Donald Trump has decided that ISIS is defeated there….
Huh?
He also wants US State Dept. people out also….
Is Donald Trump giving up on Syria which would make ISAIS, Iran and Russia VERY Happy?
The Pentagon under orders from the Commander-in Chief is NOT happy….
Neither are some US lawmakers….
Somebody has Trump’s ear and he is buying whatever he has been told….
Remember several things….
Trump does NOT listen or even trust US Intelligence data….
Trump THINKS he has a better ‘gut’ instinct then the US Military….Trump still has a soft spot for the Russians (Putin)…
Trump has a vastly different view of global politics and seems to not care much about the consequences of them…
Something tells me that the military is NOT gonna be in a hurry to carry out this whim of Trump and a year from now?
Either there will just American ‘advisors’ still in country?
Or?
A bit later we will be sending US combat troops back there….
The U.S. has already begun withdrawing some of its roughly 2,000 troops from Northeastern Syria, the White House announced this morning after word broke initially from The Wall Street Journal and CNN. CNN emphasized President Trump’s desire for a “full” and “rapid” exit from Syria — something he shocked many with when he first mentioned it in late March to a crowd of union builders in Ohio.
Included: Removing “all” U.S. State Department personnel from Syria within 24 hours, Reuters reports.
Said one U.S. official to WSJ: “The Pentagon has an order to get to move troops out of Syria as quickly as possible.” Read the full WH statement, here.
The trigger point for a U.S. exit: When ISIS at last holds no more territory in Syria.
So what’s left of ISIS in Syria? “Islamic State has been effectively cornered in a small stretch of Syrian territory along the Iraq border, where the U.S. military estimates about 2,000 fighters have managed to hold off complete defeat for months,” WSJ reports.
Caveat: a DOD IG report from August estimated there could be as many as 30,000 ISIS fighters remaining across both Syria and Iraq (even though Iraq declared its war against ISIS officially over more than a year ago).
Or, according to President Trump, tweeting at 9:29 a.m.: “We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency.”….
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Wednesday criticized President Trump‘s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria, saying the move would be an “Obama-like mistake.”
“If these media reports are true, it will be an Obama-like mistake made by the Trump Administration,” Graham wrote in a statement. “While American patience in confronting radical Islam may wane, the radical Islamists’ passion to kill Americans and our allies never wavers.”
Earlier Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post reported that Trump is planning to “immediately” remove 2,000 troops from northern Syria.
Trump appeared to confirm the reports in a tweet Wednesday, saying that the U.S. has “defeated” the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Syria.
“We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency,” he tweeted.
Graham, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, added that a withdrawal “would be a big win” for ISIS, Iran, Syrian President Bashar Assad and Russia….
Republican lawmakers aim’t Happy with Trump in removing the troops…..
Putin is Happy about this….
“Russian President Vladimir Putin praised President Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, describing the American presence there as illegitimate and the Islamic State as largely defeated on the ground,” the Washington Post reports.
“Putin told journalists at his annual year-end news conference that the Islamic State has suffered ‘serious blows’ in Syria.”
Said Putin: “On this, Donald is right. I agree with him.”
Politicalwire…
Senate Republicans uncharacteristically lashed out at President Trump on Wednesday for announcing a sudden and immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, a decision that came without consulting Congress and seemed to catch the Pentagon off guard.
Several lawmakers said Congress received no advance notice of Trump’s announcement, leaving them fuming and scratching their heads.
“I don’t know what they’ve done, but this is chaos,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a staunch Trump ally and Armed Services Committee member, told reporters, adding that he planned to discuss the matter with Defense Secretary James Mattis….
The Hill…