[ Regarding Turkey and Syria] "That has nothing to do with us," he said. He said he could understand if Syria and Turkey want territory. "But what does that have to do with the United States of America if they're fighting over Syria's land?"
[Regarding whether his decision to pull back from Syria had opened the way for Russia and the Syrian government] "I wish them all a lot of luck. If Russia wants to get involved with Syria, that's really up to them," he added.
Responding to Lindsey Graham's criticisms] "The people of South Carolina don't want us to get into a war with Turkey, a NATO member, or with Syria."
"Let them fight their own wars."
"Ridiculous endless wars," "Let them fight their own wars"-anathema for a serving president to say. Acceptable as campaign rhetoric, but never to be said for real by a president in office-especially a president attacked for his "repeated failure[s] to militarily respond" to designated enemies.
All of this marks a new and real danger for Trump in the impeachment process. When Graham, "usually one of the president's most vocal backers," warns that unless Trump reverses (!) his decision, it "will be the biggest mistake of his presidency," that sounds a lot like a threat.
There's another element that appears in all the neocon, McCain-Republican (as well as McCain-Democrat) objections, which can be seen, for example, in Lindsey Graham's remark that Trump's decision is: "a big win for Iran and Assad, a big win for ISIS."
Note the logic here: Turkey disappears as the enemy, and ISIS gets added at the end for the scare factor, but it's the "win" for Syria, which in his view also means a win for Iran, that's the real problem. It always goes to Iran.
It's crucial to understand all the implications that underlie and make sense of such a statement. After all, there's no "win" for Syria in the Turkish invasion of its territory unless it results in the Kurds turning to Damascus and the SAA for their protection. If Graham's professed interest in protecting the Kurds were real, that would be a good thing. But it also brings Syria closer to finally winning against the eight-year US-sponsored regime-change and state-destroying operation, which is Graham's and the US's real agenda, so it therefore becomes a bad thing. This discourse reveals that Graham, like the rest of his colleagues, is not worried about whether the Kurds will be protected from Turkey, but whether they will reconcile with Damascus.
And how can the Turkish invasion of Syria possibly be construed as a "win" for Iran, which has " warned its neighbor not to move forward with its military operation" and held unannounced military drills near its border with Turkey? Only if everything that's happening in Syria is a function of a project directed against Iran. Only if Syria's winning back the allegiance of the Kurds as well as its actual territorial integrity is a "loss" for the US in an offensive against Iran.
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
