Trump wants troops home

Trump's logic about bringing home the 2,000 US troops currently in Syria doesn't really hold water. The special operations troops and Marines serving with the Syrian Democratic Forces against the last pockets of Isis are doing what they are trained to do. Without them and the constant bombing by mostly US aircraft, the SDF would never have been able to retake Raqqa, the Isis caiiphate stronghold, nor defeat the militants across eastern Syria. Their value there is totally underestimated by the president who seems to want to save money and let others get on with trying to stabilise Syria. Ok, the role of the US military is not to reconstruct Syria and bring peace. But having helped to defeat, or largely defeat, Isis, it would be shameful for the American special operations troops to come home and abandon their SDF comrades. They still have a vital role to play and if, by their presence, they help to keep Turkey at bay and force Russia and Iran to include the US in forging a peace settlement, all the better. Trump, like his predecesors, is scared of mission creep. Afghanistan was a classic example. US forces helped to overthrow the Taliban in 2001 and here we are 17 years later with thousands of US military still embedded in the country. Trump, perhaps wisely, does not want an American occupying force in Syria for the next 15 years. But right now Syria has reached a crucial turning point. Syria, Turkey, Iran and Russia think they can exclude the US and carve out a settlement that will suit each of them. But after years of military involvement in Syria - albeit not aimed at overthrowing Bashar Assad - the US has to play a part in the country's future, if only to ensure that Isis will never again be able to set up a caliphate and seize back the territory it lost. Trump seems more interested in using the military to guard the border with Mexico. Although both Obama and George W Bush sent the National Guard to boost manpower at the border at one point, Trump might keep troops there until he gets his wall built, if he ever does. The Pentagon, understandably, doesn't want such vital resources used in a role where there is no enemy. Mexico is a partner nation. The military might put off a few illegal immigrants, maybe even the odd drug trafficker, but the soldiers can't be everywhere. Trump should leave the 2,000 troops in Syria to finish the job properly, and think of other ways of ensuring security on America's borders. Perhaps he can persuade the omni-present Saudi Crown Prince to cough up the money for his wall. It looks like the Saudis are going to reach into their pockets to help reconstruct Syria. So a few extra billions for a wall, just between friends? What would Mexico say to that I wonder.