrational thinking. Trump is & always has been a national security risk. He is dangerous to American citizens, the US & the world. Pathological lying is enough for Impeachment. There is no trust, honesty or respect. This is dangerous to everyone. Trump does not have the power he is exercising & it is Congress' responsibility to intercept. Congress has responsibility for appropriating funds for war, support of our military interests, etc -- it is therefore their responsibility to approve changes. The Constitution does not give Trump this unilateral authority to make decisions & Congress must take back this authority which has not been legitimately taken nor provided. We are not safe and Congress must act immediately.
3
So, now I’m supposed to support military intervention everywhere because we don’t like Trump!?
4
I'm pretty sure if you ask the majority of people around the world, they would probably say that the US should just mind its own business, and not meddle in other countries' affairs.... a little bit like the Russian influence on the presidential campaign... yeah, please don't do that!
3
Do Democrats remember how hey were against endless wars? "No More Wars," "Bring Our Troops Home" -- anybody remember those bumper stickers?
5
My own view is that our alliance with the Kurds to fight and defeat ISIS was a worthwhile and extremely effective partnership. And the Kurds have been very reliable partners , who bore the brunt of the fighting and the loss of life with over 10,000 soldiers killed.
To abandon this effort now is irresponsible from both a foreign policy and a moral standpoint. And the President's statement alluding to his" great and unmatched wisdom" demonstrates a mind that seems completely unhinged, narcissistic and lacking in self-awareness. It sounds like the words of a bombastic dictator such as Idi Amin of Uganda; not the supposed leader of the free world.
113
@Paul R Trump is not the leader of the free world. The words are not "like" the words of a bombastic dictator, they are the words of a bombastic dictator.
22
@Paul R -- The Kurds are great people. Their bottom up democracy and actual rights of women are better than in the US, and far better than the rest of the Middle East.
They are also a very large ethnic group, numbering more than all of Syria that remains, and near the size of all Iraq apart from Kurdish Iraqis. They are about 5 times the size of Israel. They are half the size of all of Turkey apart from its own Kurds. They are half the size of Iran apart from its Kurds.
So they are very good people, and a lot of them. All they want is to govern themselves in the places they now live, where they have always lived for 1,000 years -- they sent their people led by Saladin from these same hill areas to fight and win the Crusades. Saladin was a Kurd.
So what is the problem?
First, their independence would take very large and very valuable regions (large oil deposits and water sources) and populations from four different large and touchy countries all now involved in active wars, and none of the four on the Kurdish side.
Second, any independent country would be landlocked and entirely dependent on the US as outside guarantors, and would therefore be a permanent base lodged inside the heart of the areas now disputed by everyone else. That is not a small thing.
The Kurds lived semi-autonomous since before Saladin led a win in the Crusades. It has worked this same way for 1,000 years, and now they want to change it.
How much war, with whom, should the US fight to do that?
5
@Paul R Washington has no business interfering in the internal affairs of Syria.
3
Very odd and inaccurate framing for this article, paying a compliment to Trump as if he's motivated by getting us out of foreign wars.
Actually, in this specific case, it's far more likely that his business interests in Turkey led him to comply with Erdogan's request to allow Turkish forces to slaughter people who had been working for us, the Kurds.
Trump explicitly stated in 2015 that he has a conflict of interest regarding Turkey, because of his profit-seeking there.
He never fully divested himself of his business empire, and anyone who knows corrupt greedheads like Trump knows that everything they do is meant to further profits.
Trump doesn't act in the public interest, and his tacit approval of Erdogan's genocidal actions against Kurds is sickening.
5
@Steve Davies
Steve, Empire never ends well for anyone, as the late great Jewish intellectual warned her own German people:
“Empire abroad entails tyranny (and looting) at home”
1
All the Kurds need to do is provide dirt - completely baseless, insane conspiracy theory dirt - on Joe Biden. Or is that job already done? Okay, Kurds can take lead on completely baseless, insane conspiracy theory dirt on Elizabeth Warren.
Kurds need American help to survive after they did most of the ground force fighting in Syria to defeat ISIS (at least for now and only in terms of ISIS territory, not ISIS terrorism), then they need to understand how American foreign policy works now under Trump - false dirt on Trump’s political opponents before help from America.
Come on Kurds, don’t you know how to interfere in our elections to get what you need? Just check with Ukraine, China, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Israel. And above all, Putin.
2
With impeachment looming and heightened scrutiny over Trump’s phone calls to foreign leaders it’s pretty obvious what’s going on here with Turkey: they have tape of Trump saying crazy and compromising things on calls to Erdogan and can hold it over his head like never before, knowing that he can’t afford another Ukraine-type scandal at this point. But here’s what’s really scary: how many other foreign dictators now hold precisely the same leverage over Trump? Who knows how many crazy phone calls he’s made, all taped and secreted away in some ultra-secure, nuke-proof vault at NSA no doubt, but also recorded on the other end of the line? I’m assuming MBS, Netanyahu, Boris Johnson, Bolsonaro... just for starters. This is the man singlehandedly running our foreign policy, folks.
3
Just another step and action as Putin’s lackey. Trump has shown his true colors and they are not red, white and blue; they are red entirely. His foreign policies (and this is a stretch to use the word policy) are designed to benefit Russia and protect his Trump towers around the world, and especially in Turkey now. He is not a patriot but rather a self-serving autocrat. Time for impeachment!
1
Reports are that Trump made this decision after a phone call with the Turkish president and with no consultation with our foreign policy or military experts.
During the campaign when Trump said he knew more "than the generals" people rolled their eyes and thought, "here is an incompetent, uniformed, conman claiming once again that he knows more than anyone else in the world." Little did we know that Trump actually believes he does.
What could go wrong?
2
The withdrawal had nothing to do with bringing troops home. After all, it involved only a hundred troops, and they weren’t brought home. The few American troops patrolling the border with the much larger group of Kurds were a ‘trip wire’, there to keep the Turks, who don’t want to be seen attacking Americans, from attacking our loyal allies, the Kurds. The only purpose of this withdrawal was Trump’s desire to allow his fellow dictator, Erdoğan, to attack our ally.
Was I premature with any of that?
3
So, Trump is against military forever wars but in favor of economic forever wars.
2
Fewer deaths that way. And *far* more effective.
3
@David H
Economic wars cause deaths. Though I hear they are easy to win.
1
Costs to us and totally ineffective.
Cuba has had the most severe sanctions, and they’re still communist after 60 plus years. We’re Turkey’s seventh largest trading partner. We can’t hurt them without the cooperation of the EU, and they’re certainly not going to cooperate with an unreliable ally like the USA.
1
This is an outrageous betrayal of the Kurds, without whose efforts and war deaths ISIS would still control territory in northeastern Syria. The Kurds valiantly fought with us and died in order to defeat ISIS and AlQaida. And the fight is not over.
So why is Donald Trump delivering them to the would-be Turkish dictator Erogan?
This is not his first attempt to do so. About a year ago when Erdogan called Trump announced the same withdrawal, General Mattis resigned because of that and it dropped off the radar until now.
Did Erdogan threaten to reveal the additional evidence Turkey holds pertaining to the Saudi regime's murder of Kashoghi, and that the Trump / Kuchner empire is being propped up with Saudi money, or is it the promise of a Trump Tower Ankara? Or is it something typically Trumpish yet to come to light?
It is a shame that such questions even need to be asked. But they certainly do.
1
Objective truth is called into question by a dictatorship when it presents two contradictory facts, and wants you to believe both of them simultaneously. The confusion that results is then resolved by the dictator, who tells you which truth to believe. In Trump’s case, one truth is that he is pursuing a war strategy ($760 billion “defense” budget!), and the other is that he wants to quit endless war. When he can tell us what to believe, then he makes money, for himself and the puppet masters pulling his strings.
He has two hotels in Istanbul. Before the election he even admitted he has a conflict of interest as regards to Turkey.
This is extremely dangerous. Luckily for America the Kurds do not tend to be draft dodgers. They were the ones actually fighting ISIS; and doing it well. Trump's actions are about his financial bottom line.
1
There's really not much difference in having troops in a county, drawing a red line that they dare not cross and then doing nothing about it when they do and not being there in the first place.
What the media fails to remind us is that the United States has two airbases in Turkey, which means that we really haven't pulled out of the region at all. We can use drones and satellites to keep an eye on the area and should the need arise then bring in troops.
Many Americans are sick and tired of our nation playing the worlds cop. We spend billions of dollars every year to ensure the safety of other nations yet allow people to infiltrate our nations southern border and our countrymen to live homeless in the streets. America must come first.
5
The Senators and advisors or their offspring are not going to be crawling through the sun and sand fighting and dying against an enemy that is zero threat to the US. Trump is doing what he said he would do during his campaign. That part of the world is a political, religious and military quagmire and has been for decades, let the people who live in that region settle their differences however they may. Donald Trump knows that, the American people know that...and Trump knows that the American people know that. Refreshing, a President acting on the interests and the will of the people.
2
Maybe the NYTimes should do a series on how the US becam a world power and how it viewed that power and how the world has been shaped by the US taking that position. This would give context to Trump's attempts to withdraw from that role.
We are talking about about 100 troops to save the lives of 100,000s of people whose loved ones died so American loved ones didn't have to. Of all the vacuous things we've done as a country, this is among the worst. The Kurds fought with us and for us, in Iraq and then in Syria. Do I think US troops should be fighting en mass all over the globe? No, but the strategic placement of troops has kept the world relatively safe since 1945. Now, we want to retreat to a pre-1941 multi-lateral world? Setting an example abandoning the Kurds to the Russians, ISIS, Iran, and Turkey is a collossial moral and ethic failure and a strategic disaster. I hope people who support the removal of 100 troops saving 100,000s of lives can sleep at night. God help you.
10
I am completely reassured that all will go well when we pull out of Syria. As the President has tweeted, "if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey." What more can we possibly want from our President than the exercise of his own "great and unmatched wisdom." No previous president - not Washington, not Lincoln, not FDR - has ever been able (or willing) to say as much of himself. We are truly blessed.
4
@Henry:
You have absolutely zero knowledge of FDR if you believe that claim. It was FDR's single minded arrogance and conceit that convinced himself that it was his own "unmatched wisdom," negotiating skill, and innate cleverness that would allow him to totally outwit Stalin at Casablanca, Tehran, and Yalta. (He felt the dictator so helpless and susceptible to the Roosevelt charm that he chose to dismissively refer to him as the kindly, "Uncle Joe!"
Of course, over 100,000 American service men and women along with millions of people in Eastern Europe, North Korea, and even North Vietnam would be forced to pay the ultimate price for FDR's immense vanity.
Or perhaps you forgot how it was his absolute conviction in his own vast knowledge of human physiology that convinced him that the "tiny slits" of the Japanese' eye openings would render them totally incapable of flying combat aircraft, so that it would be absolutely riskless for him to order the American Pacific Fleet to abandon its home base in San Diego in 1941 for the complete safety of Pearl Harbor.
I’m interested in the decision making process that led to this decision. You would believe that serious policy changes have a deliberative process to get input from all the key players. Im afraid the process used was 2 thumbs and a whim.
3
The consequences are already unfolding: Erdogan announced that he does not care about President Trump’s threat - adding just another failed “policy” by the President to his foreign affairs. There is no doubt that he created already lots of chaos - but it should be remembered that he did not solve any of the issues he liked to call easy to handle during his campaign. Reality is not a TV show and spontaneous decisions by the President have longterm consequences he is likely not aware of and there is nobody left in this administration who has the guts to tell him - and literally everyone is either laughing about the President or trying to take advantage of the current situation. Just as a reminder: the North Koreans were quite successful playing to the narcissistic personality of the President and the Saudis did so too. This will not end well and everyone knows that.
6
So the future of the Middle East hinged on one thousand U.S. troops ? Nonsense . NATO can replace them this afternoon .
The Kurds and Turks have been at it for 400 years .
Trump finally did something for the USA . We are out !
2
@Thorsten Fleiter:
What a comment!
Mr. Fleiter, you state that: "The consequences are already unfolding: Erdogan announced that he does not care about President Trump’s threat - adding just another failed “policy” by the President to his foreign affairs."
How has the President's policy failed? Do you imagine that the policy's strategic goal was to prevent Edrogan from ever making a completely hollow utterance?
How is a vacuous statement by Erdogan in response to the President a meaningful "consequence" of any significance? The nature of Edrogan's statement is merely that of the age-old, knee-jerk, response of the weak child in a schoolyard confrontation to the physical threat from a much stronger child. It is one of the great safety valves that have developed over the eons to limit unnecessary and avoidable human violence.
To wit: The significantly stronger child has threatened some action if the significantly weaker child persists in some noxious behavior. The significantly weaker child states that he or she is not afraid of the threatened action, but they DO NOT engage in the noxious behavior. The significantly stronger child is satisfied that the noxious behavior will not occur while the significantly weaker child is satisfied that they have saved face. No violence occurs--Win, Win.
Anyone who has had experience in negotiating for items of greater value than a Big Mac, recognizes that EXACT scenario and desires EXACTLY that type of response and ultimate outcome.
Since the end of WWII a group of influential military and political leaders have pushed the idea of Global US leadership. That sounded great in the ruins of WWII, 75 years later it is not so great an idea.
We have spent trillions of dollars all over the globe in a misbegotten effort to spread democracy. It has never occurred to anyone that perhaps a lot of countries did NOT want US style democracy.
No Pentagon budget was too large for our Congress who kept pouring money down the black hole which is the Pentagon Budget (which incidentally has never been audited)
Not one lawmaker ever really thinks of the cost of foreign deployments. Our roads and bridges are in a state of ruin. But we can't afford to fix them as we spend so much on the military.
It is time we took a good hard look at deployment and basing and ask the question whether our interference in so many countries has really been worth it.
NATO is nothing but a leech which basically depends on US military to protect it. And this is the case of much of our foreign presence. They depend on the US taxpayer to finance their security.
Time to rethink these deployments and consider withdrawal from much of the world. Countries must learn to defend themselves if they fail. well too bad.
Our activities in the Middle East has been a total failure. We attacked Iraq and left a broken country., now we are making a mess in Syria too. It was only to Saudi Arabia that we had a long standing commitment. Time to get out
8
@Judy Weller, you are aware of the fact that we are talking about 50 to 100 troop advisors in Syria? That it. Oh, and Trump's not "bringing them home, he's just moving them out of the way so Turkey can massacre the Kurds. You really couldn't care less that the Kurds have saved 1000's of American lives so we could get out of the messes created by the Bushes and Cheney?
@Judy Weller, It's not countries, its minorities within a country. "Vulnerable populations must learn to defend themselves, if they fail, well too bad". I am guessing, under this approach, you, unlike President Clinton, applaud the reality that a few hundred of our troops could have prevented the slaughter of one million people. "Well, too bad", indeed.
How fortunate we are that a vast majority of the US tax paying public disagrees with your view.
1
We have been fighting in Afghanistan for 18 years; the Middle east for 16 years.
Remember the "Support the troops, bring them home" campaign? That started around 2008, if I recall.
Nothing has changed, even if there is a sorry excuse for a CiC in charge. There will be problems galore if we withdraw from our battlegrounds; yes, battlegrounds that we largely created. People will die (I don't kid myself; a withdrawal will cause irrevocable harm). We will lose some power in the Middle East (now don't kid your self: we don't deploy to the plethora of civil wars and similar issues in South America, Africa and southeast Asia).
Is Mr. Trump's impromptu yank the right way to handle this? Of course not.
But I'm sorry, I won't have my daughters grow up in a country where the U.S. military is actively deployed in perpetuity. "1984" has been my reality (we have been at war since I was in high school). It cannot be our legacy as well.
Put a utilitarian spin on it: The money we spend on deployment can be spent on improving our renewable energy infrastructure first (so we can stop caring so much about the Middle East), then on stabilizing Central America (so we can stop spending so much on immigration).
6
@htg
Its not about caring. Its about money to be made by the energy corporations. It has always been that way and still is. We cannot get off fossil fuels fast enough for a plethora of reasons.
2
@htg
Not sure how much I agree, nor how much I disagree with 'yours' -- BUT: If you don't think we've made and assisted 'wars,' and 'overthrown' even duly-elected governments in South AND Central America (not even 'going back' before WWII 'so as' to include North America's Mexico and our own 'indigenous' people), in Africa and 'on' whatever continent we consider Iran, Israel, Syria, Lebanon, etc., to 'inhabit,' you're sorely mistaken.
And, just as you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows, you shouldn't need my 70 years to know, if not 'remember,' that the Korean War ("Police Action"!) was fought in Korea -- which I'm sure is in Asia -- and that the never-undeclared war in Vietnam was fought 'all over' Southeast Asia (one I remember 'only too well').
N.B. 'This' is but a partial 'list.'
What does it say about us as a nation that we hear such statements: “....that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom”
without immediately reacting ?????
This is absurd, laughable if not so horrific coming from our elected leader
39
@Betsy Blair
It was said in jest Betsy, that you can’t or won’t understand that is the problem.
2
@Betsy Blair
Don’t forget, as I never will, that a minority of voters voted in the “stable genius”. The Citizens United scam and the Electoral College need to be abolished.
@Betsy Blair
I drank almost a whole bottle of Pepto, to settle my stomach after I read @nevermypresident,words!
The U.S. has troops all over the world.
Why does Trump always want to retreat where Russia is competing with us?
Pulling out of Syria is a give away to Russia
28
@McGloin
The fact that the Trump admin first blackmailed the Kurds into dismantling their fortifications alongside the Turkish border with a now cowardly betrayed promise it would protect them is a tell that this was perfidiously planned long beforehand.
Trump clearly conspired and set a trap. "What even is a Kurd?"
The Kurds not only incurred heavy sacrifices to fight Isis for us. They heroically saved the lives of 40,000 beleaguered Christian Yazidis that Isis was on the brink of capturing, torturing, and slaughtering.
Erdogan's Turkey has been a barely covert ally of fellow Sunni Isis. It financed it by buying its oil, was complicit in letting foreign fighters and truckloads of its weapon transports pass through its borders, medically treated its wounded and hid its strategists (letting them regroup and even train).
Europe is left hoping a greenlight to Erdogan to once more let a million refugees cross the Bosporus was not included in the Trump/Putin deal.
Erdogan will recognize the tweeted threats at his address after the official greenlight as toothless face-saving for Trumpish domestic purposes only.
All in all this is the most viperine Trump move so far.
America may have put a man on the moon first, but Russia has been first to have planted three assets in the official presidential headquarters of its rival world power: Comrades Lavrov, Kislyak, and Drumpf. It got the photo evidence too, leaving the moon landing a prozaic and underwhelming event in comparison!
1
@McGloin:
Mr. McGloin, what will Russia gain in Syria beyond a potential quagmire?
As much as I hate and despise both Russia AND Putin, they have a HUGE self-interest in throttling all Islamic thugs. Since they are unconstrained by any Western inanity about not "allowing the terrorists to win by making us resort to their level of barbarity," I imagine that said Islamic thugs would be much displeased by the appearance of the new sheriff. The added benefit being that American parents will now be allowed, if only temporarily, the luxury that European parents have been afforded for the last 75 years: that of sleeping soundly in their beds while the parents of other boys and girls confront the world's miscreants!
I seem to remember a cynical European who said something to the effect that, as long as the US was willing to send money to fight communism, it was a good idea to make sure there was a communist menace to fight.
6
The strategy is to pivot to another campaign promise to praise himself with in 2020.
This is simple; Trump is simple(ton).
9
A politician keeping a campaign promise heading into an election. How very dare he.
I guess the new Democrat position is pro-“open-ended presence”, to borrow from neoconservative doublespeak. I don’t recognize these people in my party.
5
Trump demonstrates a gross lack of understanding about the benefits of empire. Yes, we're the world's policeman. Yes, it's expensive. The flip side is that for seventy years, the world has essentially done what we tell it to do.
We've squandered some of that influence by encouraging China to rise so far. We haven't brought up other parts of the world as fast as might have been ideal. But it's easy to forget that the Pax Americana had seen a steady drawdown in violence and increase in standard of living around the world. Although the domestic wealth gap is absurd, the amenities available to most Americans still surpass those of fifty, seventy years ago. There are problems but there have been benefits too.
I would have no problem abandoning the current world order if our derailed locomotive of a president had any idea what he was replacing it with. If your car breaks down, you usually bring it to the shop and get it repaired. You might replace it. You don't just take a sledgehammer to it, which is what Trump (vis a vis his base) appears to do with every problem he sees.
11
We all know that loyalty is a moral value, and that the more US foreign policy and matters of war and peace are based on strong moral values, the better both the US and the world will be off.
After three years of Trump tweets and decisions, it has become clear that the exact opposite of moral loyalty should from now on be called "Trump loyalty".
It refers to:
1. asking someone to lie and cheat whenever that benefits your personal interests
2. without paying ANY attention to that other person's interests, let alone their professional responsibilities and duties (as lawyers, intelligence officers, allied heads of state, or allied troops)
3. all while threatening to "destroy" their reputation, career, lives, or in the case of allied countries "Economy" if that person refuses to take your own interests as his main and only priority.
As history has shown, "Trump loyalty" is just another word for "rampant corruption".
The only reason why 40% of the American people support him anyhow, is because two decades of Fox News fake news and GOP lies has increased cynicism among ordinary, decent citizens who identify as "conservatives" to such an extent that they've been imagining that this IS how DC and the entire world operate and have always operated.
So much for claiming to be "the party of values".
9
Thank you for tying several good points together. I cringe every time President Trump threatens another country's economy, or to murder all their citizens, except he benevolently decided not while writing his Tweet (Afghanistan). He really has mentally crowned himself king of the world, as the "wisdom" Tweet makes clear.
I am very much in the loathe Trump category. I believe that he should be impeached and removed from office, but I don’t think Democrats are politically ruthless enough to get impeachment done even though they have House majority (look at how Democrats got outmaneuvered by Trump and Republicans on Mueller Report and on Kavanaugh hearings - facts were on Democrats side, but they lost). And Republican Senators are too cowardly to do their Constitutional duty to remove Trump after a Senate trial.
Trump wins being being absolutely ruthless, there is low that he will not stoop to, mobster/autocratic tactics, continuous lies, and by destroying truth.
But Trump is also highly skilled at understanding issues that frustrate Americans, and then exploiting those real and complex issues with simple, false answers. 30 years of inaction on immigration reform, hollowing out of the middle class, endless wars in the Middle East are real issues. Trump knows precisely how to exploit those issues for personal gain, not to actually solve those problems in the national interest.
All the foreign policy experts and mandarins, like Richard Haas quoted here, the State Department, Defense Department, Intelligent agencies, Bush and Obama administrations have given us the disastrous Iraq War, endless Afghanistan War (18 years!), trillions of dollars spent, tens of thousands of American soldiers’ lives lost of shattered, millions of innocent lives lost or shattered.
And Trump happy to hand world to Putin.
8
One thousand U.S. troops pulled out and the Middle East belongs to Russia ? Turkey is NATO . The Kurds are what ??
1
Climate change is more of a threat to national security than families coming across the southern border or ISIS beheading captives. If you want to have more refugees and more terrorism and more public health threats than keep up with climate denial- and push the problem down the road until it is both worse and finds a receptive administration and congress who will deal with it.
3
"So when President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey spoke by telephone with Mr. Trump on Sunday... The Turkish leader could appeal to Mr. Trump’s instincts, and clear a path for his forces to fight those he calls “terrorists” over his border, even though they are the same Kurdish troops who have long been allies of the United States."
Or perhaps Erdogan simply offered or agreed to investigate the Bidens in exchange for the U.S. withdrawal.
7
@Dan88
Trump considers himself the king of our country. Trump does not read the intelligence reports from our intelligence agencies. Trump does not listen to our generals. Mattis got mad and left. In Trump’s head is a little mouse wheel that spins and spins, “I am the ruler, I make all the decisions as only I can fix it. I ONLY speak to other foreign leaders. I do not take orders nor recommendations from anyone who is not the supreme leader of their respective country.”
Trump dabbles in foreign policy the way Christopher Kimball's staff used to fiddle in the kitchen. The difference is if something went haywire in oven, the result would have simply been an overcooked roast, but messing with national security strategies while either not listening to or worse, not even consulting with his own senior advisers, Trump is engaging in a very dangerous dance that could have devastating ramifications down the road.
This continuation to disregard or refuses to consult with senior advisers and professionals who have more experience and knowledge of foreign policy in their little toe than Trump's "great and unmatched wisdom" is not only getting old but scary. But what defies logic is how this guy is allowed to muck up policies that need revision rather than being completely dissolved or destroyed.
6
Logic need not be defied. He is the President of the United States. He is us in a position to make changes to whatever policy he wants. I hope you’re not proposing that we rewrite our constitution.
2
People, there is no strategy, there is no plan. In addition to his shoot-from-the-hip style of governing, if you can call it that, Trump is unraveling before our eyes in acts of desperation, wanting to take the focus off impeachment, appease Putin and other like him, and look presidential. We are in for a wild ride: destructive, thoughtless, and chaotic, just like our president.
13
Trump is correct. We never should have gotten involved in that situation in the first place. It was Obama who poured gas on that fire when he armed the so-called opposition forces against the Syrian government, secular, by the way. That war was never about 'democracy'. It was just faction fighting faction. The world can thank Obama for the civil war in Syria and everything that results from it.
9
In Trumps "...great and unmatched wisdom..." trade wars are "easy to win." I hope we never need an ally again in a military situation anywhere in the world because, in my great and unmatched wisdom, we aren't going to have any, (unless they can help him win an election).
3
@richard: In what "military situation" (after the Revolution that is), did the US ever need allies?
I’m not sure why the phrase “endless wars” is in quotes - the Afghanistan war certainly fits the bill as endless. Add that to numerous other US military actions over the past 20 years, and it’s obvious that - no matter which party is in power - Washington loves war.
Of course it would be more accurate to say that the politicians and their wealthy backers love the profits of war, because what else do we have to show for all of these military misadventures other than a highly profitable military sector and hundreds of thousands of dead or disabled veterans?
12
This is not an endless war about Syria and land. It's an endless-feeling situation. As adults we realize that some situations drag on and on and ISIS is one of them. We fought another endless-seeming situation with the USSR we called the Cold War. I don't remember whether people were constantly telling us to pull out of it, but thank God we didn't. Considering how small a presence we need in Syria to help keep ISIS at bay, we should be thankful. I doubt anyone serving in our Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard want us to leave that situation to develop without US presence. Why don't we ask the admirals and generals, or "his generals", as President Trump calls them, and benefit from their institutional knowledge and vast experience? President Trump promised to surround himself with the best people, but I guess he never said he would listen to their advice.
5
@Elizabeth L Johnson:
Ms. Johnson:
Like most of the generals and admirals of history, your advice is appropriate only in fighting the previous war. Modern technology no longer requires the PERENNIAL presence of American boots on the ground to assert power.
The American political class has now accepted the doctrine that requires our military to assent to the thug's right to wage asymmetric warfare against our young American men and women without consequence.
Yet Progressives stridently whine when we dare to remove our young men and women from the mortal equivalent to a county fair dunk tank. How dare we!
Since, according to you, "we only need a small presence," perhaps you will volunteer your children for the task. As for me, I prefer to let the Russians sentence their youth to the abattoir.
The Turkish Army, second-largest in NATO, has been unable for at least 100 years to end Kurdish resistance in suppressing the mountainous east. Now Erdogan (the least popular Turkish president in memory) seems intent upon suppressing the Kurds in Syria. It will be ironic if his move into Syria produces coalition among the Kurds in Iraq, the Kurds in Syria and the Kurds in Turkey into a unity that would be even more difficult for his army to neutralize. "Sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind."
4
You can trust Pelosi or McConnel or anything coming out of DC about this issue because they are far more interested in politics than what goes on in Syria. Talked to my friends in uniform on the ground there and they think this is a reasonable course of action. We beat ISIS already. Without the US rules of engagement, it will be far easier for SDF to fight them. SDF is a power player in the region, seasoned in combat and well equipped. It is time for them to stand on their own and they are confident they can take on anything Turkey can throw at them. Turkey of course will think twice to use the military against SDF. Their country have no appetite for war with SDF and they don't know what Trump will do if they invade. So, don't rely on DC and political pundits to analyze this. History may look back on this as a bold and successful strategy.
6
@Qcell
Turkey has one of the largest and well equipped armies in the world. This army may not been as battle hardened as the SDF but it is highly unlikely that the SDF would succeed in stopping a determined push by Turkey to occupy northern Syria because the Kurds have no air cover of their own and they would be completely outnumbered.
5
David Sanger has, over time, demonstrated that he e iof the Tmes' top journalists. However, you would think that by now he would realize Trump does not have any strategies, let alone policies, other than what, at any given moment, he believes will enhance his "brand." When it comes to trying to discern his foreign policy, there simply is no there there.
8
I don’t know: Trump’s deep desire for American isolationism comports entirely with Putin’s desire for Russia to do as it wishes abroad.
So I’d say Trump does have a coherent foreign policy — one he’s borrowed wholesale from his handler.
6
Trump seems to be protecting his obsession with protecting his hotels by cheating. He seems to be acting like a third grader playing a a kids game. I think so many people have financial and personal dirt on China that's it's probably impossible to know what moves him.
3
Trump is pulling back from Syria to strengthen the hand of Putin. The move not only benefits Turkey in its efforts to snuff out Kurdish freedom fighters (and deprive them of a nation state that may encompass land within Turkey), but Russian hegemony in Syria.
The loser in this hasty withdrawal is the United States. Our allies have even less trust in our word and see us as unreliable. They see an unstable and unfit president in thrall to dictators and thugs like Putin, MBS, and Erdogan.
It will take many years, if ever, to clean up the mess Trump is leaving on the world stage.
9
McConnell has let slide every moral and legal guard rail holding our president and government to account. Trump has insulted our allies and aligned himself with a Putin Doctrine which is attempting to spread its’ influence across the Middle East.
McConnell has also wooed and failed to attract Russian billionaires to invest in Kentucky. He IS the problem and should be impeached along with the Trump, Pompeo and Barr.
America is now alone in the world.
4
The primary purpose of the continuing presence of American troops in any foreign country from Germany to Japan to South Korea to Afghanistan is to shed their blood on the way to a hospital or a morgue in order to insure that America will stand behind and with it's allies.
2
Huh? No, in fact the purpose is to secure American vital security and strategic interests. standing by our allies is merely a manifestation of that.
1
Henry Kissinger facilitated the slaughter of Kurds. George H.W. Bush encouraged them to fight against Saddam, then abandoned them to be slaughtered. Now, Trump wants to let Erdogan eliminate his Kurdish problem.
The Kurds are widely recognized to be one of the few cultures in the Middle East that practice religious tolerance. They believe in democracy. A portion of their population still speaks Aramaic, the language of Jesus. All they want is to be free from persecution and attack. Regardless of the empty words of Republicans today, history makes it very clear that Republicans hate the Kurds. Why is that?
3
Erdogan has been using ISIS to generate refugees for years now. He has used the instability in Syria and the refugee crisis it creates to grab more power in his own country, and to extort other countries. He probably convinced Trump that more terrorism, refugees and Syrian instability will make it easier divide and conquer the American people.
2
Trump doesn't have a coherent Middle East policy, but neither does anyone else from the Washington Beltway crowd.
The American people are once again being told about the importance for a military occupation of the territory of a sovereign foreign state.
Mr. Sanger omits to mention that such an occupation is an act of war, which was never declared by congress or presented to the American people as essential for defending the nation.
While we were correct in assisting Iraq in ousting ISIS, that was done at the invitation of the Iraqi government. That same government has thanked us for our aid and asked us to leave.
While there is a litany of incoherence in Trump's foreign policy, there is an arrogance from some of his critics. They rightfully accuse Trump for not having a clear explanation for withdrawing troops, but they have no clear reasons for leaving them in place.
Mr. Sanger would do a better service to the Times readers by explaining the Clinton emails that show that our ally, Saudi Arabia was arming and funding ISIS.
He might also explain as some of our military leaders have asked repeatedly "what is our mission in Afghanistan?"
Over the last 18 years we have spent 5 trillion dollars and lost over 20,000 American lives. Local civilian casualties run in the millions.
A critique of Trump, no matter how justified, is not in itself a clear foreign policy. Nor does it explain or justify the carnage we have inflicted. It's past time we had that conversation.
5
Sure Trump is a "FM", as some of his own cabinet members have called him.
But make no mistake this Trump move to roll over is not a random herky-jerky that we attribute him with. It certainly is not a favor to his "BFF Erdogan". It is an order from Trump's top boss who is telling him what to do. Yes, you guessed it right. The little man Vlad.
Ultimately the beneficiary of the US troops are Asad and Putin. And there is no longer any secret about Trump towing Putin's line.
So if, like our beloved NYT Editorial Board, you are naive enough to believe that Trump rolled over for Erdogan then you simply have not read the turtle on the fence theory.
4
I voted for Clinton and feel I dodged a bullet, she'd absolutely have us in numerous wars now. As for Syria I have studied the history of the Ottoman Empire, the Mideast, how Britain ensconced themselves because they swapped their Royal Navy to oil from coal just before WW1. Syria is a very grown up place, we do not belong manipulating the locals there. I hate it when Trump is right.
9
Trump is trying to get us out of some pointless wars, start a dialog with North Korea, address border security problems, and a few other things the left would have praised Obama for. But because he goes about it wrong and his efforts make things worse, plus it offends people that he encourages white supremacists, is using the office to line his pockets, is taking away health care, ignoring climate change, increasing income inequality, violating the oath of office repeatedly, telling lies constantly, attacking the press, and has humiliated America in the eyes of the world, nobody wants to give him any credit. No president has been treated more unfairly.
9
@Peter Ending "endless wars" is the one issue that those of us on the left support DT on. Fawning over dictators and betraying our allies is not.
3
@Peter
With all respect, you seem to confound tweets and photo-ops with trying to get something real done.
Look at his withdrawal from Syria tweet: after all US allies and experts across the political spectrum immediately reminded him of the disastrous impact of such idea, he sent out another tweet, now flip-flopping 100%.
As to North Korea: there has been a "dialogue" for decades already. In the meanwhile, it has acquired nuclear weapons and under Trump built missiles that allow it to even hit the US, and Trump does nothing about it at all.
Why not? Because the only way to get a political agreement with North Korea is to be able to negotiate a multilateral agreement that includes China, its main protector.
Trump's ill-conceived trade war (a "trade deficit" simply means that we, as wealthiest country on earth, buy more stuff from developing countries such as China, than what they buy from us, which obviously isn't a bad thing for us at all ... unless you want to argue that if Trump, as a billionaire, can buy more stuff from his local supermarket than that supermarket's employees can buy from him, then the person who's the "loser" here is ... Trump the billionaire) doesn't allow him to work together with China on crucial issues AT ALL.
Obama's TTP would have allowed us to do so, as it did NOT directly attack China, but instead created a regional free trade economy that China sooner or later would love to integrate too, and THEN we'd have some real leverage.
4
@Peter
In fact President Trump has been treated with an absolutely incredible degree of tolerance and long suffering patience by just about everybody his policies have effected including the Heads of State of numerous other countries and the vast numbers of Americans who have been negatively impacted by his foolishness.
4
Why do I get the distinct impression that if Trump increased troop presence there, the left would be harping on that move too? The left's position isn't coherent policy as much as it is against "whatever Trump is for". I know Hillary is a hawk, and most of the left is big government. So I guess imperialism makes sense from a leftist standpoint. But I swear I saw some Fahrenheit movie a while back and it was all about why are we going into Iraq? War bad! That kind of sentiment. Now that Trump wants to leave, war good! It's a great move - and Trump is solidifying his election lock. While the left scurries around desperately trying to impeach him - since they know he'll win on policy and results.
8
As a news junkie, I noticed that the media, so presumably some on the left, did give Trump credit for not pulling out of Syria last year. If he didn't keep creating so much of his own news, I think he would have received more kudos for it as time went on and we kept ISIS from regrouping.
1
But good letter, otherwise!
@Donald Driver I can see the promises Trump makes, but the results? Not so much. Where is my better and cheaper health care? Where are all the manufacturing jobs? Where is the 'easy win' in the trade wars? Where are my beautiful airports and bridges?
OK, he signed some tax cuts Paul Ryan dreamt up. That's it as far as results go.
Putting aside his total ignorance about geo-politics, does anyone in the GOP not think he’s totally bonkers with the, “I , in my great unmatched wisdom” tweet? Who says things like that, other than a raving maniac on the street corner predicting the end of the world?
18
@Delcie
american can't wait for impeachment. it must invoke the 25th amendment asap.
The idea of leaving the Kurds, who lost thousands of troops fighting ISIS on the ground, to the mercies of Turkey, Syria, Russia and Iran sickens me.
But then, pretty much everything about Trump's policies sickens me.
7
Trump makes foolish promises that appeal to his base---who lack the wisdom to accept the implausibility of these promises. For example, the Wall at the southern border---unnecessary, too expensive ( there are more efficient ways to achieve the same ends).
With regard to Syria and our Kurdish allies , it sounds good to bring our boys back home, but reality is what it is. We are part of a globe where wars are always happening and we need allies for own security. To just leave the fight and let allies be exterminated is stupid.
A promise made during a campaign when candidates promise that all problems will disappear with their election should not be the basis for the actual policy. Policy needs analysis, input from experts and experienced advisers. Trump is his own man and avoids advice from those who know. (Fox News was a major source , and they are far from professional or experts.)
What we get from Trump is a jumble of gut-inspired declarations on a whim that will surely be back-walked , giving the world the impression of a "leader" who---in spite of his belief in his own unbounded wisdom--comes across as unhinged---a man who doesn't know his own mind and whose statements can sometimes be ignored and sometimes not.
3
Trump is too immature, and narrow minded to be a leader of the US. I've seen his type before, they are good at one thing, get rich at it but are not fit to do much else. We are in the middle east because Bush Jr. decided Saddam Hussein had to go, as he had threatened Bush Sr. and Chaney needed to help his Halliburton friends . None of this had anything to do with 9/11 and the Saudis attacking us. Somehow we ended up in Afghanistan and Syria fighting Isis which is an offshoot of the Taliban who wouldn't be in existence if it weren't for US funding.
Next we have Iran and their 50 year long grudge, and Putin's Napoleon complex/ Trump's puppeteer, and we now have one messed up world.
The buck stops at the voters, who all need to grow up and look at the big picture, do you want to live like this, or do you want a decent world to live in?
1
"...since President Harry Truman’s day to think ahead about the potential costs and benefits of presidential decisions. That system is badly broken today. Mr. Trump is so suspicious of the professional staff — many drawn from the State Department and the C.I.A. — and so dismissive of the “deep state” foreign policy"
Interesting. When President Truman initiated the CIA, he did so fearfully. I assume you know the history.
I assume that you also know that we have been in a long string of wars to change the regimes and politics of other countries either for our supposed national benefit or our oil companies or the mafia - and we have LOST every last single one of those wars recommended, planned, and initiated, complete with puppet for post victory, by that agency, the voice and fist of our Deep State - which is a mindset not a club.
You also know that Presidents depend on advisors to make decisions and that in foreign policy it has always been the CIA and the State Dept. counseling Presidents after Truman. Then, after GHW Bush was installed the war was between those two agencies for control of the President's ear. State lost.
That's the mess our mindless Trump moved in on, bringing along his group of right-wing crazies to replace both the CIA & State.
Hillary wanted to bomb Syria as a clear move for a war with Russia. Putin who stopped that to the CIA's dismay. We never helped the Kurds when they so badly needed it, but now, suddenly, they're an anti-Trump tool.
4
@Anonymot
The goal of getting out of these conflicts is great. The problem is the way it is being done, by a mentally unstable individual who knows little about the situations he is tweeting about, is leading to disaster.
1
@Barbara
I was not even born when the Kurds first began fighting for a homeland, and I'm getting oldish.
We have had Democrats, Republicans, one undefined pretender (who I'll vote for if his heart is OK, which it may well be) and NONE of them has ever paid any attention to the Kurd's problem. Instead, we have poured money into Turkish coffers as members of our army called NATO.
We love NATO, because we give the Presidents and politicians at the countries' head, vast sums of money to protect our interest. By fighting the devils in foreign wars? Not really.
We give them those sums so that they can skim off some cream (which puts them in handcuffs labelled 'Ally') and then they return what's left to our Deep State friends by buying tons of unneeded weaponry from American manufacturers and arms salesmen. armaments.
Or do you think Turkey and Eastern Slobbovia make their own fighter jets and long-range missiles?
By the way, I love Turkey. It's the skimmers at the top, here and elsewhere, that are corrupt and detestable.
There is a right way and a wrong way to conduct foreign policy. So far Trump has underlined the inefficacy of his way as completely wrong. He does not ponder moves. He is unable. He has perfected knee jerk policy to a new low.
2
Burn your friends, help your most dictatorial former long time adversaries, stick your head in the sand and call it the policy of a person of "great and unmatched wisdom." And if that is not enough lower the taxes of the super rich and make the poor pay the tariffs of his "easy to win" economic wars. What could be wrong here?
4
What we should all be asking ourselves, and I am sure there are many in the Pentagon and State Department who are, is 'Why?'.
Why make the same mistake twice? Why reinstate such an unpopular decision that was widely opposed the first time? Why insist on a course of action that almost everyone sees as contrary to the best interests of the US?
There has to be a compelling reason because even President Trump is not that blind or dismissive of the overwhelming weight of opposing opinion.
It appears that Erdogan has some kind of leverage over the President. Given all the foolhardy things that Trump has said and done in the past that we know of, it is not far fetched to imagine that he has done something that we are not aware of and that he has comprised himself in some way with Erdogan or that there is some kind of quid quo pro.
1
@RHR
Trump told us why he is now Erdogan's tool: his name is on some real estate in Turkey.
Trump doesn't think ahead. He's a knee jerk throw-spaghetti-at-the-wall type. He projects his internal chaos out on the rest of the world.
1
To have this man in charge of life and death situations like this is terrifying. He is off his rocker, plain of day and he should be removed from decision making as a matter of urgency. I would feel sorry for him but I keep thinking of family separations and innocent people killed in mass shootings about which he does nothing. These are real unfiltered quotes that have spewed from his mouth at a speech he made only a few days ago:
"We will express the corruption." end of sentence
"We will defraud... (halt mid sentence)...I tell you what, we will do what we have to do.." and seconds later unbelievably: "We will stop defrauding all of the people in our country..." then an unintelligible word salad as he semi-realises that he should not have said it.
How anybody would not be alarmed by this man making military decisions in the Middle East, let alone controlling the nuclear football is very hard to understand. Good luck America. We need you back leading the world and promoting democracy,
4
“if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, ..."
The only thing missing in that tweet was the use of the royal "we" !
1
As a Navy Disabled Vet I ask all the naysayers especially those that have never served or those that would never join the military, why do you think you get an opinion?
To those that disagree, tell me why we have to sacrifice the lives of our military for people who won’t defend themselves or if we bring our troops, draft all there able bodied MEN and WOMEN to fight and destroy THEIR oppression govt or in this case ISIS?
If we can’t go to war with the greatest technology and our troops are killed or maimed because of politics I say don’t go, don’t sacrifice our lives.
If you not a Veteran or an current active duty member or a reservist YOU get NO Say.
Stop fighting war we never go into win, divide or conquer.
3
@Peter V
Mr. Trump got 5 draft deferments and never served.
The Constitution gives us the right to express our opinions.
Every use of our military should serve a purpose directly related to the benefit of our country.
Every decision to withdraw forces or not to intervene should also serve a purpose directly relegated to the benefit of our country.
Merely saying we should not be in “ridiculous” wars is simplistic and a slogan not a policy.
3
@Peter V
I do have a say because my relatives who are minorities have fought in all of our wars. Kicked to the curb by racism all the time but we have supported our Country.
However my brother who was a marine never left anyone behind. We don’t leave our allies behind never, our lives depend on our allies. We are better than Trump and this Russian GOP
We need a plan and the plan is not to leave as we did in Viet Nam . No we need to listen to our allies, we need to care and we better have a brilliant plan not one draft dodger sitting alone in his office. Trump may want to have blood on his hands but the American people do not and you do not
Endless wars are horrific we all agreed on that but we have knowledgeable people around the world who can work with us , stop with the stupidity-white house and get busy,
2
@Peter V
I get to have an opinion because I am a U.S. taxpayer, and my taxes help support the military, and by extension, your military disability pension, if you receive one. If you think I'm not entitled to an opinion on the national policy decisions of the country where I live, work and pay taxes, then I'm glad you're not active anymore and would like my money back.
Perhaps the Kurds should offer to provide negative info on Biden.
1
@Blue in Green
Maybe the Kurds have more information on the draft dodger and his hotels to give to the democrats. Maybe they have the tape audios.
1
The foreign policy establishment is utterly discredited, and discredited in a bipartisan fashion, when it comes to military involvement in foreign regional conflicts.
Trump actions need to be evaluated against that background. Iraq or Libya, Republicans or Democrats, debacle after debacle. This does not make any Trump action wise or even sensible but his instincts are once again correct about what the public is fed up with. His bipartisan opponents advocating spending American blood a treasure, particularly in the world of Islam, for hard to define and quantify goals of “ loyalty, human rights, balance, responsibility, and stability” are not on the the same page as the public, and that public includes those opposed to anything Trump by principle.
Left used to complain that our policy in the Middle East was all about oil. At least the “ we need the oil so I can drive to work and my mother does not freeze in February” made sense to the American voters.
9
From a Putin perspective, this "strategy" makes perfect sense.
1
"ending American's endless war"
Since January 20, 2017, every day feels like an "endless war" with this guy at the helm.
5
Perhaps to you, but there are others who disagree. I’ve never voted Republican in my life. And I have no intention of doing so. However, there is little question that in terms of the US economy, Mr. Trump has done some good things.
Hyperbole is not an adequate substitute for logical argumentation.
2
The article makes some great points, but the most important is citing trump’s statement about his “great and unmatched wisdom.”
Those are the words of a megalomaniac.
No world leader in his or her right mind would utter or print these words. These are the words of a James Bond movie villain.
There is no way a mentally ill person should have the nuclear codes. I wonder how many times trump tried to order a launch.
This maniac must be removed from the Oval Office.
12
It’s really quite bizarre reading the comments here. If a small amount of US troops prevents Turkey from opening a new front in the Syrian war then how is withdrawing them ending endless wars rather than allowing a new war to blossom that inevitability will have larger costs down the road?
2
Why tinker? If Trump truly wants to pursue America First and remove our military personnel from global policing then begin by removing every last US military personnel and all our material from Germany. Then move on to the rest of Europe and Japan and S. Korea.
3
As the picture on NYT front page indicates, Mr. Trump met with the Pentagon's high-brass on Monday, long after he spoke with President Erdogan of Turkey on Sunday, giving him the green light to invade Syria.
Obviously, he did not consult with anyone in Pentagon before changing the US policy toward Syria. No one in Pentagon would have supported that policy change. Then, what was that big meeting in the White House about?
The Monday meeting was a "just-for-you-to-know" session, which was made necessary by the bipartisan and media outrage over that decision. The message was crystal clear: like it or not, I am the boss here and I am the one making all the decisions. Capisci?
1
@Eddie B. As it should be in a Democratic Republic. In a Dominion of a Monarchy, of course, like Canada, the people would never know of a major policy shift until one of the ministers in the cabinet publicly exposed and challenged it, as in Trudeau’s SJN Lavalin scandal. Compared to the public light our freedom of the press shines on our government, funded by our taxes and responsible to our elected representatives for its spending those taxes, Canadians live in winter darkness. Canadians know far less about the ordinary bureaucratic operations and general information for foreign investors than foreign investors about the USA. For breaking news on even ordinary local news, crime, disasters, obituaries, etc., one has to turn to Twitter or the online rumor mill. Otherwise, one may never know what happened to friends or family there, government spending, business taxes, such as carbon taxes, or health care reforms.
2
@Bayou Houma
As any other system, the Canadian system of government has its own merits and drawbacks. So, let's put that aside and get to the point. I detect you are unhappy that a Canadian dares to comment on politics of your country. That should indicate how important your country is to the rest of the world and, I believe, should be viewed as a plus and not a minus.
I do closely follow US political developments, primarily on the following accounts:
1. Decisions made by US politicians have political and economic implications for the rest of the world, in particular Canada. If US enters into a war, then Canada, as a NATO member, may have to get involved. Our children and grand children may end up fighting along-side your military. That happens to be a major concern of mine;
2. As someone who has lived in the US and has come to appreciate the US "great experiment in democracy" I hate to see Mr. Trump, day after day, assaulting the most fundamental values of your country. In a country that many have guns, his brazen divisiveness could get a key democratic figure killed; and then all hell could get loose.
Some of the things that Mr. Trump says and does are way beyond acceptable norms in any country. If his approach to US politics and election becomes the norm, I am afraid "the great experiment" is doomed to fail. And that will be a loss, not only for Canada, but the entire world.
I might have to defer to a more sagacious owner of convenient, evanescent calcaneal protuberances, but ‘get out’ sounds very similar to ‘cut and run’. As I recall, that was often cast as a term of derision on the last WH occupant. GOP hypocrisy doesn’t recognize feckless when they are struck in the face with it.
David Sanger correctly notes the gravity of President Trump's threat to "destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey," a crucial NATO ally in a sensitive region. But he doesn't comment on the president's bizarre reference to his "great and unmatched wisdom." There are two possible explanations for this phrase. Either the president is making a silly joke as he reverses his policy directive and throws the region and our allies into a chaotic state of uncertainty. Or he is completely delusional and needs to be removed under the 25th Amendment ASAP.
2
Endless wars must end. Whether you like or dislike Trump, this is the right decision. Americans are sick if it. Here in NY, the infrastructure, especially the subway system is in shambles. Instead of spending trillions on useless wars or presence, it's time to spend the money on the American people, healthcare, and families in need.
9
@Independent
That's not going to happen. He's probebly adjusting his spread sheet to free up funds for his "Legacy Wall". The very real consequences of doing so are beyond his appreciation as far as I can tell.
It astonishes me that someone can make the "great and unmatched wisdom" statement and still be considered to be in possession of all his marbles.
3
@Alicia Lloyd
It's the most baffling thing abut all the discussion: it's one of his craziest comments, and from a person who routinely fails to make sense.
There was a study decades ago about people who were actually hospitalized for psychiatric reasons.It found that fellow patients accurately assessed whether their fellow patients were still psychotic or functioning reasonably well. The professionals often couldn't see the actual person in front of them.
An ounce of common sense: his statement was delusional, and it's not a red flag -- but a hurricane warning ( that's two red flags with black squares in the center, flown one atop the other).
1
This President is in perpetual negotiation mode - This time using The Kurds as pawns. This is the real tragedy and cause enough to debate his ability to manage US foreign affairs. Any reader of The NYT should know by now the Middle East has been a dangerous and unsettled political region since the 1970s. It will remain so for another 50 years.
A policy to end our "endless wars" is good, unless it is aimed at favoring enemies of Democracy because of personal business interests.
If you don't like the narrative, change the narrative. The discomfort of the Ukraine phone call necessitated a different conversation, so pick up the phone again and talk to someone else. Bad ideas in both cases.
The irrationality at the heart of Trump's "'Time for us to get out'" policy could not be more evident when on the one hand he's pushed for and received huge increases in military spending and then on the other hand claims it's too expensive to deploy the military in the service of our national security. When coupled with the utter depravity of his rhetoric claiming narcissistic God-like grandiose power only adds to the reality that Trump is, as Sen. John Kennedy accused Rudy "The Mouth" Giuliani, "Mad as a March hare," and that we are literally down "the rabbit hole" with a foreign policy fitting either "Alice in Wonderland" or perhaps even more darkly Vladimir Putin.
2
He cynically uses the Kurds to pull our attention away from his latest problem. The man has scorched the news cycle like this many times. And he will do it again. Hopefully everything will catch up to him very soon. Let all the evil that lurks in the mud hatch out.
2
Sanders, Biden and Warren are for endless wars in the middleast. Finally a clear distinction for the voting public.
4
@Mkm i bet no one is for endless wars except the military industrial complex
2
Apparently Erdogan got angry with Trump on the call because Trump had failed to honor promised a sit down with Erdogan at the UN. Trump told Erdogan that the US would pull troops out of Syria to get Erdogan off the phone.
Saying that Trump was acting on some " progressive " reason is baloney.
2
Trump supporters are typical of those who think there are simple solutions to complex problems.
Just pull all our troops home, were America, the rest of the world will still be in awe of us. Put tariffs on Chinese goods and manufacturing jobs will magically appear in "flyover country".
Ease environmental rules and "King Coal" will once again hire everyone in West Virginia. Build a wall to stop illegal immigrants and like magic "real Americans will be slaughtering hogs an re-mulching your lawn.
Our domestic problems are complex, international relationships are difficult, and there are no across the board solutions to isolated problems nor simple solutions to broad issues.
Trump is not a solution to anything, he is a problem.
2
And what have the “complex” solutions that you seem to favor accomplished other than “complex” wars with no solution in sight?
5
The solution to the Trump presidency is so obvious.
Trump needs to announce that he is so disgusted with the unfair press coverage he receives and the presidential abuse he suffers that he refuses to run for re-election. (He’d be smart to work out a deal w senate Republicans not to support impeachment if he steps down).
Then he could live out his days tweeting happily, playing golf at his resorts, offering commentary on Fox News, and bragging about how his administration was the best of any, ever.
The chances he can survive in office another five years without a major catastrophe are zilch. Get out now, Donald!!
2
"When 'get out' is a president's national security strategy", it is time for that president to follow his own advise and "get out" of the office of the presidency for good.
2
The incompetent demagogue showing his lack of common sense again.
He was technically right re not getting into needless foreign wars like Vietnam, Iraq 2(although he was technically for it), etc. but in Syria ISIS attacked and killed Americans and if not watched could lead to another bloodbath for Americans and the people in the area.
Put aside differences with any foes in the area that want to ally ourselves with the fight against ISIS.
However end our support of Saudi Arabia with their genocidal war against the pro Iranian faction in Yemen. Nobody there has attacked Americans or our armed forces.
3
When writing that our elaborate systems, in place since the days of Harry Truman’s presidency to help us arrive at sane foreign policy decisions, are broken… it should be made clear that it is Trump who is breaking them. And to claim that he’s read the pulse of the USA’s majority is to give him too much credit. It seems fairer to observe he’s the picture definition of “Mediocre Caucasian USA Male” — a species that lives propped up all its life, yet somehow creates for itself a delusion that it lives by its own genius. All indications are he thinks “Troop presence is ‘spensive, gotta get ‘em out!” rather than realizing that peacetime fosters prosperity and that multilateral agreements and shared peacetime troop expenses are the cornerstone of that peace. (Trump hardly seems like a student of WWII… at least, not of the winning side.) Likelier still, he remains Putin’s stooge, instructed to dismantle any multilateral agreement he comes across. Who benefits most from the world’s return to a few kleptocratic regimes forming bilateral agreements while the rest of us wrestle over their leftover crumbs? Not me, and not anyone whose income is >9 figures in a major currency, I’ll promise you that.
2
President Trump is giving many people on the left and the right what they say they want - to get out of endless wars - quotes or no quotes. But if it results in the genocide of the Kurdish people we will see the horrific results of this seemingly wise and peaceful strategy. My suspicion is that many on the left and right could not care less about the Kurdish people, similar to their feelings about the people of Yemen or the Rohingya. This is pure racism in my opinion. Imagine if we “let others figure it out” for the Jewish people in WWII. Think of Bosnia and Rwanda.
1
Oxymoron:
"President Trump is once again pursuing a national security strategy at odds with the official position of his government."
This is precisely the problem. There are people in the executive branch who think they can pursue a policy distinct from the President's. It is schizophrenic and the worst of government. It results in pulling in different directions and an incoherent policy.
You may not like the President's foreign policy. You may prefer the global extension of American military might and a ceaseless US hegemony regardless of identifiable national interests.
You may, on the other hand, recognize that eliminating safe havens for terrorists requires global domination lest there be a safe haven remaining. It does not take the silly self-proclaimed wisdom of Trump to see that. In the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king.
Remarkable opinion piece published on the front page as news.
1
What we’re witnessing is cynicism at its worst. Notice who suddenly is riding in on his white horse: Mitt Romney. Republicans know full well that Trump would lose against any of the current Democratic candidates in 2020.
They’re now surreptitiously building a case to replace Trump with Romney ASAP knowing Trump’s impeachment and dim re-election prospects. Keep an eye on Pence as well. Remember Agnew? This will all be negotiated behind closed doors with the Democratic Party.
This is the second major occasion on which the U.S.A. has betrayed the brave Kurds, leaving them to be gassed by Saddam Hussein for their invaluable assistance during Desert Storm, and now leaving them at the mercy of Turkey.
And to make matters worse, the void will be filled by ISIS, created by U.S. 'ally' Saudi Arabia and successfully repelled by Kurdish ground forces and Iran's Revolutionary Guards (rewarded with inclusion on the U.S. terrorist list for all their troubles).
Trump didn't create the mess, but he's certainly compounding it. If he really wanted to combat terrorism, and bring an end to 9/11- and Khashoggi-like atrocities, he would remove his troops from Saudi Arabia, the terrorist mother lode. But he keeps the troops there, protecting that despicable Wahhabi state, against relatively secular Iran, a nation that hasn't attacked another for over 250 years.
I believe the word 'Hypocrisy' best describes U.S. policy in the Middle East.
2
There is no conclusive proof Assad has used weapons of mass destruction (poison gas) in Syria. A little skepticism might be in order unless we are afflicted by amnesia over how we were lied into invading Iraq.
As for the rest of the report which read like an op-Ed, it regurgitates the familiar tired agitprop of the military industrial complex which bankrupts our quality of life in these United States to fund a world policeman role that is nowhere found in the Constitution.
4
@Michael Hoffman Yes, exactly.
2
New Trump Rules:
1. Bring troops home from all over the world, including Asia, South Korea, Europe, Iceland (unless we buy one or more of them). 2. Redeploy troops on all borders including airports with orders to shoot anyone trying to enter without proper visa or overstaying visa (visitors must be tagged with electronic device to track them). 3. Build Great Wall around US with moat filled with alligators and snakes (as previously suggested). 4. America First! Every other country: Who cares?
1
As always, Trump makes major decisions without consulting our experts and is always open to the suggestions of authoritarian leaders. A simple call from Erdogan and Trump throws the Kurds under the bus.
I criticise his decision even though I am not in favor of getting embroiled in conflicts around the globe. However, once committed, you need to be mindful of those commitments and the effect of your actions on your allies.
Another curious policy of this President is his commitmet to expanding military spending which runs counter to his position that we waste military resources. Why tell the lie that out armed foraces have been "devastated" and pour more money into the bloated beast when your long-term goal is to retreat? Why is he always so full of bluster, but always backing down? The reason is that Trump doesn't have any depth of knowledge on foreign affairs, he only has an uninformed opinion of what he wants, and like the spoiled rich brat he has always been, he takes his ball and runs home as soon as things don't go his way. But, he does want a big military parade. His ideas simply don't add up.
2
Trump HAD TO HAVE KNOWN how unpopular this would be. Anyone with half a brain could have figured out he will have no choice but to reverse course on this. So the question is why do it in the first place? What did he get for doing this? A guy who couldn't pull trigger on retaliating against Iran after the drone was shot down because too many people would get killed now will take a step that will likely result in allied soldiers being massacred. That he is OK with. And America is OK with that? Because we don't care that others are killed trying to make the world safer. We don't care that children are killed in Yemen using out expertise and bombs. We want our troops home so we can sit back and watch the NFL and ignore the atrocities elsewhere. The height of arrogance. If you think this won't come back to bite us, you have another thing coming. And when ISIS regains strength, what side do you think the remaining Kurds will be on? And just think we will have one man to thank for that.
Endless wars must end. Whether you like or dislike Trump, this is the right decision. Americans are sick if it. Here in NY, the infrastructure, especially the subway system is in shambles. Instead of spending trillions on useless wars or presence, it's time to spend the money on the American people, healthcare, and families in need. And Turkey is not a NATO ally. Why would and journalist worth their salt even say such an irresponsible statement.
3
President Trump is fulfilling promises made during his campaign to bring our troops home from these Endless Wars. I totally support him. Those who do not have a vested interest in pushing this folly and protecting the fact they encouraged these wars to begin with. I stand with bringing our troops home...now!
3
This action by Trump again clearly reflects his ignorance, lack of judgement and unfitness for office.
However, his statement "I, in my great and unmatched wisdom" is the kind of thing that no president has ever said and should be taken more seriously than it seems to be so far. On the one hand, it is dictator talk, the kind of thing that only a dictator, or someone who wants to be a dictator would say. On the other hand, it is actually delusional, the kind of thing that reflects true psychopathology. Either way it indicates a need to be removed from office.
Trump is correct on getting out of Syria. I hope he pulls it off.
Why are we caught between 2 Sunni Islamic factions (the Turks and the Kurds) on the other side of the world who hate each other? Isn't Turkey supposedly our NATO partner? Aren't the Kurds supposedly also our ally?
Can anybody define what our goal is in Syria? If not, why do American soldiers have to die there? If there isn't a better reason than "I hate Trump", it's time to go.
3
Can anyone be truly surprised with this scenario when some Americans elected an individual whom admitted to getting his "foreign news and policy from tv?" TV!! Add insult to injury, its an entertainment network, not an actual News network. Sadly for the Kurds, this is just another one of Trump's diversion attempts. Trump will always put himself first and everyone else, last. Republicans have to ask themselves if Trump allowing Turkey to MURDER our Kurd Allies in Syria is acceptable to them? If such an act is in the best interest of America or will they remain cowed down to Trump even when they know he is flat out wrong? If history is anything to go by, the blood of our Kurd Ally will be on their hands because they've never stopped Trump from these types of outrageous, immoral and unethical actions despite how it all affects America!
2
A “Trump Doctrine” would presume a rational and reasoned thought. We all know that’s not happening.
2
Trump wants a huge military and throws tons of money at it that we don't have, ballooning the deficit and debt and jeopardizing our financial security, but his foreign policy with respect to employing the military is to simply retreat. He cozies up to military types and has huge military support, yet he dodged the draft, can't get along with the military men he hired, and insults a gold star family. He doesn't want to use the military overseas, but he wants to deploy it at home. He went to military school, but apparently has absolutely zero understanding of or interest in military strategy. What a weird little duck Trump is! There were so many other Republicans in the 2016 race, and they chose this? I simply cannot see the attraction -- at all.
1
We should show that we can be trustworthy and support the Kurds. Maybe leave a small force with them. We should help them pursue a Kurdistan. We would then have a really good ally in strategic location. Syria is a mess and there is no way that we will accomplish anything there.
In every conflict we quickly scrap together this concept of Allied Forces but then it looks like we blow them off. Kurds don’t ask for much. They do deserve our back up.
World leadership by spooky Tweets is odd and childish like most things in this presidency.
62
@Mickey
Trump's sudden Syrian withdrawal might be a dangerous attempt to keep a campaign promise or he's doing Putin "a favor" by exiting the region without talking to America's allies.
If We The People could see transcripts of Trump's calls with Putin (plus Zelensky, Erdogan and MBS) then we'd know if unscrupulous deals were made that put Trump First over America's interests.
12
@Mickey you mean back the kurds then do what america always does: throw them under the bus, stab them in the back or turn on them. We did it,we have done it , first with Indian nations, then in central and south america, the middle east. God help the Kurds if we back them, then they elect a person America hates( wall street), then the US will assasinate him, foment a rebellion, a coup, something, maybe create an anti government terror group that gors rogue and begins attacking us?
2
@Mickey Yes we should help the Kurds, how about a swap Turks return to Turkey and Kurds move into what is north Iraq. Also Kurds move out of Syria and stop attacks on Turkey.
For years we listened to Democrats criticize Republican’s foreign wars & adventurism and overseas nation-building endeavors. Now a GOP President wants to start ending them and Democrats are apoplectic. Will Democrats please make up their minds?
3
@Once From Rome
Even Republicans think this is a feckless, boneheaded maneuver. This is abandoning an ally and will further de-stabilize the Middle East. That seems to be the ultimate goal of Republican foreign policy - it's a bone to throw to the evangelical base to keep them voting for them.
Oh, and there's the impeachment inquiry that needs to be detracted from.
This is what happens when foreign policy is run, not by strategy, but by personality.
2
Having walked away from Obama’s Iran agreement (that Europe and the Russians had also signed), Trump’s reputation for being an inauthentic negotiator precedes him. A U.S. commitment to another nation no longer means what it used to mean under 44 previous presidents. No leader wants to engage with Trump for fear that either it will just be a show for the cameras or Trump will say anything but mean nothing. The stature of the U.S. on the world stage is now the equivalent of a corrupt banana republic.
2
I like to call Trump’s foreign policy the “Gated Community Approach.” Build a wall around us. Stop participating as a leader in the world. Keep the rest of the world out. The problem is “out there” and we should all be ok as long as we stay “over here.” There is “us” and “them” and "them” is really bad and not worth the time so why bother. His foreign policy sounds a lot like the rules for membership at his country club.
3
Did I miss something in yesterday’s article, and this one? Where’s the EU reaction? Turkey’s president threatened to release all those Syrian refugees into Europe if he couldn’t take that....small part of Syria for their return, resettlement.
President Erdogan, by wrapping that dilemma into his long desire to destroy the Kurds, seems to be setting up a choice for Europeans; stay quiet and let me attack the Kurds, or else.
All these anti-war comments, ratify again president Trump’s ease of finding a divisive problem, and not solving it, but making it worse. A real leader might ask the EU, why is Turkey, the new leader in show trials, theocracy, buying Russian missiles- in the EU? In NATO? And where should all those ISIS prisoners (that the Kurds are guarding) end up?
We turned our back once on these warnings about supposed regional disputes, religious quarrels, and got 9/11. Mission Accomplished? No. Endless War? No. Endless vigilance, endless standing for principles, beliefs in messy democracy.
If we had a real leader, if the UN, the EU, the Middle East had real leaders, we might have a centennial 2019 conference- and redraw boundaries, this time with all the players taking part. But no, we have- a pompous blowhard, and the rest of the world stays silent. We’ve seen this movie before.
2
Building a coalition of countries, developing strategies and working through Congress and international agencies to stop endless wars would be wonderful. I’m all for it. Just pulling out of Syria and letting the chips fall where they may and leaving behind the Kurds, an ethnic group that has bet their survival on their assisting us is not strategic. A solution for the Kurds should have been negotiated. As noted by another blogger, this abrupt action is more likely the result of a conversation between Trump and Erdogan about the Trump Towers in Istanbul and how Trump can keep ownership of his name there. Another phone conversation not accessible to either lawmakers or the public. And the reason given? Trump has “unmatched wisdom.” Sorry, he doesn’t, and that’s not a reason, it’s a sign of a sell-out and a coverup. What is going to happen to the Kurdistan region and how will it’s whole territory be affected by this move? Please, NYT, offer more in-depth reporting on consequences not only to small area where U.S. helps militarily, but whole region.
2
"Getting out" is the foreign policy equivalent of "bankruptcy" for this President.
When history books will look back at the Trump Presidency they will see that an individual bereft of any talent other than the ability to squander assets had lead this nation to the precipice of moral bankruptcy as he sowed seeds of racial division and normalized lying; economic bankruptcy as he ballooned the deficit by siphoning off treasury funds for tax cuts to the wealthiest; foreign policy bankruptcy by alienating our friends and embracing our enemies and intelligence bankruptcy by gutting the FBI and CIA.
When he finally leaves office we may truly be able to discover the real depths of what harm he had wrought upon us that may take generations to repair
5
It's not just the decision to withdraw the troops from Syria. It's that Trump impulsively makes and implements policy on twitter or phone calls with leaders of other countries. Trump's reasoning is opaque and his motives always open to doubt: is he pursuing a personal vendetta against Obama, Hillary, or Biden; is the protecting the interests of the Trump organization; or is trying to display his competence thru out-of-the-box decisionmaking?
Trump has dishonored a Gold Star family, a US Senator who served several yrs as a POW in Vietnam, Genl Mattis, and more. But no one more than Navy Seal Ryan Owens, who lost his life in a failed raid in Yemen 9 days after Trump took office. Altho Trump approved the raid, afterwards he refused to take responsibility, blaming the raid on the generals who wanted to undertake the mission.
Trump has impulsively dispatched troops to the US southern border for a nonexistent emergency, Trump has transferred military funds to the project to build Trump's wall. Trump summoned his armada in the Pacific, despite the clear impact that this act of false bravado would have on vessel readiness. It's always about Trump; it's never about our national interests.
Trump has repeatedly tried to use the military for political gain. Article I must be that he has demonstrated his unfitness to command the US armed forces. What could be vital to national security than a fit commander in chief?
3
"my great and unmatched wisdom" is really scary sounding, as if he is a god or Demi-god of myth. And his statement is a myth also.
Yes, the American people want peace, but by diplomacy and world leadership, not by abandoning our allies. We will always want our troops in place all over the world, but we do not have to be at war for that to be so. Leadership that makes allies of enemies and strengthens our world standing is what the American people want.
5
Excellent. We should bring US troops home from all of our overseas interventions. No overseas deployment should last longer than a few months. The current decades-long commitments are exorbitantly wasteful of resources and cause more problems than they resolve. The problems of foreign countries need to be solved by their own citizens, not the US military.
7
@Bill
I agree with your reasoning - - we have wasted so much in the martial art of destruction, - - -
except I also believe that the US President shouldn't just pull the plug during an informal telephone conversation with the head of another country ,without talking to those who have been allies, or to his own advisors, and to Congress before pulling a policy u-turn. ( Congress should own more responsibility for our elective wars -- but during Obama's time, they resisted taking that on, preferring to have someone to blame. With GW Bush/Cheney, they caved).
That Trump has conflicts of interest due to Turkish investments, and that Erdogan would like to destroy the Kurds add twists in the latest development. That he has threatened war on Iran -- also doesn't reassure me that his concern is for the nation.
1
@Bill
Instead of 'no overseas deployment should last longer, than a few months' why don't you say 'no more foreign intervention anywhere, unless the US homeland is attacked'?
1
@Bill
If, in the past seventy years, the US had never intervened in overseas conflicts (or for no longer than a few months as you suggest), then we would be living in an entirely different world. Nazi Germany might not have lost WW2. NATO would never have been created and the long peace that we have enjoyed in the West for the past seven decades might never have happened.
No alien would come to this planet and think that a creature like Trump, of all creatures, could create peace. Just because he wants to pull troops out doesn’t mean he’s ending war. His policies have the strongest likelihood of creating new wars. Conflict simmers below the surface before boiling, and Trump takes it upon himself to stir the pot at all times.
His supporters. Oh, his supporters. They like the pulling of troops as long as it isn’t Obama doing it.
11
Amid the chaos that is Trump's America I need the occasional levity to lighten things up a bit. Hearing that some people find him articulate and well informed certainly did the trick and literally made LOL.
In reality Trump is virtually incomprehensible and laughably uninformed on nearly every subject except stealing other people's money.
14
Here are my thoughts as the daughter of a career military officer: you don’t leave your allies behind in this manner. How is Trump allowed to take such a decision? Where are the controls on him? Why can’t all the military leaders stop this? America is once again untrustworthy, rash, unintelligent. I am thinking of those sad refugees. I am also thinking of those prisons- once those people are freed, they will be coming straight for the USA.
10
I don't know if this is good or bad, but if only JFK had made the same decision, it would have been better for all. As for the Kurds, I guess they can join the Hmong tribesmen.
1
Interesting what Trump defenders miss in recognizing we shouldn’t be the police of the world.
Such as the following:
Threatening that “we will destroy you if you don’t do what we want” is inconsistent with not being the word’s boss. We must work with the rest of the international community for there to be peace and prosperity. In a complex, dangerous world it’s essential to carefully think through what you do and say. We have to “pay for what we break” including the damage we will cause by changing course and abandoning commitments
A broken clock may be right twice a day but a clock with no hands is never right.
3
There's so much to unpack here: Trump's ignorance about foreign affairs; Trump's paranoia about his own intelligence and military advisers; Trump's love of dictators and his fear of disappointing those he's speaking to directly (Erdogan); Trump's personality disorder ('My Great and Unmatched Wisdom'); Trump's financial interests in Istanbul.
But the bottom line is that the Republican Party, whether its members like it or not, has become a card-carrying pro-Russia party while the Democratic Party is a pro-NATO party.
3
t find it interesting that every move he makes in foreign policy benefits Vladimir Putin. Coincidence? Hardly because it keeps happening again and again.
Second, what's he doing to say when ISIS reforms, again threatening our safety at home and abroad?
This president doesn't know how to think things through. He has fixed ideas he thinks he can execute in a vacuum because he can't envision the consequences down the road.
Our Middle East foreign policy, if you can call a bunch of wild ideas a policy, is in tatters. while its rewarding to see the GOP finally buck him, its not great to feel he's making us all less safe in the long run.
5
Please explain how Mr. Trump’s expulsion of 60 Russian spies last year, his closure of the Russian consulate in Seattle last year, his sharp increase in sanctions on Russian officials announced last year, and his administration’s leak to the press that the US would be conducting cyber warfare activity is against Russia this year, all suggest that he is somehow benefiting Mr. Putin.
Please, don't think this troop pull out is part of a grand strategy of ending endless wars...Trump is a day trader...he saw a deal on the table--the kind of deal Trump is good at..we give the enemy whatever they ask for and we get nothing in return--the man is a stable genius. Always start your analysis with the premise that Trump is running his real estate business from the Oval Office---of course we know how most of those business deals worked out.
9
It's rather like back in the 1990s repealing the laws that kept banks from gambling with depositors' money and not realizing that those laws had prevented a recurrence of the Great Depression. American foreign policy since WWII has sometimes been less than brilliant, but the building of alliances and international cooperation has been a key reason why there has been no WWIII. The key skill in making any machine or policy work better is recognizing which are the critical and indispensable parts so that we don't remove them in ignorance and bring on disaster.
2
He’s a Progressive on this issue and following through on his campaign promises. The progressive Democrats should be jumping for joy or at least pretending to, but except for Tulsi Gabbard they’re in the tank with the Neocons now. It’s a cold and calculated political decision that goes hand in hand with their obsession with impeachment and Russia! Russia! Russia!. Anything to get the President even when he’s right. The only lesson the politicians learned from the Vietnam War protests was to abolish the draft. Now the only ones who pay the price of their endless wars are the poor.
6
@Edward
The poor pay the price and the mercenaries such as Blackwater make the money. It is easy to blame Russia for every thing since we miss the Cold War so much. We are so so indoctrination against Russia and can easily demonize it. People need an enemy to keep the military industrial complex well funded. US NATO would love to get Sevastopol and rule the Black Sea.
2
This certainly has had the "look over there" effect of top news story. Impeachment is no longer the top story is it?
Yes, I believe Trump is capable of doing this just to change the news cycle.
14
Is this a cynical pivot that puts allies at risk to divert attention from another foreign policy matter?
6
“if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey.” " Only I" He thinks he knows better. And this makes me scared of our future. In any part of the world these days.
6
Thank god for anti-war Trump. Clinton would've had something to prove. There are plenty of conflicts around the world where we can park our military in order to police them, but at what cost? Our young men and women's lives? Why is everyone beating their drums just because Trump made the call to pull out our troops?
6
@Don Q
I guess it's because we don't like to betray allies and care about the well being of those who will either be slaughtered or become refugees. That's my guess.
1
@JRM Fun Fact: There are many deaths we can prevent by sending our military to key spots in the world, however it puts our OWN troops lives at risk. By your words we should be in perpetual war around the world.
1
I remember a time when there were protests against the military invading other countries outside the US was the moral thing to do. Having served in the military, I believe we have a military industrial complex. The anti Trumpers have become the new neocons. We should be celebrating bringing the military home.
7
After the disastrous wars in the mideast, which were about oil & gas and who reaps the profits, Trump like Obama wishes to withdraw. He's right that the American people are against endless wars.
He may have toyed with the idea of bombing Iran when Israel, the Saudis et al were more stable, but they have their own problems now. It's a good time to return to the original carefully negotiated Iran nuclear deal.
Anti-war isn't the only issue on our minds here in America; we want a say in our government. We want to bring back unions and fair taxation, and we envy the social safety net enjoyed by some in Europe and Canada. We are democrats and we will be heard at the ballot box (through all the noise.)
So we wish to walk softly and carry a big stick, rein in the monopolies, and revere nature by rescuing the environment; like our illustrious president Teddy Roosevelt. Trump has impeached himself.
3
I believe that all those who want the US military to be in Syria should volunteer themselves or their children and offer to pay for their presence there. The rest of us are happy that our 'boys' are coming home and that we are letting the tinderbox burn itself into oblivion.
What's our mission there, anyway? Protecting the Kurds?
If the world wants us to be their policemen, let's do it for a fee, say 1% of everyone's income. We can sub-contract the dirtiest of jobs to other militaries (India may jump at the offer) and provide the logistical and managerial support, but it must be run like a business. No pay, no way!
4
Media coverage of Pres. Trump has been mostly all negative, so much so, that it long crossed the line of headline shock value. Daily news battering of Trump has numbed most non-partisan readers, or made him into a lone sympathetic figure fighting against the odds of numerous attackers. The public optics of the coverage are against his legions of robotic like denigrators, no matter their claims of factual basis.
After three years of the Trump news, the coverage seems to embitter the deepening political division of the country, including the most bizarre one, working class sympathy for billionaire Trump’s defiance of the negative media treatment. Not even President Nixon, one of the most deservedly reviled U.S. Presidents, was as much a daily headline or on the first page so much until the Watergate break-in. And hardly any major news outlet wrote admiring stories of Nixon before his fall. But when it came, the shock turned his political base against him.
3
How generous of Mr. Sanger to be attribute a "strategy" to Trump's erratic behaviors which have done nothing other than diminish America's stature and influence in the world. A strategy is a course of action that is thought out, discussed and implemented with the buy in of key agencies in the government and advances a US goal. What part of Trump's unilateral and ill informed actions are part of a strategy?
6
If he and his supporters believe that it’s time to get out everywhere, then why aren’t they also calling for a commensurate reduction in the military budget.
29
Aren’t the words “endless wars” put in his ears by Putin?
5
@denise falcone
Seriously? A brief list of highlights, Russia, Korea, Vietnam, most central American countries, Afghanistan, Iraq 2x, Libya, Syria. Don't forget all coups and overthrows as well...Iran being at head of the list. If Putin did indeed mutter "endless wars" he was simply stating an unequivocal fact.
1
Listen America! Yesterday your President claimed to have “ great and unmatched wisdom”. He claimed that his popularity had increased 17% just last week. He claimed that when he came into office an American General told him that America’s armed forces were incapable of fighting because they had no ammunition. America, you don’t have a foreign policy problem. You have a very real and very serious mental health issue. Your President is ill.
120
@John David James - We know. We can’t get his Cabinet invoke the 25th, though. Clearly the House is working on impeachment. It is like watching a train wreck occur in slow motion and being unable to stop it.
18
@John David James Geez, he's not the only one. There's some 30+% of this country who think he's just dandy, just misunderstood by those egghead types, you know, the sane.
7
@John David James
Undoubtedly true, but Canadian sanctimony is increasingly tedious and gratuitous. Your Prime Minister is a pandering, virtue-signalling nonentity, whose good looks and "charm" will likely get him re-elected on October 21.
1
So imagine what will happen when Trump unilaterally decides to launch a nuclear missile and leaves the aftermath for his "staff" to clean up. This president is mentally unfit for the job of POTUS and the fact that he makes these decisions on his own is incredibly scary.
32
@confounded Or imagine what happens when Trump unilaterally decides to give every American free healthcare, free college education, free electric cars, eliminate any credit card or collegiate debt, erase all medical debts...
Then life will be grand..yes?
2
@Erica Smythe
Wonder how you will feel when you learn DJT blew your medicare and social security benefits out the window with a tax cut for the wealthy. Budget deficit hits $980 billion under GOP conservative leadership.
2
To those of you who say "good we should not be the world's policeman", remember that he did this late on a Sunday night, right after another of his cringeworthy phone calls with a head of state who is nominally a NATO ally, but is inching closer to Putin's orbit. To Trump, everything is a transaction - what was promised to him in that phone call?
45
I don’t support knee-jerk policy changes but I do support a less gun-centric foreign policy. At a minimum it would save American money and lives. Let’s take it further, though. Do a thought experiment. Suppose we said Syria and the Middle East are no longer a military theatre for the US (outside of a security guarantee for Israel). We just let the Saudis, Iranians, ISIS, Turks, Kurds, Russians, et.al., sort it out without us. Would American lives be more at risk than they are now? Would it help or hurt our economy? Same goes for Afghanistan. It’s pretty clear that we can’t solve any of the problems over there with our guns.
7
@Art
If I trusted Trump to be working on the interest of We the People, I would agree, but this pull out helps Putin, more than us.
2
For years Democrats have sought to end our relentless wars.
Trump is doing that and the Democrats are against it.
The Democrats are being as partisan as it gets. Nothing with our President is acceptable to them except an opportunity to try and win an election that has ended and they lost.
I am so fed up with Democrats and their never ending pursuit of a sound bite.
9
I guess it's okay for all the Republicans united against this 'idea/strategy' to speak up because they slavishly and blindly support Trump no matter how out there his latest idea(s) may be. Ergo, they are entitled to a few sound 'bites'. I see.
2
It is obvious you complain about democrats without substance. Didn’t you read/heard/twitter Mitch and Lindsay yesterday? They are as far as they can be of any democrat.
1
@Randy L.
"For years Democrats have sought to end our relentless wars..." while Republicans have called them unpatriotic and weak for doing so.
Suddenly, Trump is retreating everywhere that Russia has interests, but Trump supporters don't call it unpatriotic or weak?
Moderates want intelligent policies that use soft power to influencer the world (like the Chinese do very successfully without projecting military force everywhere), but we don't want to just pull 4or troops or of everywhere Russia wants to dominate.
Moderates understands that once you send military or covert forces, if you pull out abruptly, it creates a power vacuum. The Right just loves creating power vacuums that turn into failed states (yes and Clinton did it on Libya which was stupid also).
Trump is great at building his lies on top of fundamental truths. Yes, our politicians have let China win for far too long, with Republicans refusing to "pick winners and losers" while China picked winners. But he then builds policies based on lies, that don't benefit the USA, like the stupid trade war, that Chairman Xi can't let him win, if he wants to survive politically.
Trump is a pathological liar. Everything he does is meant to benefit him. He doesn't care what We the People want. That is why we don't trust Trump to make policy decisions.
And there is no reason to throw the Kurds under the bus, except that the Turkish dictator, Erdagon (who is running kangaroo trials against thousands) wants it.
Honor and trust are important values in the Middle East. This stable genius with unmatched wisdom has none. The USA pretend to fight for all kind of great values, but leave their allies alone, when there is no immediate selfish benefit. Erdogan plans to wipe the Kurds out of Northern Syria, replacing them with Arab refugees. The Kurds will be helpless victims, loosing their territory, their homes, millions will have to flee. The words we have for this are crime and genozide. The next cruel longterm-drama in this region is developing under our eyes.
9
@Franz
Bush 1 did he same thing to the Kurds after Iraq 1.
This is not ending America's involvement in "endless wars". What it is doing is allowing the dictator of Turkey to go after the Kurdish people. Who, since the US invaded Iraq, and overthrew the government, have been stanch allies in fighting that war and the war against ISIS. Their hope, to form their own homeland. A homeland denied to them by the European victors of WWI. Trump has given a dictator carte blanche to do what he sees fit in driving Kurds from Syria and Turkey.
Erdogen is a dictator almost as bad as Assad. He has Turned Turkey into an Islamic dictatorship. This is another example of Trump foreign policy to support dictators, and autocrats, over democratic leaders and ideals.
This move, like many other Trump moves, is a diversion from his inept handling of his office. In addition to the scandal that is riddling his administration and his party. But, this time his action will lead to blood shed; possibly on a large scale. Bloodshed caused by the Turks dealing with their Kurdish "problem" and their "final solution" of removal.
21
It would be interesting and perhaps enlightening to see the transcript of the talk between the leaders of them US and Turkey. Was there an unstated quid pro quo between the two of them? Was the decision to remove our troops from protecting the Kurds based on the president’s financial interests inTurkey? This conversation should be released to Congress and the American people.
134
While I understand your concerns, what you are proposing is obviously never going to happen. The documents that you refer to are not typically released to the public because of their sensitivity, on both sides of the conversation. If such transcripts were to be made public, the US leadership would never be able to communicate with its overseas counterparts. I suggest you apply for a security clearance, a job in the executive branch, and try to get a position on the White House staff, In order to satiate your curiosity.
6
@Scott
I would rather have the transcripts from the Putin and Trump conversations. Just one would be okay, it would be the one that Trump confiscated from the interpreter.
7
@David H But there should be some congressional oversight also.
4
It’s not what he’s doing, but how and why. Troop withdrawal and ending endless wars is a noble goal. The recklessness in how he’s doing it, and the haziness and haste around why, deserve greater attention, and undermine the goal, to understate.
270
@Manny - what goal is he undermining, pray tell? Only the warmongers among us would wish the U.S. to be embroiled in perpetual war and conflict.
17
@November-Rose-59 Even though ending wars is a good goal and not getting into new ones is even better, we need to keep any promises that we've made. It's like if you were in business, building a hotel or something. You might want to economize when shopping for contractors, but if you had already made a deal with them you would be advised to not stiff them.
10
@November-Rose-59
Tell that to the Kurds, our allies and sitting ducks between Erdogan and Assad. Of course that’s too complex for the “anti war”Tulsi Gabbard- slash- Trump crowdwho don’t understand the necessity of nuance in international policy. We are not there to wage war - we were there to protect the Kurds in order to suppress ISIS.
7
The seems to be an incongruity in Trump's behavior relative to ending our endless wars. Why the push to increase the military budget if you are also pursuing a policy to decrease it's utilization?
311
The fastest way to use the military might is to generate chaos. Quick Retreat from Syria and betrayal of friends seems the fastest and surest way to expose the US again and soon to other larger wars where the US soldiers will have no friends but their weapon.
If next retreat is from Korea, a war with China will be inevitable...
19
@Tom Wilson
A rhetorical question, to be sure, but one has to marvel at the complete disconnect, the pure devotion to a philosophy of simply saying what the lowest common denominator wants to hear, when they want to hear it, with utter disregard for either the consequences or any previous statements.
29
My understanding is that the increase in the military budget is designed largely to modernize our nuclear weapons and strategic weapon stockpiles. That of course is designed to prevent conflict between the US and Russia, for example. I am not privy to the defense department budget, but I can imagine that much of the money ordered is being spent also on development of stealth technology, with very little funding going to support US intervention in small, regional conflicts.
10
American military forces stationed around the world are not so much engaged in endless wars as they are in preventing them. In a world where one's neighbors are only too eager to act upon generations-old grievances by sending in their armies to destroy not only military, but also civilian targets, only the U.S and, to a lesser extent, the U.N., have been a deterrent, however imperfect. We have already seen what happens when that deterrent is removed: murderous violence, raping, pillaging, displacement of populations, destruction of societies and the Earth. All these are fundamental threats to our own national security. Yes, "bringing our troops back home" is a worthy ideal, but not at the expense of leaving a vacuum of power behind, with no legitimate force to fill it.
10
Excellent commentary, thank you. Personally, I believe it would be a huge mistake for the US to abandon its role as a global policeman. Doing so would allow Russia, China, and all manner of other underdeveloped and malevolent nations and non-state actors to fill the void. That would not be good for the US or for the world.
1
It's an addition to military theory from the man who knows more than the generals, more than anyone and more than God. It's infinity plus one. Anyway, you've heard of strategic retreat. This is strategic defeat.
5
I see parallels in Mr. trumps public reaction to the impeachment inquiry in Congress, and to this developing situation in Syria. I have given Mr. Trump the benefit of the doubt for the last couple of years, but now I have a genuine fear that things may be slipping out of his control.
His public declaration last week, in which he invited China to investigate business dealings of Hunter Biden, was dismissed as a joke by Marco Rubio. I also took it that way, but it was, in the final analysis, a somewhat brazen and dismissive riposte to Mr. Trump’s congressional detractors in the house, a sort of “I double dare you.“ Mr. Trump’s not so subtle threats to move against the unknown whistleblower also falls into this category.
Similarly, if we are to believe Mr. Sanger’s observation that this pronouncement on Syria is a rebuff of the wisdom of the national security decision making apparatus, then it seems to me that we have another variation on “I double dare you.” 
I still believe the impeachment inquiry is politically motivated, and that eventually Nancy Pelosi will put it into it, for lack of a “smoking gun.“ Meantime I regard Mr. Trump’s decision on Syria as a far greater concern, in that there is the potential for a resurgence of anti-American terrorism in the region and possibly in the United States.
2
@David H my goodness, the guns are on fire. What are you missing that most of the rest of us can see in plain sight?
1
The guns are on fire? If they were on fire, Nancy Pelosi would call this impeachment inquiry for a vote on the house floor. She has not done so. And I doubt that she will, because the cost to the Democratic Party in the context of the 2020 elections could be very, very great.
It is time to limit the deployment of troops to an act of war made by congress - not one man.
Saving one American life is worth this move.
Trump is the commander and chief - Period. An economic siege is a prudent choice in leu of wasting another life that ALL Americans are responsible for.
WAR has become a small word in the US. It is not in any way small when there is American Skin in the game...
2
Again this man shows that he has no idea how small the world really is.
If we pull out, ISIS which is not defeated will rise again and instead of fighting them over there it will be 9/11 all over again.
He's right about it being a police action but somebody has to do it to make the world a safer place.
2
Trump doesn’t ACTUALLY care about ending wars. We know this because he wanted to invade Venezuela. But he does know that his support from moderates and independents is eroding as more and more details emerge from the impeachment investigation.
He knows he needs policy wins beyond “judges” so he thought he’d try troop withdrawals. It was probably a very popular move with his base, so he’s probably not even that upset by the blowback but it’s obvious he wasn’t expecting it. This man should have been removed from office years ago. It’s clear that he never should have become the GOP’s candidate to begin with. The man has absolutely no regard for honor and integrity. He doesn’t even have a basic understanding of what it means to follow through on an agreement, except for the corrupt agreements he has made with foreign dictators.
It’s perpetually infuriating, and exhausting.
4
Trump is in charge of foreign policy now, so Trump’s policy is the US government policy. Hate to break it to you.
The deep state can complain all they want about how endless ways are necessary - mostly to line their pockets - but Americans aren’t buying it.
If we had a vote, probably 90+% of Americans would say pull out.
Trump is delivering on another campaign promise.
This is the one campaign promise, above any other, that has made Trump the target of the deep state.
They don’t want anyone interrupting their multi trillion dollar pool of off the books war funds which they can freely direct to their friends.
4
Mitch McConnell should heed his own advice to the president and "exercise American leadership", something Republicans haven't done since they grabbed total control of American government in 2017. And McConnell was warned back in 2016 when the GOP nominee claimed that he knew "more than his generals" which may be why Jim Mattis resigned last year.
Abandoning the Kurds in a life and death struggle against terrorists is no way to treat our allies. Maybe McConnell now realizes that loyalty to this president is strictly a one-way street.
4
I look forward to Trump and the Republicans taking the commensurate amount of money they save from each of the military actions that they want to end and putting it towards healthcare, education and infrastructure.
A US citizen can dream!
3
I choked when I read the phrase "honed over 75 years of global leadership" to describe our foreign policy.
Over the past 75 years, our foreign policy has accomplished very little other than to institute turmoil around the globe, causing destruction and famine in one country after another, and wasting resources we can no longer afford to throw away.
It has been the policy Ike warned us about. We should have listened when he spoke of the "military industrial complex."
4
Where has US policy caused famine? Seriously. That’s a severe accusation to throw around.
@kridge
Indeed. 75 years that included Vietnam Nam, the Iranian coup in ‘53, the CIA overthrow of Allende in Chile..., and millions upon millions of American taxpayer dollars spent interfering in other countries elections. Are we honed yet?
I’ve seen enough foreign policy blunders over the last 40 years to know that questioning the establishment foreign and defense policies on virtually anything is prudent
I have no idea if keeping troops in Syria or defending the Kurds is the right thing to do
2
Get out was good enough for the left in Vietnam. We have been involved in these middle eastern wars that will never be won for too long and getting out—as long as we protect the Kurds and others who have made sacrifices on our behalf, is the right thing to do. And anyone but Donald Trump would be thanked and even praised by the left for doing so.
6
@ehillesum
Good observation. Trump is trying to get us out of some pointless wars, start a dialog with North Korea, address border security problems, and a few other things the left would have praised Obama for. But because All his efforts pretty much fail, and he is unfriendly to people of color, is lining his pockets, destroying health care, ignoring climate change, increasing income inequality, violates the oath of office repeatedly, lies constantly, attacks the press, and has humiliated America in the eyes of the world, nobody wants to give him any credit. No president has been treated more unfairly.
The timing of this creates the appearance that Trump is hurried, possibly squeezing in an item from his Putin checklist before it's too late. Meanwhile, it's perpetually baffling that people don't see the obvious benefits for Russia, and the obvious dangers to the rest of the world with Trump as president. Impeachment no longer seems like an extreme measure even to many Republicans. And -- forget impeachment -- I'm surprised there's not more talk of Article 25 at this point.
1
Trump has a strategy. Trump strategy is ”enrich trump”. Help Russia by pulling out of Syria, it helps Trump. Screw up US alliances, help Russia, helps trump. Kill children in other countries that ruins the fiber of American society, help Russia, help Trump.
The strategy is simple what ever he does helps enrich Trump and will help Trump. Help Turkey, help Russia help Trump this is a triple win for Trump. Please realize it is simple conclusion.
5
A strategy includes a set of tactical responses which taken together over a period of time act in furtherance of a principle or set of principles.
President Trump has no principles and therefore the concept of strategy has no meaning for him.
12
I know this is a jaded statement, but the time has come with Trump to recognize his words are not to be taken at face value. I have no suggestions on how the news media is to effectively cover him with this dilemma. But whenever he does something newsworthy, rather that reporting just the facts, report who is helped by his actions. Mostly, it will be Trump’s personal finances, Trump’s delaying or roadblocks to investigating his abuse of power, or Trump changing a dynamic that benefits Putin, the Saudis, the oligarchs, or another authoritarian.
In this story the beneficiary is Putin.
77
There is always something bigger behind any of Trumps actions ...
"President Trump is once again pursuing a national security strategy at odds with the official position of his government"
How long is it going to take the NYT to realize that the words "Trump" and "strategy" can't be used in the same sentence.
152
@MS Trump Towers Istanbul: Trump Towers Istanbul are two conjoined towers in Şişli, Istanbul, Turkey. One of the towers is an office tower, and the other a residential tower, consisting of over 200 residences. The complex also holds a shopping mall with some 80 shops and a multiplex cinema. They are the first Trump Towers built in Europe.
1
Turkey, like Saudi Arabia, is not our ally. I lived in Gaziantep, near the Syrian border. Newspapers in English boasted how Erdogan got around US sanctions by buying oil from Iran using gold. Was Turkey sanctioned? No.
Around 1920, nearly 50,000 Armenians lived in Gaziantep. In 2012 - one. Turks committed genocide against the Armenians throughout the entire country. A building atop a hill, I discovered was a mosque but a plaque said it had been converted from a Christian church around 1920.
Erdogan fired 10,000 teachers. An uneducated population is much easier to manipulate. He built himself a palace that cost millions.
Turkey is not acting like a NATO ally. I fear it seems logical Turks will institute a genocide against the Kurds, which are a minority. Imagine the USA calling the Civil Rights Movement a terrorist group and killing all African-Americans.
Yes, they have taken in millions of Syrian refugees, and made it, generally, illegal for them to work. So they work, earning sub-par wages enriching Turks.
Erdogan is dismantling secular Turkey to rebrand it as a Muslim-ruled country.
No wonder another perfect telephone conversation with his new best friend led to Trump - NOT THE USA CONGRESS - to enable genocide. Two peas in a pod.
137
last time I looked Russia and Iran unlike the USA were in Syria at the invitation of the internationally recognized government, further the USA has neither congressional approval or UNSC authorization to be there....sometimes even certifiable self professed stable geniuses get it right
8
@Autodiddy
If we stay there will we be able to give the Kurds the independence that they desire? The “Kurdistan “ region is spread over several countries. Syria, Turkey, Iraq, and Iran all have Kurdish populations, some of which do fight for establishing their own country. This is the reason for Turkey’s concern for the proximity of YPG on the border.
Having a buffer zone may help.
As to US protection with troop pullouts. I would think the
Special Ops teams would remain whether we know it or not.
1
The American abandonment of the Kurds is beyond shameful, although perfectly consistent with Trump's selfish view of the world.
“if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey.”
The Bloviation Doctrine doesn't have a great track record.
194
@Socrates And if he abandons U.S.allies, what will stop him from abandoning security agreements with S Korea, Japan and Taiwan? Those pacts are what has kept the peace in the Pacific rim for 70 years.
Such unmatched wisdom from the mind of a stable genius.
19
@Socrates
trump's self-reference, "in my great and unmatched wisdom," cannot be counted as another of his lies is that, being as clearly and utterly delusional as he is, this perception is 'just' a figment of his obviously ill mind and psychological 'instability.'
(For the same reason, I guess none of his 'lies' should be considered such. Instead, given his mental illness, it should be understood, 'in a sense,' that trump is incapable of the intent and consideration 'true lies' require.)
1
@Socrates
Our VSG president claims he wants to not be involved in tribal Mid-East wars. So why does the Very Stable Genius not stop supporting the mother of all tribal wars in Yemen? This humanitarian disaster continues a conflict between the Sunnis and the Shiites that began in the 1st century.
He would get plaudits for withdrawing from there.
1
The success that he has had in squashing the Muller Report has emboldened Trump. He now believes that he is the only smart person in the Room. His decision to throw the Kurds under the bus is another example of why Trump is not fit to be President. This should be a wake-up call for all Republicans.
109
@Robert Pryor
I'm afraid their slumber is too deep.
3
The Republicans like McConnell and Lindsey raise their voices and oppose the President's decision to remove troops from Syria. They were probably right to do so. But what about those children that were separated from their families and placed in cages, after seeking amnesty? Not a word of protest from the Republicans
What about the children Senators McConnell and Lindsey their still locked up. Have you no compassion for them?
49
@cherrylog754
Uh, McConnell has compassion for the MIC. Endless foreign war is good for funneling hundreds of billions of dollars in a particular direction. He doesn't care about Syrians or Kurds (or caged children).
Has the timing of this escaped anyone? The news is off impeachment. Wrong or right, it is Foreign Policy dictated by Trump’s political issues. Once again!
45
@Barry Right, but perhaps Trump miscalculated on this one. The one thing he in his great wisdom does not want right now is this kind of heat from GOP leadership, adding to his impeachment troubles. He's showing signs of buckling under the strain.
6
Will this be the straw that allows the Republicans to decide they have had enough of Trump?
10
"Time to get out" will be his epitaph, but this is not his purpose. His purpose is to leave us with nothing.
7
“President Trump is once again pursuing a national security strategy at odds with the official position of his government...”
It seems to me that following the advice of the last person you spoke with — In this case, an authoritarian ruler who ordered his security personnel not long ago to beat US citizens during a lawful and peaceful protest here in Washington DC on May 26, 2017 — is not a “strategy.“
Mr. Sanger opines that The national security decision making apparatus has broken down.
The question I have, given what I have seen publicly in terms of Mr. Trump’s behavior and demeanor over the last several weeks, is whether this is the manifestation of a more serious problem — perhaps one that only a physician might be able to treat.
11
... “if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey.”
So we are leaving the Kurds who have been our allies at the mercy of a dictator who considers them terrorists. ISIS will likely regroup and become more entrenched and wreck more havoc. Against all advice from seasoned and experienced military leadership, he of "great and unmatched wisdom" is cutting bait and leaving our allies who trusted us to be routed. Turkey, Iran, and Russia should be very pleased.
God help them.
24
This is not Vietnam, we are not married to this endless carnage, our soldiers deserve better than this, bring the soldiers home, our soldiers should only be deployed for defined pursuits of National Security value, nothing else.
The days of being the much hated police of the world must be over, regional disputes must be setteled regionally.
16
@Tom ,Retired Florida Junkman So, in your great wisdom, you believe that there is no national security value in defeating ISIS? That's the strategic reason why we're there and supporting the Kurds.
1
It is unfortunate that the NY Times continues the pro-war push that it has mistakenly followed for some time. Of all the mistakes and faults of Trump, one thing that he has done well is to avoid getting the United States into any additional wars.
This is surprising not only because of his general incompetence and the pro-war mentality in the press and congress. Even his poorly-chosen advisors were also pro-war. Fortunately, this one issue is something that Trump has managed well so far. If Clinton had been elected, I don't think she would have shown such restraint.
17
@Carl M "...one thing that he has done well is to avoid getting the United States into any additional wars. "
He very nearly got us in a war with Iran over the downing of a drone. It was a general who got him to change his mind.
" the pro-war mentality in the press and congress"
I blame G. W. Bush and the hawks in his cabinet for these wars. Republicans.
" If Clinton had been elected, I don't think she would have shown such restraint."
I think she would have listened to generals, allies, etc. before making decisions. But... why discuss what would happen in the alternative universe?
4
@Shelly Naud
Hillary was a very well known hawk. She was very much in agreement with the foreign policy think tanks, especially the PNAC. She was the strong force behind the bombing of Libya and the transfer of their weapons to Syria. The college age students seem to be so much better informed on these issues. This is one reason for many D’s to reject her. Sad but true. We spend trillions on these wars that are not for our benefit or security.
2
@Shelly Naud It is worth looking for the story "New York Times: we were wrong on Iraq" in the Guardian, from 2004.
The N.Y. Times, for all of its strengths, too often supports the pro-war contingent of U.S. politics. The Syria coverage, and the more recent Iran coverage, give more examples. The paper is often prone to uncritically report pro-war storylines and reluctant to publish counter storylines.
1
In 1971 John Kerry gave a memorable speech to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Here are some excerpts. "to attempt to justify the loss of one American life in Vietnam, Cambodia or Laos by linking such loss to the preservation of freedom... is to us the height of criminal hypocrisy, and it is that kind of hypocrisy which we feel has torn this country apart...how do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam? How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?" Trump is right about wanting to get out of Syria. That fact outrages his critics. But there's no argument for staying there. None. Would you sacrifice your child for Syrian freedom? The U.S. has been mired in the Middle East since the 1970s. What do we have to show for it? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Nothing except the trillions of dollars we have wasted trying to solve this region's problems. Nothing except the thousands of American soldiers needlessly wounded, maimed, or killed. Nothing except the 900 billion we will spend on medical care & disability benefits for veterans who fought in the Middle East. And after all this wasted money & lives the region is as bad as it has ever been, worse. And the opposition's brilliant solution to this terrible ongoing tragedy is to waste more money, to put more boots on the ground, to put more American lives in harm's way. It's an unwinnable war. Am I the only one who finds these people revolting? We need to get out now, not next year, not next month, now!
13
@Bill Brown
You almost had me there until I read the word “revolting.” The minority Kurds are surrounded by and persecuted by some powerful dictatorships including Turkey, Iran, Syria, and formerly Iraq. And you can throw in Russian compliance. No wonder they would benefit from revolution.
Reading some republican comments on this very good analysis, I'm surprised they don't see the double treason of their President: towards the Kurds, blatant, and towards Turkey, US'ally in Nato threatened to see its econoimy "destroyed and obliterated" (A nuclear war?) After that who will trust the USA anymore? Even the European powers are beginning to understand that the Americans are not anymore the historical truthful ally they were. Trump reopens an old chapter of History, that of nationalism, of narrow minded interests. And we know how this can finish.
18
Korea is the forever war. Our 70 year presence has caused North Korea to become a nuclear power. If we pull our 26,000 troops to the cost of $2B out of South Korea, who cares about South Korea very quickly obtaining their own nuclear weapon? China (already a nuclear power) would have a lot more to lose with a nuclear armed South Korea than the US would.
German, Japan, Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, is there any place the US has been to war without leaving part of the empire behind? Global imperialism hasn't ended well for anyone, and as far as I can tell, our presence in the Middle East hasn't solved any problems.
9
The notion that Americans want to be seen as leaders in the world yet also want to avoid any burden be it blood or treasure is the crux of the matter.
Who do they think will lead in the Middle East if Americans withdraw? How will that leadership affect trading relationships and economic partners?
It does not mean there can be no change in a policy of forward deployment in the Middle East and around the world, but acting without serious consideration of consequence is good for the mythology of Trump, not so good for the long term interests of the US and any allies that seek our leadership.
9
The world needs leadership. When we don't lead somebody else will, and it's usually somebody we don't like.
20
@Jon If the world does need leadership, that does not mean it needs to be the United States. The current state of Latin America is a reflection of what happens when the U.S. decides to take a "leadership" role. And in the end it is not ideal for any country - even us - to be "the" leader.
We should work to mainly exercise our leadership through shared governance, like the U.N., rather than mainly through independent efforts. We should make sure that we have a fair vote at the table, but we should make sure that everyone else has a fair vote as well.
13
@Jon This isn't leadership. It's a "Look! Squirrel" that Trump is using in an attempt to point the laser at something other than his own corruption and incompetence.
2
@Jon
One that leads as a peace maker would be welcome. You are right that we probably would not like that if we want to be the only dominant power.
1
It seems pretty clear that the Republicans in Congress take what is clearly a looming political, military and humanitarian disaster halfway across the world much more seriously than a partisan impeachment “inquiry“ that seeks to censure Mr. Trump in a somewhat important and ineffective fashion.
4
@David H - "…the Republicans in Congress" face no ballot box risk from Spanky's beloved "poorly educated" base who can't grok the complexities of "a looming political, military and humanitarian disaster halfway across the world". Ergo, even Moscow Mitch is willing to stick his head out of his shell.
The USA still has hundreds of thousands of troop deployment worldwide. What do you mean there is “no troop deployment too small?” This gives a false sense that the USA is somehow reducing its international military footprint (overall, it has not done this at all).
3
The Leader talks big and then surrenders every time to dictators, strongmen and, well, anyone who threatens the U.S. His "great and unmatched wisdom" extends no further than lining his own pocket. Soon, we will be alone, outmaneuvered, outgunned, without allies. So much winning.
83
Like most people, I’m no fan of endless wars but the stable genius in the White House makes rash decisions about everything. That’s worrisome.
58
@Pigenfrafyn - since when is deciding to end these feckless wars considered rash? Getting out of the Middle East is the best decision so far, and I'm pretty certain our troops serving over there would agree.
3
@AACNY You cannot trust the judgement of a man whose main interest is in his own finances. He has 2 Trump Towers in Istanbul and he likes dictators. He is running this country like a dictator... Neither the Defense Dept. nor the State Dept. knew about his decision on our troops with the Kurds.
He is being coached by the oligarchs on how to take over a democracy piece by piece. AND HE IS DOING IT.
Even Pat Robertson is speaking out, an Evangelist leader who is finally seeing the light.
3
Note from Trump to foreign governments: Unless you are in a position to help me get re-elected, don’t count on me for troops or other military assistance.
189
@AVT
Or if are in a position to advance the financial interests of me and my family. Or if you have "kompromat".
1
Trump lives in the now which would be fine if he honored truth or other universal values. He honors his impulses alone. You need not go beyond this to see our situation.
22
Trump has no strategy. He has business interests. He knows nothing about national security. He favors countries where he has properties. During the 2016 campaign Trump constantly stated he knew more than the Generals. I never ever heard a member of the media question that statement.
54
trump admitted, as to Syria, that he had a "conflict of interest" in Turkey because he had two trump towers in Istanbul. Thus it is not hard to understand his motivation for pulling troops out of Syria.
Add to the mix the fact that he wants a trump tower in Moscow, and that Putin wants control of Syria... then the decision becomes entirely transactional.
92
The US military presence in Syria is illegal. It has not been authorized by the UN and it has not been invited by the Syrian government. The US has an estimated 800 foreign military installations that blanket most of the world. No other country has remotely as many foreign military installations. Russia has three. It is clear evidence of US aggression and should be ended not only in Syria but elsewhere as well.
9
You must be disappointed that the broad consensus of American voters is still willing to pay taxes to support the global role of the United States in keeping peace in securing our national interests.
Sometimes people we don’t like, even despise, say insightful things and take admirable positions. It’s bothersome when that happens but most evolved adults acknowledge the possibility.
14
It's odd that "endless wars" and "get out" are in quotes. Isn't that what the left clamored for, for years under the past 2 presidents?
I lived next door to a major US Marine base for many years after 9-11. I watched the planes coming in, and the funeral procesions, week after week and year after year, bringing home our predominantly young men and women to be buried for our endless wars in countries that hate us and that have made zero effort to create their own peace and prosperity.
Yes, I care deeply and it breaks my heart to see the regular people of the Middle East suffer so much, for so long, and I'm not blind to our nation's part in this suffering. But their perpetual, endless fighting is not worth one more American life, I'm sorry. I fully support the president's desire for us to be OUT, period.
And I am far, far, far from alone in our country in this heartfelt belief.
45
@Kouzelna
As someone who disagrees with President Trump on almost everything and who is not an isolationist, I support his position that for all practical purposes, the US troops do not belong outside the US and that the US should not support troops anywhere with CIA's help. This approach would save lives of the Americans and the citizens of other countries; it would save trillions of dollars for us and others; and it would accelerate economic growth everywhere. We did not need the wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, or Afghanistan. We do not need NATO either. Does anyone really think that Russia will attack our NATO allies if NATO did not exist?
14
@Kouzelna, we do need to stop getting involved in so many overseas conflicts. I don't think that's a left-right thing. But when you have a trusted ally like the Kurds, you don't throw them under the bus (or to their deaths in this case) because back in the U.S. it's now popular to leave. You and I both live in Europe, so you know how U.S. allies here (Poland and Hungary excepted) feel about the U.S. after 2 1/2 years of Donald Trump. They don't consider us dependable or necessarily friendly at this point, and in many cases are moving on without the U.S. I think that generally, we need to be much more thoughtful before we get involved in a foreign conflict in the first place - but also thoughtful when we pull out of places where we already are. This lack of thought is what is so disturbing.
55
@kouzelna. One more “American life”? What about other lives? I share the belief that we should end our role as “the arsenal of democracy” and world police, but to suddenly and recklessly just pull out endangers the lives of many thousands of Kurds, who have been blindsided by this move. Indeed, it seems everyone has. This is no way to conduct a foreign policy.
23
I watched and heard the President's explanation of why he's decided to pull out of Syria. He was clearly well informed, extremely sensitive to various positions about it all, and very articulate. This article, by contrast, is wildly biased. That, in and of itself, of course, isn't surprising. President Trump, we all should know by now, is his own man. While there is history cited in this article, it's also valuable to know that the President is working in his own way to protect our country. That way would include turning decades old traditions in DC upside down — including the self serving traditions that have crippled our country now for a long time.
24
@Len Amen, Len - very well-stated. I totally agree. If you read Pat Buchanan on this today, he also agrees. Those who want us to continue these Endless Wars are those who have a vested interest and were the most vocal about urging us to begin them. Bring our troops home!
15
I think allies that used to trust the US leadership will be no too pleased to learn that Trump is ‘his own man’ and America (that changes ‘men’ every 4 years) can be bought before or after the elections. basically this also means that whoever has compromat or leverage on the ‘man’ can obtain anything of value such as a full reversal of policy partnerships. Treason is always the work of a man and not a country ..
31
Trump got played by Erdogan on a phone call. He’s hardly articulate and well informed. Trump hasn’t a clue what he’s doing or any concern for our nation’s global interest. All he cares is Erdogan said nice stuff to him.
For all we can ascertain, Erdogan promised to meddle in our 2020 election to help Trump in exchange for a U.S. pullout. We know this is how Trump operates. His personal interests “trumps” our nation’s national security.
168