1. Americans feel they lost the war in #Afghanistan mostly because they forgot which war we were fighting. When you lose a war it's usually over. This war is not over. It's just changing the scenery.
2. We went to Afghanistan to stop Al-Qaeda from staging attacks from Afghanistan on the United States. That was the mission in 2001 and for most part we have succeeded in that mission. Al-Qaeda is still a threat to the US but for now not a threat that is coming from Afghanistan.
3. At present Turkey and Iran pose a much greater terrorist threat to the United States than Afghanistan has for well over a decade. Iran's malign activities in Iraq an, Syria, Gaza and Lebanon through proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah, are real strategic threats to America.
4. Turkey's well known terrorist affiliations generally ignored by Washington are well established. Turkey has employed al-Qaeda affiliated mercenaries in Syria, Libya & Azerbaijan. Ironically that may be the reason that even the Taliban want no security connection to the Turks.
5. Turkey humiliated the #45 administration that was all too ready to betray an ally in the war on terror. The Biden administration will soon be tested. #45 failed the test twice and betrayed the Kurds, Christians and Arabs defended by #SDF. Sec Mattis and McGurk both quit.
6. With Congress already calling for sanctions on Turkey, @JoeBiden's @WhiteHouse will likely have only a few days of being pilloried in the news over Kabul when Erdogan, with Putin and Iran's blessing, will create another crisis in Syria. It appears to have already started.
7. We can blame #45 for Afghanistan and call him out for not standing up to Erdogan. But this coming policy challenge is going to be all on the #46 @whitehouse. Being driven from Syria by an al-Qaeda affiliate may be able to occur in the dead of night but it will still haunt
8. the Biden presidency. Putin made the deal with Erdogan to permit ethnic cleansing in northern Syria. He's not going to do anything to stop it. @Centcom could impose a no fly zone in northern Syria and give the #SDF a counter-battery capability to end the constant shelling of
9. civilian areas. Then win the war on terror in Syria. Hold the UN mandated free and fair democratic elections and end another forever war. Create a safe space for refugees to return to their homes and rebuild Syria as a full member of the global community. @SecBlinken @SecDef
10. We need to send the message to Turkey that we will remain an ally of the secular Turkey created by Atatürk but reject the misogynistic Jihadist policies of the Muslim Brotherhood affiliated Erdogan government and will use our economic power to direct Turkey back
11. to a democratic secular path consistent with the principals that were the basis for granting Turkey's membership in @NATO and the necessary predicate for any continued work toward becoming a participant in the EU. @USAmbUN @GermanyDiplo @francediplo_EN @WHCOS @PressSec
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