Profile picture
Trita Parsi
@tparsi
, 7 tweets, 1 min read Read on Twitter
1. Astonished - but not surprised - by DC pundits outrage and horror over Trump's Syria withdrawal.

"Trump is handing Syria to Russia and Iran"

No, Syria is not America's to begin with. It's not America's to give away or keep.

>>
2. "Trump is giving Putin and Khamenei an early Christmas gift!!"

No, America getting entangled in endless wars of no strategic significance is a gift to Putin and Khamenei.

>>
3. "Trump's decision will lead to the resurgence of ISIS"

No, ISIS may resurge as a result of little or no effort to rebuild the societies. US troops are not doing any rebuilding...

>>
4. "If the US leaves, chaos will ensue in Syria"

There is chaos whether the US stays or leaves. US presence is not the solution to the chaos. In fact, the US unwise PRESENCE is what gave birth to ISIS...

>>
5. "If Trump pulls US troops, we will have abandoned Syria"

Really? Why are we reducing America to a mere military force? Does America not have the capacity to engage in diplomacy? America "abandoned" Syria when it ended all diplomatic efforts.

>>
6. "US troops are needed to counter Iran to protect Israel"

Israel is fully capable of protecting itself. Israel has nuclear weapons. Iran does not. Israel has second strike capability. Iran doesn't even have first strike capability.

>>
7. There will unfortunately continue to be bloodshed in Syria. But what is the evidence that 2,000 US troops would prevent bloodshed? Are they preventing it right now?

If the goal truly is to end the war, then we need to invest in real diplomacy.
Missing some Tweet in this thread?
You can try to force a refresh.

Like this thread? Get email updates or save it to PDF!

Subscribe to Trita Parsi
Profile picture

Get real-time email alerts when new unrolls (>4 tweets) are available from this author!

This content may be removed anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @tparsi see all

Profile picture
Trita Parsi
@tparsi
1. Willful blindness is needed to bemoan America's lessened footprint in the MidEast and claim it'll "destabilize" the region. In reality, the US's policy of primacy has encouraged US "allies" to be even more reckless and destabilizing.
Consider the following:
>>
2. Would Saudi have started the reckless war in Yemen without the explicit or implicit green light from the US and Riyadh's (correct) belief that the US would assist them in the war? The planes are American, the bombs are American. EVEN THE MECHANICS ON THE GROUND ARE AMERICAN! >
3. The New York Times reports today that US military officials are in the flight operations room in Riyadh, providing intelligence and tactical advice to the Saudis as they ravage Yemen.

nytimes.com/2018/12/25/wor…
>>
Read 10 tweets
Profile picture
Trita Parsi
@tparsi
A few thoughts on Trump's new Iran sanctions and massive escalation:

There is little doubt Trump’s sanctions will hurt the Iranian economy. But it is highly unlikely that they will succeed in forcing Iran to capitulate to Mike Pompeo’s 12 demands. >>
Obama tried the same with his sanctions -and failed. He only got Iran to show flexibility after he offered concessions, such as accepting enrichment on Iranian soil. Sanctions alone did not break the nuclear deadlock under Obama and it is even less likely to succeed under Trump>>
It is also clear that Trump has failed to push Iran’s oil exports down to zero. Iran will continue to export oil, making an Iranian capitulation even less likely. As usual, Trump’s policy has been heavy on bark, but not as heavy on bite.
>>
Read 8 tweets
Profile picture
Trita Parsi
@tparsi
/THREAD/

Months ago I pointed out that if the EU didnt put down its foot and stop Trump from killing the #IranDeal, Trump would proceed to kill the next international agreement and then the next.

John Bolton's attack on ICC should be seen in that context.

>>
2. Trump seeks to destroy the entire international system to bring us back to the law of the jungle. In his primitive thinking, such an international (dis)order will be to the benefit of the US (and Israel) because of their military strength.
>>
3. That is utterly bizarre. Not only does this incentivize other countries to build up their militaries (making the world and the US less safe), but smart states use their strength today to establish rules that will protect them even when their relative strength wanes.
Read 4 tweets

Related threads

Profile picture
MrRevinsky
@Kyruer
#Breaking #Syria
#Erdogan said that #Turkey will start Eastern Euphrates operation against #YPG within days but #US soldiers will not be targeted.
#Breaking #Syria #OperationEasternEuphrates
#Turkey and #FSA will aim at taking control of the towns of Tal Abyad (Gire Spi) and Sere Kaniye.
#Syria #OperationEasternEuphrates
The #US released a statement about #Turkish threats: "Unilateral military action into northeast Syria by any party, particularly as US personnel may be present or in the vicinity, is of grave concern. We would find any such actions unacceptable".
Read 67 tweets
Profile picture
Filomena Rocha
@Filomen03258997
Humanitarian Wars for democracy and freedom are false and lying - 13

The so-called "moderate rebels"

#Syria #WarCrimes #FakeNews #lies #terrorism #aggression #Hypocrisy #FalseFlag #bastards #IillegalWar #Criminals #CriminalDamage #DoubleStandard #ModerateRebels
1.
 What was the UN created for?
What was the United Nations charter created for?
What were human rights associations created for?
What was the International Criminal Court created for?

Enough of double standars and hypocrisy. Enough is enough.
2.
 If wars can be started by lies, they can be stopped by truth.”
- Julian Assange -
Read 253 tweets
Profile picture
Charles Lister
@Charles_Lister
#Russia's really going for it at UNSC today: Amb. Nebenzia going all-out tinfoil hat, contradicting himself in rapid time.

- In the space of seconds, he says (1) the #Douma incident was a false-flag chemical attack by rebels & then says (2) there was no chemical attack at all.
U.S. Amb. to UN @nikkihaley:

- I could hold up pictures of babies lying dead next to their mothers, in their diapers, all lying together, dead, ashen blue, open eyes & lifeless, white foam bubbling from their mouths & noses… the very definition of innocent, hiding in basements.
U.S. Amb. to UN @nikkihaley:

"Who does this? Only a monster does this… the monsters behind this have no conscience… the Russian regime is covered in the blood of innocent children.

#Russia & #Iran are to blame… [but] what’s the point in trying to shame these people?
Read 21 tweets
Profile picture
Rosie Unmasked ⚖️
@almostjingo
🗝(1) “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.”
For over a year we’ve been bombarded with rhetoric about #Russia #NorthKorea and #Iran yet no one seems to remember Clinton/Gore but we should, it’s important.
(2) #ClintonGore ran in 92’ consciously ignoring foreign policy and there’s no doubt America had war fatigue. Gore’s slogan was “it’s the economy stupid” and when they won despite the #ColdWar having just ended both of them barely even mentioned #Russia
(3) #ClintonGore inherited a political dream of sorts. For the first time #Russia was eager and willing to work with America they were cooperating across the spectrum and agreements with Bush Sr. were in place to reduce nuclear arsenals by 66% Democracy was at its most popular.
Read 25 tweets

Trending hashtags

#badumching #IRGCTerrorists #HappeningNow #SyrianArmy #IranNuclearDeal #Syria #Iraq #Russia #PayAttentionWorld #Macron #US #Cyprus #Hypocracy #Lebanon #AlGore #AmericaFirst #SOTU #Iran #Collusion #Trump #Damascus #America #Hezbollah #Ankara #VisitTheUSA
Follow Us on Twitter!

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just three indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!