Trump orders US troops out of Syria

  • Thread starter Thread starter sallybutler
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
JW55 said:
In regard to this administration, they have been in office less than two years, not 15. One of the promises they had was to get the US out of these foreign wars. Mr. Trump is trying to fulfill that obligation.
Click to expand...
I am aware of all of that. I am speaking of now for the record.

I think Trump also promised to fight ISIS. And Trump declared ISIS was beaten. Correct?

Now, we only used air power against ISIS in Syria. So who was fighting them on the ground? US soldiers? No. Who did the dirty work of close combat? Someone was fighting them on the ground, fighting and dying. Kurds, Christians, Arabs, THE US BACK FORCES, THE SDF, Syrian Defense Forces. So, you are saying, after they defeat ISIS, then, it’s okay to abandon them to possible slaughter? I don’t go along with that at all.

Once we get there, that means finishing the job. I’m not talking about the invasion of 2003, the surge, Afghanistan and so on, this is now.

A lot of people might want out of the Afghani war, fine. There’s a correct way to do this. It’s not having some force killed fighting against the worse most ferocious terrorist group of our time who has carried out attacks in Europe and the Amercas and then, after they spill their blood, to just abandon them as in Syria.
 
Last edited:
JW55 said:
A very mistaken belief that one country can be the policeman for the world.
Click to expand...
In this case, we are helping the Kurds fight ISIS, and there has been good progress in beating them back, but they are by no means eradicated. This arbitrary and impulsive decision - likely fueled by a phone call with Erdogan of Turkey - will let ISIS regain strength, and will endanger the US, as they will have the wherewithal to plot and plan attacks against us. This is a colossally dangerous move.
 
Also abroad. I read this today about this event and McGurk.( translated):

McGurk sent an email to his employees this weekend in which he explained that he had decided to resign over disagreements with Trump over Syria and because the president did not consult him or the rest of the military leaders before announcing the withdrawal of troops .

"McGurk says he has concluded that he can not “implement the new instructions” of the president and “maintain his integrity.” In addition, Trump’s decision, in McGurk’s opinion, leaves Washington’s allies “confused” and his companions in combat disconcerted

According to a diplomat quoted by The Washington Post, McGurk highly valued the alliance with the Kurds, the main US partners in Syria, as well as the agreements reached with the French and British governments, which have already expressed their rejection of Trump’s decision.

Considered the architect of the US strategy against IS, McGurk worked for presidents George W. Bush (2001-2009), whom he advised on Iraq and Afghanistan, and Barack Obama (2009-2017), who in 2015 named him Special envoy for the coalition against jihadism.
 
I see nothing wrong with US troops leaving Syria so long as it doesn’t create a power vacuum in which ISIS can effectively resurrect itself. I fear that if we just all of a sudden pull all of our troops out of Syria, that will happen though.
 
How many years… Or even centuries, has that region been a thorn in the side of World Peace ?

No nation that is not of that culture can change that culture.

Those within it cannot change it.

And those that control the nations of that region don’t want anything changed.

Let Assad cozy up to whoever he wants to. What Nations he permits to build military bases on his shores or within his borders … Let him.

If you look at a world map that region is not really all that large and would be obliviated very early into World War 3. At least the countries that wanted to stir the pot.

And those we find ourselves as Catholics… and other fellow members who post on this forum, would be better off spend our time in prayer than distract ourselves from it due to our persistent addiction to “news” of the goings-on in the Middle East and the compulsion of post in our opinions on it. ( yes I know I’m posting one as well)

I dunno, it would be interesting to compare the numbers of those who died in Iraq by the hand of Saddam Hussein’s regime to the numbers who have died since they pulled him out of that hole in the ground.

There’s a thread running right now about Russia indoctrinating US citizens. We have been indoctrinated since the mid-to-late fifties… especially those old enough to have been born a few years before then.

In my opinion, dwelling over these things that we have no control over going on in the world only distracts us from the best we can do, which is pray. Letting ourselves to dwell on all of this negative news, only distracts us. We come on these forums to keep up with all of this negative news.

Why ? Does drama and our desire to voice opinion trump prayer ?

Imagine a family sitting down for after dinner and seening Elvis shaking his butt on the TV first time. The Christians in the room were likely appalled, and the teens in the room with their hormones racing were probably very moved.

My father graduated from high school in Louisville Kentucky in 1953. The next day he joined the Marines. I remember him describing what it was like when he came home in 1957. He said Society had changed so much that he didn’t even recognize his hometown.

I also remember him lamenting how when he would go to steel worker Machinery conventions as president of the local steelworkers union in the early to mid sixties how the American contingents would make a token showing at these conventions and couldn’t wait to get out of there to go party on the town.

Meanwhile the Japanese contingents would be crawling all over the machinery taking notes and photos. They were there to look at the best and go home and build better. My father’s conclusion was that the American worker was the problem in this country, soon to be followed by the American Consumer.

Now we have Internet. All of what is bad in the world shoved in our face because the good doesn’t sell well. Drama is what sells.

We don’t know how good we have it in the United States anymore. We are too busy looking for what’s wrong.

“News” is poison. But we’re sure not going to stop drinking it are we ?
 
Last edited:
Victoria33 said:
So who was fighting them on the ground? US soldiers? No. Who did the dirty work of close combat? Someone was fighting them on the ground, fighting and dying. Kurds, Christians, Arabs,
Click to expand...
Then why does it matter if we pull our troops out? I’ll tell you why and you can try to say it is justified:

Other nations don’t want to accidentally kill Americans and start a war, so our troops being embedded with the Kurds helps ensure that they don’t get attacked. Our soldiers are being used as human shields to protect an armed, stateless militia.

Mark my words, the minute America leaves the Kurds and the SDF will begin using terrorist tactics. Every time we arm a stateless, radical militia they end up becoming terrorists.

We are not “abandoning” our “allies” we are withdrawing support from a radical, stateless militia with ties to terrorist organizations (PKK)
 
Total speculation, just like that statement that we are only in Syria for the oil. Well, why did we fight ISIS in Iraq then? Painting this to the benefit of your argument. I’ll read infowars or maybe sputnik from the nation that is 138th of 180 nations for freedom of speech. Total conspiracy theories.

https://historyxisis.com/page/3/

“Why does it matter if we pull our troops out?”

Ever hear of the words murder? And the like? Anyone plugging for Assad and Putin should have.

This really shows no understanding of the situation over there. I might not have been for the initial intervention in 2003; but as long as we are there, we should do it right.

Excuse me, there has already been enough enabling of genocide of Christians per Assad’s policies, per the US’s mismanaged intervention in Iraq and the buck stops here. One may go ahead and be for the slaughter of innocents and countless refugees but don’t include me. I didn’t realize Trump’s motto was Make Iran Great Again.

www.theatlantic.com

Trump Delivers a Victory to Iran

The president’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria has ruined the administration’s efforts to contain the Islamic republic.
www.theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com

Needless to say, I will not indulge in any further infowars, conspiratorial sputnik/Russia Today talk.
 
Last edited:
Social media/mainstream media/fake news/politics - we are struggling with basically evil acts happening and while we try to think things through in truth we must ask for Heaven’s help. Christmas Eve is a good time to be thankful and thing things during a Silent and Holy Night. If we knew all the ins and outs affecting the decision of President Trump, we might well say - Thank you Mr. President. Our military has performed their combat tasks in Syria and it is best that they return. During the conclusion of this mission they have assisted the Kurds, training, providing them with arms and skills. They will pursue any elements of terrorists trying to recover. Also, the issues with Turkey and other countries require negotiated problem solving. If General Mattis has grown weary of being the decision maker he deserves to resign. President Trump is the
Commander in Chief - the one that puts our finest in harm’s way. This is how I am thinking things through.
Merry Christmas to all.
 
I understand your position and i respect it, but i disagree that staying is in anyone’s best interest for the long term.

Merry Christmas. Please join me in praying for everyone in Syria and the Middle East.
 
The Russians are not fighting ISiS, Assad has killed 250,000 people according to Senator Lindsay Graham, we did not defeat ISIS, if we take Trump’s word on this, by air support alone. We should not abandon those who aided us. It is traitorous.


We have been upset if the French did not appreciate our efforts in World War II, it is time to end foreign policy foul ups, it is time to end abandoning those who have done so much for us.


It may well be that we are staying for a longer amount of time, soldiers are not leaving. It might be a ruse for all we know to get more help from other nations.

I commend the French for not being traitors to our allies, when 911 happened, our allies agreed to help us, fight in Afghanistan.

Say goodbye to Trump’s second term, this is a disaster in the making. Allowing an Islamic extremist, Erdogan to dictate US foreign policy.

www.wxxinews.org

'We Will Curse Them As Traitors': Syrian Kurds React To U.S. Troop Withdrawal Plan

After President Trump's decision to pull out U.S. troops, residents of northeastern Syria tell NPR they feel betrayed. Syrians, led by Kurdish fighters, have lost thousands in the fight against ISIS.
www.wxxinews.org www.wxxinews.org

@grotto
@Theo520

I will hold Christmas wishes for those members of the SDF, especially Christians, who spilled their blood to defeat the major terrorist threat of our time and not abandon them. Ditto for the Kurds and other groups.

They’ve done our fighting and it’s despicable to abandon them and this is now looking like a ruse to have gotten other powers to contribute more such as the Saudi Arabians. It’s working, word on the ground is that our troops are not moving or leaving.

We already had the drawdown in 2011 and that helped the rise of ISIS, we could see that again. The Russians and Syrians seem to have largely targeted civilians.

@sagemage in the mean time, for people who actually know what is going on over there, the SDF took another town from ISIS.

I respect your views, but I think ISIS should be defeated and not continue there terrorism.
 
Last edited:
Mattis resigned who is one of the most respected generals of modern time, the Wall Street Journal has an editorial on how divisive this move was. Some see the whole deal as not only backstabbing an ally but the military too. Be content with one term because that might easily happen now.

Barrel bombs being used, at the least, Russophiles have to acknowledge that their side has used it, acquiesced to their use. Pretty ugly.
 
Last edited:
I think this could be a big mistake. ISIS are still there. How seriously do we take Erdogan’s assurances of tackling ISIS? And are the Kurds, who stood ‘shoulder to shoulder’ with the West in the war on ISIS now being ‘thrown under the bus’? Will this now develop into a war between Turkey and the Kurds with the heat being taken off ISIS allowing them to gain ground? How safe will Syrian Christians feel now?
 
Last edited:
How much of this withdrawal has to do with Trump Towers in Istanbul, Turkey?
 
I’ve heard this too, that sounds a bit gossipy and Turkey is a NATO ally, so we are largely forbidden from fighting them but I assumed our leaders in command like Mattis must know what they are doing and they wanted to stay there, likewise, our base in Incilirk, Turkey has nukes. One could point to that too, as some sort of motivating point.

Turkey sent troops to Afghanistan after 911 to honor commitments to us, they sent troops to fight in the Korean war. Of course, all or most of this is before Erdogan,. Their help was crucial during the cold war.
 
Apparently Donald Trump does not own Trump Towers in Istanbul, nor did he build them. It seems that he sold the licence for the company who owns them to use the name. These assets are not, it seems, owned by Donald Trump.
 
I didn’t say he owns them. However, they do have his name and his company is probably still getting annual fees for them to continue using the name.
 
But making a leap from his company possibly earning revenue from the use of the Trump brand to implying this as a possible reason for withdrawing the US force from Syria, is a bit of a jump too far, I think.

I’m not American, but if I was I think I would have probably voted for Donald Trump. I’m not an automatic supporter, but faced with the prospect of the alternative, I think he’d have got my vote. But on this latest move of saying he will pull the US force out of Syria, I think this is a dangerous move that could further destabilise the region, result in a new war between Turkey and the Kurds, lead to a resurgence in ISIS and put the Christians left in Syria (and Iraq) at further risk.
 
Last edited:
One is, however, put to wonder how many special operations “trainers” will remain and how many contractors like Six3 Systems may already be there.
 
If Turkey is set on going to war with the Kurds, will this stop it? Who do we think Turkey regards as the major threat to its interests, ISIS or the Kurds?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top