It is a decision that even Lindsey Graham, a close pal of Donald Trump, calls “a disaster in the making.” The president’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from northern Syria leaves the Kurds, America’s ally, wide open to an advancing Turkish force. From the New York Times:
Turkey considers the Kurdish forces to be a terrorist insurgency, and has long sought to end American support for the group. But the Kurdish fighters, which are part of the Syrian Democratic Forces, or S.D.F., have been the United States’ most reliable partner in fighting the Islamic State in a strategic corner of northern Syria.
The move goes against recommendations of senior Pentagon and State Department officials. Trump’s former diplomatic envoy to the region was blistering.
It was just four months ago that Trump said he spoke with Turkish president about NOT doing what he’s just about to do. In August, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said any unilateral action against the Kurds would be unacceptable.
The move also raises this troubling question: Why would any ally trust the United State going forward? Or as James Hohmann wrote in the Washington Post: “President Trump’s erratic foreign policy gives allies good reason to doubt America will follow through on its security commitments or protect friends in their hour of need.“
Trump has even lost “Fox and Friends.”
