Trump allies are missing the bigger picture in re troop withdrawals from Kurdish Syria libertyunyielding.com/2019/10/10/tru… via @LUnyielding
@LUnyielding President Trump answered these critics by pointing out that the Kurds were engaged in a contractual relationship fighting the Islamic State (ISIS). They were well paid and equipped for their fighting, much like any mercenary group.
@LUnyielding Furthermore, they were given three years to consolidate eastern Syria to feed their long-held desire to form an independent Kurdistan with other Kurds in Turkey, Iraq, and Iran. They failed.
@LUnyielding Regional powers Turkey and to a lesser extent Iran and Syria have long held the Kurds in disdain. In fact, Turkey considers the Syrian Kurds allies of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party or (PKK), which are Turkish Kurds and terrorists fighting for independence for the last 35 years.
@LUnyielding Basically, the Kurds hijacked our fight with ISIS to feed their regional civil war to earn independence. President Trump is aware of that agenda and also trying to constrain American hawks who want to use our military willy-nilly across the world.
@LUnyielding Also, we need to ask ourselves whether the withdrawal of a few American troops really matters in the conflict either against ISIS, and did it really grant the Turkish government the “green light” to attack “terrorist” Kurds?
@LUnyielding Perhaps. But the Syrian civil war which led to the rise of ISIS is over, and the bloody dictator in Damascus won thanks to the Russians and Iranians. We can blame Pres. Barack Obama for that outcome, not Trump.
@LUnyielding And yes, the Turks have permission from Damascus to cross into Syria and they will now consolidate a buffer zone along the Syrian border to control terrorist actions fostered by the independence-minded Kurds and allow for millions of refugees to return home.
@LUnyielding The question Trump’s critics don’t answer is: Will ISIS return to fight another day? My answer is “not necessarily.” Keep in mind al Qaeda and ISIS are in many more places today than when US forces first pursued them in the mountains of Afghanistan and the northern plains of Iraq
@LUnyielding Also, what remains of ISIS is trapped in a small area in Syria, and if they make a ruckus that can be easily handled by Turkish and Russian airstrikes, they won’t bother with concerns about collateral damage.
@LUnyielding Another point about all the fake news about the Kurdish plight is evidence of a basic misunderstanding about the Middle East which is locked in a constant cycle of war in part because of the English fools who redrew the maps after World War I.
@LUnyielding Much of the region is locked in tribal wars and doesn’t want democracy. In part because of those tribal wars, we do not need to stay another day, much less a century. Let regional players fight these problems so we can focus on larger security challenges like China and Russia
@LUnyielding Why must America get involved in every conflict around the world unless one believes, as some of the Trump critics do, that we are the world’s policeman and like former American leaders believe in promoting democracy at the pointy end of the bayonet?
@LUnyielding Finally, I’m a security cooperation expert helping the Pentagon work with land forces across the world. Our allies and foreign partners like us because we are ready to fight for them and more often than not give them training and equipment to settle their own challenges.
@LUnyielding I dare say the American taxpayer ought to ask whether there ought to be a limit on how much of this fighting really supports our national interests.
