Several Republican lawmakers have made it publicly clear that they were caught off-guard and not pleased with President Donald Trump’s decision to pull U.S. troops out of Syria.
And behind closed doors, Trump — apparently influenced by a phone call with the President of Turkey, who criticized U.S. involvement in Syria — went against the advice of some of his most trusted advisers and high-ranking officials, The Washington Post reported.
According to people familiar with the issue who spoke to the Post, Trump made up his mind on Tuesday after a meeting with White House aides, Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Most of those in attendance reportedly strongly disagreed with Trump’s instincts.
Mattis argued to Trump that ISIS was still in operation in Syria, and a pullout of the 2,000 U.S. troops stationed in the area would fuel mayhem. The President ignored the advice.
One source who spoke to the Post said the decision was a “clear rebuke” — in the Post’s words — of Mattis, who Trump has increasingly ostracized in recent months.
Trump’s decision shocked many of the U.S.’s closest allies in the area who have joined the U.S. in its fight against the Islamic State and were apprised of the decision before it was announced, according to the Post.
Several people familiar with the situation told the Post that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was also blindsided by the decision and wasn’t given a heads-up until Trump shared it on Twitter.
Read the Post’s story on Trump-Mattis fallout here and its piece on Trump startling allies with the decision here.
Between this and yesterday’s easing of sanctions one has to wonder whether Trump’s puppeteer has realized time is short and it’s henceforth burner mode for Agent Orange.
So Trump allies and lackeys? Do you still believe that there was no collusion? General Mattis, do you still believe it was a good idea to ally with this man for the purpose of a few more hundreds of billion to the Military-Industrial Complex, and a nice retirement job for you?
This is a disastrous decision for US foreign policy on multiple levels. Let’s be clear about what this is. It’s a payoff to Putin. Syria was on Putin’s wish list throughout 2016. The first dividends for Putin from Trump’s election came in Syria where he had waited out Obama/Kerry and then within 2 weeks after Trump’s win, moved immediately to flatten Aleppo.
There are conservatives out there who are trying to equate this with Obama leaving Iraq, which is wrong on multiple levels and hides what this is really about. This is the Manchurian President fulfilling the orders of the puppet master. This is treason unfolding in broad daylight.
Just for fun …
Blind, Burrowing Amphibian Species Named After Donald Trump For a Special Reason
Wondering if there was more to the Turkey mishegas than just Flynn making money. Trump usually does what Fox says, but now Erdogan is calling the shots?