dagblog - Comments for "Trump’s ‘Very Soon’ Withdrawal From Syria Is Exactly What Many Troops Feared"

It's all Hillary's fault -

PeraclesPlease — Sat, 31 Mar 2018 08:31:00 +0000

In reply to Afghanistan next? I didn't

It's all Hillary's fault - the rest is just navel gazing. As long as we have the witch's (nonexistent) hoary threat of never-ending war to harken back to, we can even talk about Trump's foreign "policy" as if there were ever an actual policy there aside from thw obvious - use any resource as a tool for self-aggrandisement in the most trivial insulting way possible.

I wish the military members weren't so fucking stupid and so easily led by their testosterone and bravado and tendency not to analyze. This "support the troops" flattery shit has made them America's suckers #1, fully in the pocket of the next hare-brained GOP money-making scam, at an increasingly scary economic and human cost. (Yeah, extwnding the wars to domestic police forces was a great move politically. Flyover country thanks you. Urban areas not so much).

And alliances? Who needs 'em. We're tuff men.

Afghanistan likely will be

NCD — Sat, 31 Mar 2018 04:28:29 +0000

In reply to Afghanistan next? I didn't

Afghanistan likely will be kicked down the road, been there too long to let it collapse.

If Trump meets with Kim jong, likes him, believes him, makes a "great deal" that ONLY Trump could make..... and Bolton says Trump, you were conned, Bolton will be be the next to get the boot.

Afghanistan next? I didn't

artappraiser — Sat, 31 Mar 2018 04:17:11 +0000

In reply to #MAGA. All that matters is

Afghanistan next? I didn't follow Trump campaign promises closely but I do know he promised to be anti-nation building, cause that's not what MAGA's do! They just go out and kill the bad hombres and come home. (What did Marshall Plan get us after all but a NATO chain around our necks?!)

If he's gonna try do this kinda stuff, better move quick before John Bolton gets there? Boggles the mind that he ended up picking him. I have this image of Trump finding out from confirmation hearings (covered on Fox News, natch) what Bolton is really about, and firing him before the confirmation hearings are finished.

#MAGA. All that matters is

NCD — Sat, 31 Mar 2018 03:14:21 +0000

In reply to Trump’s ‘Very Soon’ Withdrawal From Syria Is Exactly What Many Troops Feared

#MAGA. All that matters is The Base will cheer when he says he killed the bad guys and it was A HUGE WIN at his Adoration Rally.

The cult doesn't read the Council on Foreign Relations Journal. They believe Fox News and Fox trumpets Trump.

US and British troops killed

artappraiser — Sat, 31 Mar 2018 02:46:05 +0000

In reply to Trump’s ‘Very Soon’ Withdrawal From Syria Is Exactly What Many Troops Feared

US and British troops killed in Syria blast

By Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon Correspondent @ CNN.com, Updated 4:49 PM ET, Fri March 30

A US service member and a member of the UK armed forces were killed in an improvised explosive device attack in the Manbij area of Syria on Thursday.

A US official with knowledge of the initial reports from the battlefield told CNN the American had been killed.

The UK Ministry of Defence confirmed the British death in a statement saying the soldier was embedded with US forces on a counter ISIS operation when the incident occurred.

"The family has been notified and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time," the British statement continued.

Two members of the US-led coalition in Syria were killed and five were wounded in the attack [....]

looks like he's gonna attempt

artappraiser — Sat, 31 Mar 2018 02:45:39 +0000

In reply to Trump’s ‘Very Soon’ Withdrawal From Syria Is Exactly What Many Troops Feared

looks like he's gonna attempt to walk the talk on this one? Going back on Tillerson agreement. Just published:

Trump Orders State Dept. to Suspend Funds for Syria Recovery

By Eric Schmitt. Helene Cooper and Alissa J. Rubin @ NYTimes.com, March 30

WASHINGTON — President Trump, having this week signaled a possible withdrawal of American troops from Syria, has ordered the State Department to suspend more than $200 million in funds for recovery efforts there while the administration reassesses its role in the conflict, administration officials said Friday.

The freeze on stabilization and humanitarian aid came as two members of the United States-led coalition fighting in Syria were killed — one American soldier and one British — and five others were wounded by a bomb in a late-night attack, the military said on Friday [....]

On Thursday, President Trump suggested that the United States could pull its approximately 2,000 troops out of Syria “very soon.” The comments surprised Defense Department officials who have maintained that some kind of American presence in parts of Syria may be necessary to avoid recreating the conditions that led to the rise of the Islamic State — and also to avoid ceding influence in the country to Russia.

“Very soon, we’re coming out,” Mr. Trump said during a rally in Ohio. “We’re going to have 100 percent of the caliphate, as they call it — sometimes referred to as ‘land’ — taking it all back quickly, quickly.”

The suspension of funds for recovery efforts in Syria comes as the administration reassesses its role in the conflict there, a State Department official said on Friday. The freeze on funding was first reported by The Wall Street Journal [....]

“There will be meetings on this next week,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because a policy review was continuing. “Obviously, we, State, hope that this decision is reversed.”

A National Security Council official explained the White House’s position: “In line with the president’s guidance, the Department of State continually re-evaluates appropriate assistance levels and how best they might be utilized, which they do on an ongoing basis.”

Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson had committed the aid in February in Kuwait at a meeting of countries who have joined together to defeat the Islamic State.

Pentagon officials in the past few months have said repeatedly that a complete withdrawal of American troops could leave a void. On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said that while American forces were no longer in “an offensive effort on the ground,” they continued to play a role. “We continue the operations in Syria,” he said.

It was unclear how the death of the American service member in the newest attack would influence Mr. Trump’s thinking on [....]