Trump defends decision to pull troops from northern Syria, but stresses US is not abandoning the local Kurds.
At the same time, Trump in a series of tweets also stressed that the US is not abandoning the Kurdish population in northern Syria, which Turkey views as a terrorist organization which is aligned with the PKK movement which has been outlawed by Ankara.
“So many people conveniently forget that Turkey is a big trading partner of the United States, in fact they make the structural steel frame for our F-35 Fighter Jet. They have also been good to deal with, helping me to save many lives at Idlib Province, and returning, in very good health, at my request, Pastor Brunson, who had many years of a long prison term remaining. Also remember, and importantly, that Turkey is an important member in good standing of NATO. He is coming to the U.S. as my guest on November 13th.
He later wrote in a second tweet, “We may be in the process of leaving Syria, but in no way have we Abandoned the Kurds, who are special people and wonderful fighters. Likewise our relationship with Turkey, a NATO and Trading partner, has been very good. Turkey already has a large Kurdish population and fully understands that while we only had 50 soldiers remaining in that section of Syria, and they have been removed, any unforced or unnecessary fighting by Turkey will be devastating to their economy and to their very fragile currency. We are helping the Kurds financially/weapons!”
The White House announced late Sunday night that the US will pull back its forces from parts of northern Syria, opening the door for a major operation by the Turkish military in Syrian territory.
Trump on Monday defended his administration’s plans to withdraw US forces from northern Syria and permit Turkey to operate in the area, signaling that America’s role in Syria may be coming to an end.
He later made clear, however, that the US would not allow Turkey to do anything inhumane in Syria.
“If they do anything outside what we think inhumane…they could suffer the wrath of an extremely decimated economy,” Trump told reporters during the signing of a trade agreement with Japan.
“We’re going to be watching Turkey,” he added. “I told President Erdogan that it’s going to be your responsibility. If any of our people get hurt, big trouble.”
Trump’s move was criticized by prominent Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who argued the withdrawal from Syria would only benefit Russia, Iran, and the Assad regime”.
Similarly, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) expressed opposition to Trump’s sudden decision to pull back US troops from northern Syria, warning such a move would be a “nightmare for Israel”.
There were still more reasons why Trump decided to let Erdogan invade Syria. Erdogan threatened the Europeans, publicly, to send over two million Syrian refugees on boats to Europe unless they agreed to stand aside when he invaded Syria. He claimed he would send these Arabs to Turkey’s occupation zone in Syria The European governments, especially then begged Trump to accede to Erdogans demands. While the EU once welcomed immigrants from the Arab world, the growing anger of their native populations and the growing strength of the anti-immigrant political parties has led them to reverse course and try to limit the Arab migration wave. He also made threats to invade the Greek Islands that are just off the coast of Turkey, and not very defensible by Greece, unless he was allowed to take Syrian territory as “compensation.”
He threatened also to send more troops to Cyprus ( they northern part of the island has been occupied by the Turks since 1964) to enforce Turkey’s claims to Cypriot oil fields. So Cyprus was forced to beg Trump to give in to Erdogan as well. He even threatened to occupy Lebanon, which joined in the clamor to Trump as well.
The long and short of it is, after appeasing the Turks for more than fifty years (the year they invaed Cyprus illegally for the first time), the U.S has found it difficult to end the policy. Our government, not just Trump but numerous previous administrations, have handed handed the Turks too many cards to play to if we end the appeasement now.
I still think that Trump should have been tough with Erdogan and imposed sanctions, even though the U.S. would have had to pay a price for getting tough with this reprobate. In the end, the U.S. always benefits when it does the moral thing, even when it has to pays a price as a result.
World War II is the most extreme example of this. Also, President’s Lincoln’s decision to suppress the Confederate secession despite the huge price in American lives on both sides.
This quote is also from Caroline Glick’s article. She maintains that if Trump had tried to block Turkey’s invasion of Syria, it would have meant a U.S. war with Turkey. I think that is unlikely in view of the severe economic and military damage such a war would have on Turkey, and the possibility that it would create openings for Erdogan’s opposition to overthrow him. But Ms. Glick unusually has good sources in the U.S . security and intelligence establishments. It is quite possible that this is the advice they gave Trump. And while the U.S. could win a war with Turkey, it would certainly be very unpopular in the U.S., and might make Trump’s impeachment and conviction more likely. Trump had to consider all of these risks in making his decision to appease Erdogan.
Of course, fear of a possible war with Turkey was not the only reason for the Pentagon’s belief that the U.S. needed its air bases in Turkey to protect its soldiers and allies in the Persian Gulf. Also its access to Turkish naval bases, which it may believe it needs to protect the (more or less) pro-American Sisi regime in Egypt, as well as Israel. All things considered, there are many reasons why the U.S. strategic-military-foreign policy “experts” believe that it is in the U.S. interest to appease Erdogan. I am sure they have shared these reasons with President Trump, and he decided to stand aside when Turkey invaded in response to their advice. But I still think ihis decision is wrong.
There is an important article in today’s Israel Hayom that provides important background historical information about the U.S. involvement in Syria. Also, the reaons why the U.S. has been unwilling to confront Erdogan about his invasion of the Kurds.
I had not known about the presense of nuclear weapons at the Incerlik base.
To me, it seems very likely that the American soldiers and airmen stationed in Turkey are the most important reason why Trump and the Pentagon decided to acquiesce in Erdogan’s invasion of Syria. The U.S. troops and the nuclear weapons are in effect hostages that Erdogan holds that he conceivably could use to inflict irreperable harm on the u.S., Israel, and the whole world. He could seize these nuclear weapons and make Turkey a nuclear power. If there are codes required to launch them, he could take the U.S. airman captive and torture the information out of them. He could hold the U.S. soldiers hostage until the U.S. turned over this exiled Turkish cleric to whom the U.S. has granted asylum, whom Erdogan hates. Impossible? Given Erdogan’s record, U.S. policy makers have to consider the possibility that he is unstable capable of anything.
Trump abandons the Kurds to Turkish ethic cleansing yet states that we have not abandoned the Kurds. Sadly, there are people out there who lack the critical thinking skills to identify trump’s words as total cynical bullshit.
We need to give Trump a little bit of a break here. This impeachment inquiry seems to be gaining traction, and it looks like articles of impeachment will be voted by the House. With Trump fighting for his political life, it is inevitable that his time and energy level for dealing with the nation’s and the word’s problem have been somewhat reduced. He has been forced to rely on the advice he receives from the Departments of Defense and State, and the CIA to help him decide what to do about Turkey and the Kurds, and I suspect that they have not given him the best advice. Many people in the Pentagon and the CIA cling to the outdated Turkish alliance, eve though Turkey under Erdogan has long seized to be an ally. Living in the past, and clinging to wishful thinking that Turkey will some day return. Without much time or energy to think the matter through indpendently and act contrary to what he has been told by his senior advisors, Trump blundered. But given the incredible pressure he is under, I thinjk we should give him a break.
The Kurds helped us defeat ISIS. Why could not we leave some soldiers there to prevent Turkey from attacking Kurds?
Pelosi and others would rather have us defend the Kurds, causing a war, so the Democrats and the liberals can go crazy and call Trump a warmonger.