…Trump made clear this week, it is not America’s job to serve as the permanent jailor of ISIS. European forces are just as capable of serving as guards as Americans are. America’s role is not to stay in Syria forever. It is to beat down threats to US and world security as they emerge and then let others – Turks, Kurds, Europeans, Russians, UN peacekeepers – maintain the new, safer status quo.
The final assumption of the narrative regarding Trump’s moves in Syria is that by moving its forces away from the border ahead of the Turkish invasion, Trump harmed regional stability and America’s reputation as a trustworthy ally.
On the latter issue, Trump has spent the better part of his term in office rebuilding America’s credibility as an ally after Obama effectively abandoned the Sunnis and Israel in favor of Iran. To the extent that Trump has harmed US credibility, he didn’t do it in Syria this week by rejecting war with Turkey. He did it last month by failing to retaliate militarily against Iran’s brazen military attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil installations. Whereasthe US has no commitment to protect the Kurds, the US’s central commitment in the Middle East for the past 70 years has been the protection of Saudi oil installations and maintaining the safety of maritime routes in and around the Persian Gulf.
The best move Trump can make now in light of the fake narrative of his treachery towards the Kurds is to finally retaliate against Iran. A well-conceived, and limited US strike against Iranian missile and drone installations would restore America’s posture as the dominant power in the Persian Gulf and prevent the further destabilization of the Saudi regime and the backsliding of the UAE towards Iran.
As for Syria, it is impossible to known what the future holds for the Kurds, the Turks, the Iranians, Assad or anyone else. But what is clear enough is that Trump avoided war with Turkey this week. And he began extracting America from an open-ended commitment to the Kurds it never made and never intended to fulfill.
much more here
ht/ c. steven tucker
Good article; well-argued and presented.
I have some kurds in my refrigerator.
Enough lessons learned.
We can’t fix the Mideast, but we need to keep it contained, like cockroaches in the kitchen. Who the fuck can fix the Muslim problem?
I am a hawk but solidly behind Trump on this. Good move.
BFH, glad you posted this C. Glick article. She is an expert on ME activities and was editor of the Jerusalem Post before she ran (and lost) for office in Israel. Harvard Educated and a usually similar view as our pal Pamela Geller though both of them know more details about politics in that area than I will ever know so it’s likely that they disagree on some things, too.
Like the song by Dan Hicks and his hot licks: How can I miss you when you won’t away. I know a simplistic simpleton view but Dan Hicks knew a few things too!
I think we really need to listen to The View. The leftist hens have become hawks, and soon will be calling for carpet bombing.
Well….I’m thinking the Euros need to learn to protect their own oil ships, too.
I have a soft spot for the Kurds. I totally believe Trump did the right thing pulling the plug. However that doesn’t prevent us from Carpet Bombing the Turks as they pile in to Syria. They sure as hell aren’t our pals.
HERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN / SHOULD BE THE ANSWERS TO YOUR SON WHO ASKED IF HE SHOULD JOIN THE MILITARY DURING THE LAST 7 ADMINISTRATIONS:
CARTER: FUCK NO!!!!
REAGAN: FUCK YES!!!!
BUSH1: WHATEVER
CLINTON: FUCK NO!!!!
BUSH2: WHATEVER
OBAMA: DOUBLE FUCK NO!!!!!!
TRUMP: DOUBLE FUCK YES!!!!!!
but … but … what about that ‘red line in the sand’?
Quid Pro Joe needs an explanation … or at least a pithy soundbite for the next Demarrhea-fest (t-shirts available at the ticket kiosk)
Keep our eye on Iran, but otherwise get out of the ME.
Instead, spend the money saved on:
(1) The Wall.
(2) Defensive ‘high-tech’ (without being specific…)
(3) Upgrades to our offensive systems.
When “our allies” feign offense at being abandoned to their enemies killing them with (superior) weapons “we” sold to their enemies… The Ministry of Truth needs to remind everyone (allies and “citizens”) that “It’s just business”.
@ Anonymous October 12, 2019 at 10:29 pm
I have some kurds in my refrigerator.
Be thankful that there is no whey they will eat the bacon.
The rotten State Department has made sure that
the Kurds, while fighting on our side were always
kept on a leash. Anti-armor and anti-air weapons
that could stop those forms of attack by Turkey
and Sadam were never allowed to them. He could
give them to theKurds right now and they could
defend themselves just fine.
The Donald is being hoodwinked. Again.
Winston Churchill once said something to the effect that his one regret in drawing up the map of the Mideast (post WW1) was not creating a Kurdish homeland. He has been proven right
I feel very bad for the Kurds, but I honestly do not know enough about what their long term goals or their true alliances. Is it another, ” the enemy of my enemy thing…?
My Grandfather (WW2) always said of that part of the world, ” these people get up in the morning and don’t know in which direction they want to shoot!”
He fought until 1945, died in the 90’s and it is still the same.
I don’t like to hear about any casualties in places where we don’t belong.
Yes, but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Read the whole article. Glick does the salesman thing, get them to say yes, before advocating for the U.S. to get into war with Iran on behalf of Saudi Arabia.
No. Not a drop of our children’s blood unless and until it’s in U.S. interests and necessary. Let Saudi Arabia and Israel do it. Far better that we are energy independent and can exert economic pressure against all of the Arabian Middle East, let them sink back into the sand.