USA had leverage to work out a deal eventually in the area, but Agent Orange had to make a choice...lose business interests in Turkey or let an ally get wiped out....Putin adds bonus to time card this week.
The hasty U.S. pullback from Syria is a searing moment in America’s withdrawal from the Middle East
Not only is Trump not credible but he constantly makes others look bad too.
A U.S. military convoy Saturday outside Qamishli in northeastern Syria. (Alice Martins for The Washington Post/FTWP)
ByLiz Sly Oct. 17, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. GMT+11
BEIRUT — The blow to America’s standing in the Middle East was sudden and unexpectedly swift. Within the space of a few hours, advances by Turkish troops in Syria this week had compelled the U.S. military’s Syrian Kurdish allies to switch sides, unraveled years of U.S. Syria policy and recalibrated the balance of power in the Middle East.
[...]
Less than 48 hoursbefore the withdrawal announcement, U.S. Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had given assurances that the troops would remain indefinitely, standing by their Kurdish partners to continue to hunt down the Islamic State.
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