Taking flack from Democrats and Republicans over his pullout of 50 U.S. non-combat advisors in Northwestern Syria, 73-year-old President Donald Trump fired back at his critics who said he abandoned the Kurds. Kurd’s YPG militia joined forces with Syrian Democratic Forces [SDF] to battle the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS]. Members of Congress and the media criticized Trump for pulling back in Syria while 64-year-od Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan launches a military operation to drive Kurds away from the Turkish border. Erdogan makes no distinction between the Kurd’s YPG [Peoples Protection Units] and the PKK [Kurdistan Workers Party] with whom Turkey has battled for 40 years, considering it a terror group. Using the Syrian policy to smear Trump, Democrats and some anti-Trump Republicans have exaggerated any impact on the Kurd’s YPG militia.
Saying the U.S. betrayed the Kurds is preposterous, knowing the history of Kurds with Turkey, but, more importantly, the U.S. cannot go to war against a NATO ally. How Democrats or anti-Trump Republicans think Trump’s supposed to confront Turkey militarily is anyone’s guess. Trump made it clear that he re-deployed U.S. advisors in Northwestern Syria to keep them out of the Turkish and Kurds crossfire. “We’re working with the Kurds,” Trump said, defying the Democrat and media narrative that he betrayed the Kurds. “We have a good relationship with the Kurds, but we never agreed to, you know, protect the Kurds. We fought with them for three-and-a-half years, four years. We never agreed to protect the Kurds for the rest of their lives,” Trump said, clarifying U.S. policy. If you listen to the media, you’d think the U.S. is obligated to defend the Kurds against the Turks.
Kurd’s Peshmerga fighters are perfectly capable of defending themselves against any Turkish onslaught, something they’ve done for the past 40 years. Removing roughly 50 U.S. advisers from the region doesn’t change anything with respect to Erdogan’s decision to remove Kurds from the Turkish border. U.S. officials didn’t ask the YPG to stay clear of the Turkish border region, knowing, at any time, Erdogan could order his military to clean out Kurdish enclaves from the border. Trump ordering 50 U.S. advisers out of harm’s way in Syria has been politicized by Democrats, anti-Trump Republicans and the U.S. media. Kurds knew the risks of setting up camp too close to the Turkish border. It’s not, as Trump says, the U.S.’s problem to deal with the Kurd’s longstanding history with the Turks. Trump pointed out that the Kurds have a vested interest in clearing out ISIS terrorists from the area.
Playing up the politics, the media goes to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to stir the pot, pitting him against Trump. Graham sometimes takes the bait but recently said he’s optimistic now that things will work out for the Kurds. Known as a war hawk, a big backer of the Iraq War, Graham looks more inclined than Trump to keep American forces fighting in the Middle East. “I don’t think it’s necessary, other than that we secure the oil,” Trump said, referring to keeping U.S. advisers in the region. “A lot of people are good when they fight with us. When you have $10 billion worth of airplanes shooting 10 miles in front of your line, it’s much easier to fight,” Trump said, pointing to the benefits to the Kurds of having U.S. troops present. Trump doesn’t buy the Democrat argument that he betrayed the Kurds. Kurdish forces know how to deal with the Turks, with or without U.S. help.
Trump’s biggest issue in Syria has to do with U.S. troops forced to get into the middle of age-old conflicts, rather that let the Turks and Kurds deal with their problem. Trump’s conflict with war hawks is that they’re ready to put U.S. troops into harm’s way to deal with conflicts that can’t be resolved by the U.S. military. Trump didn’t give Erdogan the green light to go after the Kurds, he simply didn’t want U.S. forces in harm’s way. “I will say this: If the shooting didn’t start for a couple of days, I don’t think the Kurds would have moved. I don’t think frankly you would have been able to make a very easy deal with Turkey,” Trump said. Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Erdogan Oct. 16 to hash out a temporary ceasefire, something that wouldn’t have happened had the Turks not gone ahead with their military operation.
Senate Republicans like Graham and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) are worried that without U.S. advisers ISIS will start grabbing land in the region. Democrats and the press like to highlight their differences with Trump over Syria, but, in the end, they agree with Trump’s approach. Anti-Trump Republicans like Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Ut.) like to slam Trump, but they have no answer of what the U.S. military should do with the Kurds. Romney can’t possibly believe that the U.S. military should go after a NATO ally to defend the Kurds. Romney’s comments, like the ones on Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Zolodymyr Zelensky, play well in the liberal press, looking for anything to attack Trump. Whatever goes on between Turkey and the Kurds, it’s not the U.S. battle, certainly not make a conflict with a key NATO ally.
