US airstrikes against Isis in Syria carry on regardless

In all the hoo-ha about Trump's decision to withdraw all 2,000 American troops from Syria within 30 days - and his subsequent rowing back from that bald statement - US airstrikes from Incirlik in Turkey have been carrying on as if nothing had happened. It's one of the bizarre ingredients of Trump's foreign and security policy. It's all about bold and bald statements, mostly by Twitter, that set a new White House position but without any pre-planning by which particular government department is going to be affected. Thus, the Pentagon had not been preparing to withdraw all troops from Syria. But as soon as Trump made his announcement, that's what they were supposed to do. We all know what happened next. Jim Mattis resigned as defence secretary and all was confusion. And now we have another new position, as outlined by John Bolton, national security adviser, during a trip to Israel. He said the troops would not be withdrawn just like that but would go once Isis had finally been defeated, and Turkey had promised not to attack the US-trained and funded Kurds fighting Isis in Syria. So, sort of back to square one. Meanwhile the guys running the air campaign from US Central Command forward HQ in Qatar had apparently received no new orders, so they plugged away, selecting targets and bombing on a daily basis, never mind all the political nonsense in Washington. Over this last weekend there were raids on Isis media/propaganda sites. US commanders said these sites were crucial to destroying Isis because the fanatics spent a huge amount of time blasting out propaganda to encourage new recruits. So, bombs away. I don't think Trump ever mentioned airstrikes. Perhaps he had forgotten about them. But actually, while the 2,000 US troops have played a very helpful role in guiding the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to fight Isis, the real damage has come from the daily airstrikes and from artillery strikes, also operated by US troops. Take these two components away and Isis really will be cheering...and recruiting. Please take note, Mr President.