The Donald Trump thread

[Wales-Bales]

'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.

US forces were never authorised by Congress to be in Syria, so I am not sure how anybody can criticize it.

[jon1959]

US forces were never authorised by Congress to be in Syria, so I am not sure how anybody can criticize it.

If you can't see that those are two disconnected issues glued together - status of original decision to deploy and consequences of deal with Erdogan that involved withdrawal - then that is another reason to dismiss all your self-proclaimed bollux about your intellect and ability to look behind the headlines. As always you just choose the headlines than pander to your boy Trump.

(Yes, 'glued' was deliberate, Gluey! )

[Wales-Bales]

If you can't see that those are two disconnected issues glued together - status of original decision to deploy and consequences of deal with Erdogan that involved withdrawal - then that is another reason to dismiss all your self-proclaimed bollux about your intellect and ability to look behind the headlines. As always you just choose the headlines than pander to your boy Trump.

(Yes, 'glued' was deliberate, Gluey! )

The border dispute is between Turkey and Syria. The Kurds have aligned with Assad, and they have Russian backup. If they want to have a fight over the 30 mile border zone, then it's nothing to do with America.