Trump surrenders Syria to ISIS

Trump has ordered his staff to execute the "full" and "rapid" withdrawal of US military from Syria, declaring that the US has defeated ISIS.

The announcement came in the form of a tweet and lacked the formality of previous Presidential declarations that removes troops from war zones. The White House was caught off guard. It did not schedule any Presidential remarks nor provide any concrete details of the decision. Trump's tweet simply said, "We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency."

It was a spur of the moment thing.

Trump consulted no one about this decision, not Defense Secretary James Mattis, not the state department, not the Pentagon, and not our Allies. However, he did consult the Israeli leader, Benjamin Netanyahu.

The lack of professionalism on the part of this President is breathtaking.

The "military genius" knows nothing about the enemy, an extremely dangerous fault on the part of our ingenuous and unknowing Commander-in-Chief. Trump apparently took note of the Pentagon's report that ISIS controls only one percent of the territory they once held.

So, he declared that they were defeated not knowing the Pentagon also has reported that there are approximately 30,000 ISIS soldiers in Syria. The "military genius" also does not know that ISIS is a guerilla force, and, as such, holding territory is a disadvantage, an albatross on a force that prefers to hit and then go into hiding. Hit and hide, not stand in one place defending territory.

Our generals know that, but not our militarily naive President.

Powerful members of Trump own party -- Senators Graham, Rubio, Cornyn, Sasse, Gardner, and Representative Ed Royce --- voiced strong opposition to Trump's decision, but Trump did not seem to care. There were other matters on his agenda.

There were two reasons why he announced this today.

One, to take the heat off him for backing down on his wall and agreeing to a C.R. that says nothing about funding a border wall.

Two, to provide still another benefit to his mentor, Vladimir Putin. Russia will fill the void in Syria caused by Trump's withdrawal and her port and airbase will be secure.

A milestone story which might evolve from this decision is a real prospect for a political solution. Hope emerges that this location on the Syrian map will follow the example of Aleppo and other Syrian towns and villages which begin getting back to peaceful life. Once Americans were there, there was no such hope. The Russian foreign ministry.

 

Probably the only thing I will ever agree with you on. Big mistake.

 

There is nothing over there worth the life of one American soldier, nothing. That area of the world is a never ending cesspool of tribal and religious warfare.

 

He's undoing Obama's quaqmire. ISIS has less of a chance when the US isn't hellbent on removing Assad at the expense of defeating ISIS.

 

Wow, thank you. This decision is inexplicable ... even for Trump.

 

How so? How long should the US be there for? Us staying is only going to get US soldiers killed with no good outcome. Same thing with Afghanistan and Iraq. Trump is 100% right on this.

 

In a very real sense I agree with you. However, the ISIS threat is world wide. The Islamic terrorist is world wide. We don't feel it so much, but our allies in Europe do. Then there is the oil that those very same allies need. Because of the oil, the Western democracies will always have a stake in the Mideast, unfortunately, but true.

To turn our back on the Mideast would be very shortsighted.

 

Can you explain that?

 

I wish we could walk away and never put another US soldier at risk. The problem is it will leave a power vacuum which will very rapidly be filled by Russia and the Iranians. In the long run, we will regret it.

 

A blatant lie since Assad is not one to surrender to anyone.

Still good of you to blame Trump and not Obama.

 

What goes on in that part of the world is of no concern to us. Trump should concern himself with cops committing genocide on blacks and Latinos here at home as should every professing Christian-conservative. Let foreigners solve their own problems.

 

Assad and ISIS are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands. Are you saying we should look the other way?

Then there is the oil that is needed by the entire Western world, although we are self-sufficient. Are you saying we should allow Russia and Iran control of that region and its oil? That would be a very serious mistake.

You are being shortsighted and so is Trump. Or maybe not. Once again, he is acting like a Russian agent. Do you agree with Trump on that matter?

There is very little fighting involving U.S. troops in those two regions. I am far more concerned about Trump's surrender to ISIS.

 

prove your claim that he is doing so

 

Assad will take care of the problem we put into his country

 

Would this spaghetti strand or the "Why the hELL are we sTill in SyRia?" narrative have worked better for the sandwich-board placard Left leading up to 2020? This side of the coin definitely takes some wind out of the TDS sails on "dangerous hawkish dictator" and now Islamic shills will probably drop out of the TDS net shill roster to a degree, thinning the LW paid shill ranks, so gonna say this side of their placard is not as good for them as Trump staying in Syria. Regardless of what he did, the only 100% certainty is that the TDS would flow either way just as thick.

For ordinary people who form sincere opinions based on principle and don't change them like weathervanes, this is a conundrum because it's really NBD and don't know anyone who cares one way or the other (until they are told to), but we feel tugged to get our feefees bent and faux outrage stoked about it one way or another like all the TDS Leftists doing the equivalent of writing jingles or greeting card bon mots... as opposed to having sincere political awareness and thoughts.

 

Whether one chooses to agree or disagree, this gives the appearance of a ham handed, spur of the moment, knee jerk reaction having little to do with the realities in theater. I have no problem disengaging in Syria and leaving Russia with a quagmire. I do have a problem not coordinating this with our partners, the Pentagon, and Congress. A withdrawal or reduction of force should be well planned and strategic.

Trump should have informed the Pentagon of his decision to withdraw forces from Syria and ordered a timetable for the earliest possible date with a broad consequences/risk assessment. Then update Congressional leaders on the plan. Once the plan is in place and agreed upon, a press conference is in order.

This seems like a good opportunity to evaluate our entire Middle East policy in light of current realities; begin with asking the fundamental question of, "Why are we there?" Then go from there. A lot has changed in the last twenty years, some not related to directly involve the Middle East. This is a big question for which I offer no opinion.

 

Trump has surrendered to ISIS.

We have not defeated them.

They will come back.

The Kurds will be slaughtered.

 

Assad will **** them up if the west stays out of it

 

Assad is fighting ISIS. Obama got himself into a corner when he said he wouldn't accept a truce where Assad stays in power. So he was fighting Assad which helps ISIS.

 

Inexplicable? No, it was obvious.

The writing on the wall is clear: Erdogan is coming in, and we're getting out of the way.

Good. A war against Turkey is not a wise move in the current climate.

 

Look, now lefties are warmongers. They are just pissed Obama did not brings our boys home, like he promised.

 

☝️this

 

Trump shouldn't have sent them into Syria in the first place; it was an illegal occupation.

 

That's a lie.

Obama wanted no part of Syria. It was the continuous bitching of the GOP leadership that forced Obama to even get involved with Syria.

We had people like Lindsey claiming that ISIS was coming to kill us [Americans] and there was a all out right wing super fear of ISIS.

 

Remember lil Marco Rubio got a shot gun for Christmas to fight the ISIS threat...

Oh the fear.