Trump's Withdrawal Is The Best Thing For ISIS In Months

(Cartoon image is by Jimmy Margulies at jimmymargulies.com.)



Donald Trump's abrupt and senseless withdrawal from northern Syria is disastrous for our best allies in that area -- the Kurds. It allows them to become the victims of ethnic cleansing by Turkey -- who is forcibly removing them from their homeland and replacing them with Arabs.

There are also some winners from Trump's actions -- notably Turkey, Syria, and Russia (who is now going to help Turkey kick the Kurds out. And there is another big winner -- ISIS. Trump continues to brag about how he has defeated ISIS, but his action gives ISIS the best chance they have had to come back and be a danger to the rest of the world -- including the United States.

The following is part of an op-ed on the situation by David D. Kirkpatrick (pictured on upper left) and Eric Schmitt (pictured on upper right) in The New York Times:

American forces and their Kurdish-led partners in Syria had been conducting as many as a dozen counterterrorism missions a day against Islamic State militants, officials said. That has stopped.

Those same partners, the Syrian Democratic Forces, had also been quietly releasing some Islamic State prisoners and incorporating them into their ranks, in part as a way to keep them under watch. That, too, is now in jeopardy. 

And across Syria’s porous border with Iraq, Islamic State fighters are conducting a campaign of assassination against local village headmen, in part to intimidate government informants. 

When President Trump announced this month that he would pull American troops out of northern Syria and make way for a Turkish attack on the Kurds, Washington’s onetime allies, many warned that he was removing the spearhead of the campaign to defeat the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.

Now, analysts say that Mr. Trump’s pullout has handed the Islamic State its biggest win in more than four years and greatly improved its prospects. With American forces rushing for the exits, in fact, American officials said last week that they were already losing their ability to collect critical intelligence about the group’s operations on the ground. 

“There is no question that ISIS is one of the big winners in what is happening in Syria,” said Lina Khatib, director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Chatham House, a research center in London.

Cutting support for the Syrian Democratic Forces has crippled the ability of the United States and its former partners to hunt down the group’s remnants.

News of the American withdrawal set off jubilation among Islamic State supporters on social media and encrypted chat networks. It has lifted the morale of fighters in affiliates as far away as Libya and Nigeria.

And, by removing a critical counterforce, the pullout has eased the re-emergence of the Islamic State’s core as a terrorist network or a more conventional, and potentially long-lasting, insurgency based in Syria and Iraq.

Although Mr. Trump has repeatedly declared victory over the Islamic State — even boasting to congressional leaders last week that he had personally “captured ISIS” — it remains a threat. After the loss in March of the last patch of the territory it once held across Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State dispersed its supporters and fighters to blend in with the larger population or to hide out in remote deserts and mountains.

The group retains as many as 18,000 “members” in Iraq and Syria, including up to 3,000 foreigners, according to estimates cited in a recent Pentagon report. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed caliph, is still at large.

Public Disagrees With Trump About Who Is Friend Of U.S.

The charts above reflect the results of the latest Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between October 13th and 15th of a national sample of 1,500 adults, with a 2.7 point margin of error.

The countries that Donald Trump are the friendliest with are Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey -- all ruled by a strong dictator (or king). He actually seems to think these countries are our friends and allies.

The American public does not agree. A clear majority (66%) does not think Russia is a friend, and a plurality says Saudi Arabia (40%) and Turkey (43%) are not our friends. Americans do think the Syrian Kurds are our friends though (a plurality of 46%) -- but sadly, these are the people Trump has betrayed.

Admiral McRaven Says It's Time To Replace Trump

Donald Trump is bragging about what a great deal he "negotiated" with Turkey. The truth is that it was a terrible deal. The deal gave Turkey everything it wanted, while betraying our best allies in the region -- the Kurds.

Those who know the military realities in that area (and the world), are shocked at Trump's betrayal -- and that includes some of our best military minds.

The following is an op-ed in The New York Times by former Admiral William H. McRaven (who was in command of the Seal Team that killed Osama bin Laden). He writes:

Last week I attended two memorable events that reminded me why we care so very much about this nation and also why our future may be in peril. 

The first was a change of command ceremony for a storied Army unit in which one general officer passed authority to another. The second event was an annual gala for the Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.) Society that recognizes past and present members of the intelligence and Special Operations community for their heroism and sacrifice to the nation. What struck me was the stark contrast between the words and deeds heralded at those events — and the words and deeds emanating from the White House.

On the parade field at Fort Bragg, N.C., where tens of thousands of soldiers have marched either preparing to go to war or returning from it, the two generals, highly decorated, impeccably dressed, cleareyed and strong of character, were humbled by the moment. 

They understood the awesome responsibility that the nation had placed on their shoulders. They understood that they had an obligation to serve their soldiers and their soldiers’ families. They believed in the American values for which they had been fighting for the past three decades. They had faith that these values were worth sacrificing everything for — including, if necessary, their lives.

Having served with both officers for the past 20 years, I know that they personified all that is good and decent and honorable about the American military with genuineness of their humility, their uncompromising integrity, their willingness to sacrifice all for a worthy cause, and the pride they had in their soldiers.

Later that week, at the O.S.S. Society dinner, there were films and testimonials to the valor of the men and women who had fought in Europe and the Pacific during World War II. We also celebrated the 75th anniversary of D-Day, recognizing those brave Americans and allies who sacrificed so much to fight Nazism and fascism. We were reminded that the Greatest Generation went to war because it believed that we were the good guys — that wherever there was oppression, tyranny or despotism, America would be there. We would be there because freedom mattered. We would be there because the world needed us and if not us, then who?

Also that evening we recognized the incredible sacrifice of a new generation of Americans: an Army Special Forces warrant officer who had been wounded three times, the most recent injury costing him his left leg above the knee. He was still in uniform and still serving. There was an intelligence officer, who embodied the remarkable traits of those men and women who had served in the O.S.S. And a retired Marine general, whose 40 years of service demonstrated all that was honorable about the Corps and public service. 

But the most poignant recognition that evening was for a young female sailor who had been killed in Syria serving alongside our allies in the fight against ISIS. Her husband, a former Army Green Beret, accepted the award on her behalf. Like so many that came before her, she had answered the nation’s call and willingly put her life in harm’s way.

For everyone who ever served in uniform, or in the intelligence community, for those diplomats who voice the nation’s principles, for the first responders, for the tellers of truth and the millions of American citizens who were raised believing in American values — you would have seen your reflection in the faces of those we honored last week.

But, beneath the outward sense of hope and duty that I witnessed at these two events, there was an underlying current of frustration, humiliation, anger and fear that echoed across the sidelines. The America that they believed in was under attack, not from without, but from within. 

These men and women, of all political persuasions, have seen the assaults on our institutions: on the intelligence and law enforcement community, the State Department and the press. They have seen our leaders stand beside despots and strongmen, preferring their government narrative to our own. They have seen us abandon our allies and have heard the shouts of betrayal from the battlefield. As I stood on the parade field at Fort Bragg, one retired four-star general, grabbed my arm, shook me and shouted, “I don’t like the Democrats, but Trump is destroying the Republic!”

Those words echoed with me throughout the week. It is easy to destroy an organization if you have no appreciation for what makes that organization great. We are not the most powerful nation in the world because of our aircraft carriers, our economy, or our seat at the United Nations Security Council. We are the most powerful nation in the world because we try to be the good guys. We are the most powerful nation in the world because our ideals of universal freedom and equality have been backed up by our belief that we were champions of justice, the protectors of the less fortunate.

But, if we don’t care about our values, if we don’t care about duty and honor, if we don’t help the weak and stand up against oppression and injustice — what will happen to the Kurds, the Iraqis, the Afghans, the Syrians, the Rohingyas, the South Sudanese and the millions of people under the boot of tyranny or left abandoned by their failing states? 

If our promises are meaningless, how will our allies ever trust us? If we can’t have faith in our nation’s principles, why would the men and women of this nation join the military? And if they don’t join, who will protect us? If we are not the champions of the good and the right, then who will follow us? And if no one follows us — where will the world end up?

President Trump seems to believe that these qualities are unimportant or show weakness. He is wrong. These are the virtues that have sustained this nation for the past 243 years. If we hope to continue to lead the world and inspire a new generation of young men and women to our cause, then we must embrace these values now more than ever. 

And if this president doesn’t understand their importance, if this president doesn’t demonstrate the leadership that America needs, both domestically and abroad, then it is time for a new person in the Oval Office — Republican, Democrat or independent — the sooner, the better. The fate of our Republic depends upon it.

A U.S. Military Wife's Letter To The Kurdish People

(This photo of a Syrian Kurd funeral, from The New York Times, is by Delil Souleiman / Agence France-Presse / Getty Images.)

The following is an open letter to the Kurdish people from the wife of an American soldier:

Dear Kurdish soldiers,

You don't know me, but I have known of you for most of my adult life. When my military husband and I quickly married, knowing he was deploying to the Middle East to be part of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, I feared what he and his Special Operations unit would face when they arrived. 

How bad would the fighting be? How long would they be gone? Would he survive? 

Months later, he returned and recounted to me what he could about his experience. I asked how he had made it through. He replied, "We had help. We had the Kurds."

He told me stories of how the Kurdish people in Northern Iraq supported the troops, advised them, stood by them, fought shoulder to shoulder with them in combat, and became allies and friends. And I became grateful -- immensely, unwaveringly, and forever grateful for you. 

Since then, the word "Kurds" in my home has meant something. It has meant "ally" and "friendship." 

There are pictures of Iraqi Kurds alongside my husband and fellow soldiers in our home. I have a coffee mug with depictions of female Syrian Kurdish soldiers on it that I proudly use to remind me of you. My children play soccer in their Kurdistan jerseys. 

The Kurdish people are not nameless, faceless people across the world. You hold a place of honor and respect in our home. It's important to me that all of you know that. I owe you so much. My husband is home safe today after years of fighting and I know you helped make that happen. 

But now, I watch the news in horror. I see promises broken, progress destroyed, years of hard work and unimaginable sacrifice gone in a tweet. I see allies betrayed, their faces in my picture frame. While watching the news, my children turn to me and ask if those are our friends and I say yes. They have looks of confusion on their faces.

I can't imagine what your families are going through. I can't imagine their fear. I can't imagine these things because for the last 17 years you have fought to help us keep an attack off our soil, and I know that has now compromised your safety. It breaks my heart. 

Where I come from, a person's word means something. Our honor and integrity are everything, as I know yours are to you. To read in international newspapers that the United States, my country, has abandoned the Kurds is absolutely heartbreaking. 

Hasty decisions like this have not only put your people in terrible danger, they make the situation for our soldiers there on the Syrian-Turkish border much more difficult. My husband was with you on that border not long ago and I can't imagine what our soldiers' families are feeling right now. 

And it's not just safety. It's hard to imagine how difficult it is for American soldiers to hear a partner and ally's calls for help and not be allowed to answer them. It's also hard to imagine you having to turn to Putin or the Assad regime for support because you could no longer count on Americans to keep their promise.

I worry for the safety of you and your families. I worry about the instability of the region and what that could mean for the future. I worry about the thousands of ISIS fighters we worked so hard to put in prisons, and who you must walk away from as you defend yourselves. I can't imagine the threat that now poses for us all. I see the look on my husband's face when he watches the news at the end of the day. The only phrase that comes to mind is "I'm sorry." 

I write you today, on behalf of my family, to say thank you for everything you have done for us. Thank you for your friendship, for keeping your word and fighting alongside us, for staying the course year after year. Thank you for keeping my husband safe so he could come back home to me and my children. You have my sincerest prayers today that you too may safely return to yours. Thank you to your families that sacrificed without you, so you could make this partnership happen. 

I pray we return to your side, that we stand by you, and that this has not all been in vain.

Forever yours, 

A Grateful Wife

Many U.S. Soldiers Disgusted With Trump's Syria Withdrawal

(Photo of Turkish tanks poised to invade Syria is by Unit Bektas at ukdefencejournal.org.uk.)

It shouldn't surprise us that many soldiers are not happy with Trump's decision to betray our Kurdish allies. The following is by Steve Benen at The MaddowBlog:

In a recent piece for The Atlantic, Mark Bowden took a closer look at what it’s like for U.S. troops to serve under Donald Trump, interviewing “officers up and down the ranks, as well as several present and former civilian Pentagon employees.” The results were striking.

“In 20 years of writing about the military, I have never heard officers in high positions express such alarm about a president,” the article noted.

This, of course, was before the president ignored his national security team, withdrew U.S. forces from northern Syria, and effectively invited Turkey to launch a brutal offensive against our Kurdish allies. As the Washington Post reported yesterday, Trump’s decision isn’t sitting well with many U.S. service members.

U.S. veterans have supported Trump in part because of his often-repeated promises to extricate the U.S. military from a generation at war, numerous polls have found. But the calamity on the ground in Syria has wrought angry reactions from service members like few other recent foreign policy decisions.

Troops have reacted viscerally in interviews and on social media despite Defense Department restrictions on them expressing political opinions.

The Post spoke with many troops who “expressed disgust” with the president’s decision.

“I can’t even look at the atrocities,” one Army officer who served in Syria last year said. “The ISIS mission is going to stop, ISIS is going to have a resurgence, and we’re going to have to go back in five years and do it all again.”

A day earlier, David Ignatius wrote in his latest column about a conversation he’d had with a retired four-star general who described Trump’s retreat from Syria as an “unsound, morally indefensible act” and a “disgrace” to America and the soldiers who serve this country.

Ignatius also spoke to an Army officer who added, in reference to Trump’s decision, “It will go down in infamy…. This will go down as a stain on the American reputation for decades.”

The president seems to assume that he enjoys broad political support within the military, which he perceives as conservative, and there’s probably some truth to that. The Military Times reported a few months ago on a poll of U.S. military veterans and the results showed Trump with a 57% approval rating, while 41% disapprove. This is roughly the inverse of Trump’s support with the overall U.S. population.

But if the president believes those numbers can never and will never change, he may be disappointed.

Trump's Message To World: U.S. Words/Values Are Worthless

(Photo of Turkish attack on Kurds in Syria, from Vox.com, is by Delil Souleiman/Getty Images.)

Rep. Seth Moulton (pictured) has written the op-ed below. He is disappointed that Trump has abandoned our Kurdish allies -- sending a message to the world that American words and values are worthless.

(Congressman Seth Moulton represents Massachusetts’s 6th District in the House of Representatives. Prior to serving in Congress, Moulton served four tours of duty in Iraq as a Captain in the United States Marine Corps. He lives in Salem with his wife, Liz, and his daughter, Emmy.)

“We’ve got your back.”

These are words every American veteran knows. We say that to each other, and we say it to our allies.

President Trump only says it to our enemies.

Trump said he “fell in love” with Kim Jung Un, curtailing our military exercises and repeatedly handing him propaganda victories, for almost nothing in return.Trump had Vladimir Putin’s back in Helsinki when he said he believed Putin over our intelligence community. And now we’ve learned that he withheld military aid to our ally Ukraine in exchange for exploring a conspiracy theory against Joe Biden.

Now, with Trump’s retreat from Northern Syria, he is choosing to have the back of Turkish President Recep Erdoğan, a known Putin protege, rather than the Kurdish fighters who have fought alongside American troops against ISIS and other terrorists for decades.

And make no mistake: ISIS will be celebrating. The only thing stopping ISIS right now is the Kurds in Northern Syria, supported by the American troops Trump just told to retreat.

Ask any American veteran of the Middle East who has worked with the Kurds and he or she will tell you they’re our most trusted ally. After years of brutal fighting, they now hold an estimated 11,000 ISIS fighters in prison — prisons that will be overrun by the Turkish troops Trump backs.

Escaped ISIS fighters will combine with the new generation of fighters ISIS operatives are recruiting in the refugee camps in Northeast Syria to undo the years of progress we’ve made against this international terrorist group.

The result: It puts American troops in greater danger. It puts America and our allies in greater danger.

Remember, this isn’t the first time Trump has tried this. Former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, under whom I served in Iraq, resigned rather than allow the president to withdraw Americans from Northern Syria, because he knew it would hand ISIS a victory.

Republicans agree. It’s encouraging to see Senators Mitch McConnell, Mitt Romney and Lindsey Graham speaking up for the Kurds and against the president. But Trump has run over these Republicans in the past, just as he’s running over the Kurds today, and it looks like he will again.

Beyond the physical danger President Trump's decision creates, there is moral danger, too. When America betrays its allies and sides with strongmen, it sends a message around the world that our word and our values are worthless.

It emboldens Russia and encourages Putin to continue undermining our elections and destabilizing Europe. The next time we ask the Palestinians to make concessions to achieve a peace plan, they will rightfully point to the Kurds as a reason not to trust us. Israeli pundits are already pointing at this decision as a reason for Israel to act unilaterally in the region. And, if the president wants to succeed in North Korea, he will need South Korea, Japan, Australia and our other allies to trust him. I wouldn’t blame them for doubting his word.

Republicans in the House and Senate, and Americans across the country who care about the value of America’s word, need to hold the president accountable. To the American patriots who support the president, I would pose this question: For how long are you willing to watch him erode our values, cozy up to dictators and sell out our allies — and still tell him, “Mr. President, ‘We’ve got your back.’”

Trump Abandons The Kurds For Personal Financial Gain

Our most faithful and effective allies in the fight against ISIS in Syria has been the Kurdish fighters. (known as the Syrian Democratic Forces). We owe them a huge debt of gratitude, but Donald Trump has decided to throw them under the bus instead. He has announced that he is pulling U.S. troops back from the part of Syria near the Turkish border, and has given Turkish strongman Recep Erdogan his blessing to move into that part of Syria.

This area is the homeland of the Kurds, who have wanted to create their own country there (and in a small part of Turkey bordering Syria). It looks like, thanks to Trump, that Kurdish dream of freedom and their own country will now die. The Turkish president regards the Kurdish fighters as terrorist, and undoubtably will be attacking them.

Why is Trump doing this? Is it because he has a hotel (and other investments) in Istanbul? Is Trump abandoning the Kurds to an awful fate so he can make more money in Turkey? What financial inducements has Erdogan promised Trump? It looks like our foreign policy is being influenced by Trump's own financial gain. This is why U.S. presidents should divest themselves of their businesses before taking office (which other presidents have done, but which Trump refused to do).

It was to prevent actions like this that our Founding Fathers put an Emoluments Clause in our Constitution -- to prevent foreign policy from being dictated by a president's personal financial gain. Trump has repeatedly violated that clause of the Constitution. It is just one more reason why he must be IMPEACHED!

Myth Of al-Queda In Iraq

George Bush and his clone, John McCain, are still trying to convince Americans that the biggest threat in Iraq is al-Queda. They'd like for us to believe that if we leave Iraq, al-Queda would either take over there or at least be able to use Iraq as a base for their nefarious activities. The truth is there is absolutely no chance of either happening.

Let's look at just who the groups are that are vying for power in Iraq. First we have the Kurds, who inhabitat the northern part of the country. They are not interested in any part of Iraq except their northern homeland, and they are probably strong enough to control that whether we stay or leave Iraq. They don't like al-Queda, and al-Queda is unable to operate in that area of Iraq.

That leaves four groups vying for control of the rest of Iraq -- the Shiites, the Sunnis, the puppet government we installed and al-Queda. The strongest group is the Shiite militias, the largest of which is controlled by Sadr. This is the group most likely to take over in Iraq when we leave. If they do, they will install an Iranian-style theocracy.

The Shiites hate al-Queda (who are Sunni) and there is no way they would allow them to operate in Iraq. If the Shiites take over, al-Queda will be exterminated or run out of the country in short order.

The Sunnis are the second most powerful group in Iraq. The Sunni militias, called the "Awakening Movement", do not like al-Queda either. They consider them foreigners and trouble-makers. If the Sunnis came to power, they would not treat al-Queda any better than the Shiites. In fact, they are already fighting al-Queda with arms supplied by us. They certainly wouldn't provide a haven for them.

The third group is the puppet government installed by the Bush administration. There is no way they will survive once we leave. Their troops are not capable of fighting any of the other groups without our help. I expect these troops will desert and join either the Shiite or Sunni militias after the U.S. troops withdraw, and the government will quickly fall.

That leaves al-Queda, who is actually the weakest of the four groups. They do not have the numbers to engage in real military actions anymore. The only way they can fight is through terrorist actions -- suicide bombers and roadside bombs. The only reason they still exist in Iraq is because we are still occupying the country.

Once we leave, they will be unable to recruit new members there. Our presence is the only reason they can recruit anyone there at all. They will be left with a few foreign fighters, who will quickly be killed or kicked out by the Sunnis and Shiites who hate them.

Would there be a bloodbath if we leave? It's possible, but it would not be al-Queda doing it. The Sunnis and the Shiites will vy for power, and it might be a bloody civil war. But it might not. A majority of the Arab world believes these groups could come to an understanding, if we would just get out of the way.

So, staying in Iraq is not the way to get rid of al-Queda there. It's only our presence that allows them to even exist there. If we were really serious about fighting al-Queda, we would leave Iraq and go where they really have some power -- Afghanistan and Pakistan. All our occupation of Iraq is doing is allowing the real al-Queda forces to grow stronger in these two countries.

I am in favor of fighting al-Queda, and I have been since they attacked us on 9/11. The group should be crushed and it's leaders brought to justice. But staying in Iraq will never accomplish that.

Bush Makes New Enemies

After the tragedy in September 2001, most of the world was behind us. It took Bush less than two years to squander all that good will. By the end of 2003, most nations were looking at us as agressors who had unjustifiably invaded another country. This was true even of countries that had long been our friends.

Even when governments such as England supported us, the vast majority of their population didn't. In Iraq, Bush wound up putting our soldiers between two warring faction, both of whom hated us -- the Shiites and the Sunnis.

But there was one group that liked us. The Kurds of northern Iraq had been oppressed by Saddam for many years. They were among the few groups in the world that appreciated our invasion of Iraq. The invasion not only removed their oppressor, but allowed them to set up self-rule in northern Iraq. They were the only Iraqi group that our soldiers could really count as friends.

But evidently, having friends in Iraq is not something Bush cares much about. It looks like he has now turned even the Kurds against us. Yesterday, the president of the Kurdish regional government in Iraq refused to meet with Condi Rice.

The Kurds in Iraq are angry with the Bush administration for siding with the Turks against them. They say Bush has allowed the Turks to indiscriminately bomb innocent Kurdish civilians. They know the Turks could not invade Iraqi airspace to do this unless they had Bush's blessing.

The Kurds should be used to being sold out by a Bush. The first President Bush encouraged them to revolt against Saddam, and then would not act to help them when they did. He allowed Saddam to brutally quash the revolt.

When the second President Bush freed them from Saddam, they thought they finally had a friend. They were wrong. All it took was a little noise from the Turks, and Bush II quickly sold them out.

The Kurdish president is absolutely right. No plane can fly in Iraqi airspace (especially performing military missions) without the blessing of the Bush administration. Any planes not authorized by Bush would be quickly blasted out of the sky.

The longer we are in Iraq, the clearer it becomes. Bush is there for the oil. Nothing and no one else matters.