October 15, 2019

 Does anyone have any idea what Trump is up to regarding Turkey, Syria and the Kurds?  The mystery began when Our Leader decided — if any of his blithering outbursts can be described as decisions — to allow Turkey to invade the Kurdish area of northen Syria.  As an article in The New York Times summarized it, “the White House said on Sunday [October 6] that President Trump had given his endorsement for a Turkish military operation that would sweep away American-backed Kurdish forces near the border in Syria.”  American forces which have protected the Kurds would have been in the way. “Administration officials . . indicated that the 100 to 150 United States military personnel deployed to that area would be pulled back in advance of any Turkish operation . . . .” 

 In the sanitized language of the press secretary, "Turkey will soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation into Northern Syria. The United States Armed Forces will not support or be involved in the operation, and United States forces, having defeated the ISIS territorial 'Caliphate,' will no longer be in the immediate area." Turkey proceeded to invade.  Later, most of the American forces were scheduled to leave Syria.

 The withdrawal was in aid, supposedly, of Trump’s desire to reduce our involvement in the Middle East.  Then, again, accommodating Turkey may stem from his personal financial interests. In December, 2015, he admitted that motivation: “I have a little conflict of interest ’cause I have a major, major building in Istanbul. It’s a tremendously successful job. It’s called Trump Towers . . . .” [74]  Or, he may have decided to reward his buddy Putin; Russia is among the winners in this debacle.  With the Donald, there are various possible rationales for his actions; only the good of this country or our international reputation seem to be ruled out.

Perhaps Saudi Arabia, where we are sending more troops, doesn’t qualify as Middle Eastern in his geography.   He justified deserting the Kurds by pointing out inanely that they didn’t help us on D-Day.  I doubt that the Saudis were there either, but they were very much in evidence on 9-11, which conveniently is forgotten, as is the murder of a Saudi-American journalist.

The willingness of Congressional Republicans and conservative Christians to support Trump has been and remains a puzzle, but it seemed to have reached the breaking point for many, who condemned his desertion of the Kurds.  They may now return to fawning, as Trump, in a characteristic flip flop, threatened to punish Turkey for doing what he allowed it to do.  

As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!). They must, with Europe and others, watch over...

 ....the captured ISIS fighters and families. The U.S. has done far more than anyone could have ever expected, including the capture of 100% of the ISIS Caliphate. It is time now for others in the region, some of great wealth, to protect their own territory. THE USA IS GREAT!

        8:38 AM - Oct 7, 2019

Trump signed an order on Monday, October 14, imposing sanctions on Turkey.  He issued this statement at 12:55 p.m.:

This Order will enable the United States to impose powerful additional sanctions on those who may be involved in serious human rights abuses, obstructing a ceasefire, preventing displaced persons from returning home, forcibly repatriating refugees, or threatening the peace, security, or stability in Syria.

However, continuing to demonstrate that he has no clue, at 12:10 p.m. that day he had returned to justifying his original act, in this tweet:

After defeating 100% of the ISIS Caliphate, I largely moved our troops out of Syria. Let Syria and Assad protect the Kurds and fight Turkey for their own land. I said to my Generals, why should we be fighting for Syria . . . .

....and Assad to protect the land of our enemy? Anyone who wants to assist Syria in protecting the Kurds is good with me, whether it is Russia, China, or Napoleon Bonaparte. I hope they all do great, we are 7,000 miles away!

(Actually, Syria is about 6,000 miles from Washington DC, and Saudi Arabia is about 6,700, so distance doesn’t have much to do with his affinities).  He seems unaware that our forces were not fighting for Assad.  Leaving aside whether ISIS is entirely defeated, and what Trump had to do with it, abandoning the Kurdish area resulted in losing control of ISIS prisoners, who may be free to do more damage.  

A dumber move, even given his supposed priorities, hardly could be imagined.  Apparently someone pointed that out to him, for at 4:14 a.m. on October 14, he tweeted this regarding the prisoners, adding incoherent comments for good measure:

Kurds may be releasing some to get us involved. Easily recaptured by Turkey or European Nations from where many came, but they should move quickly. Big sanctions on Turkey coming! Do people really think we should go to war with NATO Member Turkey? Never ending wars will end!

If this episode, underscoring Trump’s incompetence and his dire effect on American reputation and security, doesn’t cause large permanent desertions from the fold, nothing will.

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74.  https://www.huffpost.com/entry/conflict-of-interest-donald-trump-syria-kurds-turkey_n_5d9bb7bfe4b0fc935edf 5be0

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