Quote Originally Posted by Wales-Bales View Post
He was elected on a promise to curtail overseas military involvement, and all he did in Syria was withdraw 28 military personnel from the border area who were placed there as a "tripwire". If anything had happened to them there would have been a huge escalation in the conflict.
'All he did was withdraw 28 military personnel'?

Utter nonsense.

What he did was a telephone call with Erdogan where he gave the green light for accelerated invasion, ethnic cleansing and all out attack on the Kurdish forces that his government had previously regarded as allies.

Then almost a week later panicked in the face of almost universal condemnation (especially from his Republican mates) and tried to half backtrack. Far too late. The Pence/Pompeo mission to Turkey got a few days partial pause in the attack but otherwise confirmed the position Trump took originally with Erdogan.

Getting out of Syria (or anywhere else the US has put its military) is never just about troops- it is what chaos is left behind and who is given a free run to fill the political/military vacuum. I suspect Trump has got to where he is now through stupidity, ignorance and ineptitude rather than as part of some ingenious master-plan, but that doesn't help Kurdish kids being shelled with white phosphorous.