Friday 11 January 2019

Who is in charge of the US Syria strategy?

The US policy on Syria is about as clear as the water in the Dead Sea. One minute Trump is in charge, ordering all 2,000 US troops to get out of Syria within 30 days. Then a worried Senator Lindsay Graham has lunch with Trump in the White House and comes out smiling, saying that the president didn't really mean 30 days and the withdrawal would be slowed until the time and conditions were right. Then Mike Pompeo and John Bolton, Trump's two heavyweight officials, stepped in and said none of the troops would be withdrawn until Isis had been fully defeated and America's Kurdish allies in Syria had been given a promise by Turkey that they wouldn't face annihilation by the Turkish army once the American military had gone. Now for heaven's sake it has been confirmed by official US defence spokesmen that the withdrawal process has begun!! Never mind that Turkish leader President Erdogan refused to guarantee any safe passage for the Kurds. What the hell is going on? Has Trump given a straight order to the Pentagon, "start withdrawing from Syria immediately or else you can pay for the construction of my Mexico border wall". Whatever conversations were had, the Pentagon has jumped and the process has started. How long will it take? Will it be weeks or months? And what about the loyal British and French special fores troops who have been serving alongside the Americans? They will be left in a highly dangerous situation. Britain and France have said they will stay in Syria. But there are only a few of them, perhaps 100 French troops and maybe only 50 or so Brits. They need US back-up. Did Trump tell Bolton about Operation Withdrawal NOW when he sent him off to Israel and Turkey to give reassuring sounds about US continuing commitment to fighting Isis in Syria and protecting the Kurds? And what about Pompeo's ridiculous vow to eliminate every Iranian boot on the ground in Syria? This was only yesterday when a US warship was already on its way to begin the withdrawal process. What a farce, a dangerous farce.

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