Trump dismisses his generals' advice on Syria

In US history there have been numerous occasions when the incumbent president has listened hard to the advice of his generals and admirals and have then decided to go in the opposite direction. This, of course, is their constitutional right. The president is the civilian commander-in-chief of the US armed forces, and the military are the servants of their civilians masters. And, it has to be said, the military are not always right. They might want to go on bombing and fighting for the glory of the nation. But at some point the Big Chief civilian is entitled to ask: "Why are we there still? What are we doing and is it serving a purpose any more, and if there is still a mission to undertake why can't someone else do it for a change?" I'm sure Donald Trump must have asked all these questions before deciding that the 2,000 US troops serving in northeastern Syria should be withdrawn. Most of them are special operations troops but there are also Marines, forward air controllers targeting for airstrikes, engineers, combat medics and logistics units. Most people who know anything about the complexities of the battlefield in Syria would think that the special operations troops and marines etc still had a job worth doing, helping the brilliant Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to kill off the remnants of Isis still skulking in the region. The remnants by the way probably number several thousand, so it's not all over. Isis in Syria and Iraq have been pretty well finished off but they are still there and not giving up and killing every day. Obama promised that the coalition campaign would totally destroy Isis. It hasn't! But Trump has had enough and seems to think that the Syrian regime forces, Russians, Iranians and Turkish army can complete the destruction, without the Americans. That may well be the case but when Isis finally puts up the white flag or fights to the death until the last man standing is filled with bullets, the Russians and Iranians, in particular, who have been the loyal backers of Syrian monster Assad from the beginning will be the ones leading the victory march and will have an assured and permanent role to play in a post-war Syria. The Iranians will be delighted by Trump's announcement. Putin has already said it was the right decision. Ho ho, of course it was - the right decision for him, Putin. I noticed - did Robert Mueller? - that Putin, when talking to reporters, referred to "Donald". His pal Donald perhaps!! Trump has placed Jim Mattis at the Pentagon in an awkward situation. Should he just accept the decision of his president or resign in disgust? If there are no US troops on the ground, the US will cease to have any influence in an absolutely key part of the Middle East. Was this not pointed out to Trump when he spoke to his advisers? He must have been. But Trump is Trump. He said during his campaign that he would pull troops out of Syria and he likes keeping his promises which, I guess, is pretty unusual for most political leaders. He tried a few months ago but was dissuaded by Mattis and others. This time he has rejected their arguments, never mind the consequences. And now he has his eye on Afghanistan where there are 14,000 US troops. He has told his special envoy to current peace talks with the Taliban in Qatar to offer the withdrawal of all US troops if the insurgents give up the fight and implement a total ceasefire. Trump is in pull-out mood!