Russia’s Putin has given Syria cover as Trump has tried to remove ALL American and Allied troops in-country….
Donald Trump does NOT have faith in the American military leaders or the American intelligence community…
Could Donald Trump be UNDOING the hard work the US and Allies have put in in the Middle East?
Sure we’d like the troop’s come home…
But?
Could the next American President have a resurgence of ISIS ?
And have to move thousand of America troops BACK into the region?
— The United States never had more than about 2,500 troops deployed inside Syria, and most stayed far from the front lines. There were blessedly few American casualties. But the boots on the ground provided a bulwark against Syrian government forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and deterred Russian and Iranian incursions into eastern Syria.
Then Trump announced in December that he was ordering the full withdrawal of U.S. troops after a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. That decision was the final straw that led Jim Mattis to resign as secretary of defense. A permanent replacement was not installed until Mark Esper’s confirmation on July 23. Under pressure from military brass and Republican allies on Capitol Hill, Trump backed off his initial intention to precipitously withdraw all personnel.
Syrian schoolchildren pass U.S. troops patrolling in Hasakah, Syria, in November. (Rodi Said/Reuters)
— The military presence has been cut to somewhere around 1,000 troops now. The Pentagon declines to reveal the exact number.
— Brett McGurk also resigned in protest as the U.S. envoy to the international coalition fighting the Islamic State. McGurk, who like Mattis has gone into exile at Stanford University, said this new I.G. report “should be taken seriously.”
“It concludes that Trump’s ordered withdrawal of forces came at the worst possible time and has decreased resources needed to complete the mission,” McGurk tweeted. “Sound strategy = alignment of objectives resources. Trump increased U.S. objectives in Syria (to now include somehow ejecting Iran) while decreasing resources. That’s a recipe for failure and increases risk for our people on the ground.”
Exactly what did all this “hard work” we have done in the Middle East get us?
Please explain in detail how much better things are there than they were say twenty years ago.
I anxiously await your “analysis!”