BREAKING: General Jim Mattis retiring.

I'm confused, are you saying that "press" and "media" are not very similar concepts these days? Or just that he didn't use actual paper newspaper? Regardless of any other presidential short comings, Trump is without a doubt a media master.

 

He's quitting, not retiring.

 

Meh, all memory of any "spine" will be gone by this time tomorrow when normal service will be resumed.

 

FOXNews ? There must be some pundit there who is up for the gig.

 

The GOP under Trump...

 

I'm a lefty who is generally sceptical when it comes to the subject of foreign adventures. While I was reluctantly in favour or Western intervention in Afghanistan, I was dead against action in Iraq.

I'm also self critical enough to realise that I'm often utterly wrong. I was in favour of Western support of the anti-Gadaffi forces in Libya but now I realise that we messed that one up right-royally (though leaving Gadaffi in power to foment troubles in North Africa wasn't ideal either).

That's why I'm not 100% unhappy that President Trump is pulling US troops out of Syria. I'm not sure we should have been involved in that civil war. I feel very badly for the Kurds who have done a lot of the heavy lifting in the fight against ISIS, but if they haven't learned by now that every time they ally themselves with the West in an attempt to get a Kurdish homeland that they get royally screwed over then I'm not sure they will ever learn.

So the decision to pull the troops may be the right one but IMO the process is utterly wrong both in terms of the timing and the way that the President seems to be completely ignoring his advisors and just going with his gut.

 

I am still waiting for President Trump tweet that Mattis is dumb as a rock and lazy as hell.

 

Mad Dog on the loose! Let's hope he knows what's coming down the pike and took precautions.

 

The thread title is a fake. He is resigning...NOT retiring...in order to get away from the traitor in The White House.

 

I'm sure Putin can suggest someone. That way everyone can be on he same page.

 

No. The President can do what they want. I assume you're not familiar with the privilege of the office of the President.

It's the SoS's job to nod and support. Period.

 

Bit tough on the Kurds. It wasn't like they were just sitting around looking for something to do and decided to occupy part of Syria with US help in order to set up a homeland. Daesh hit them pretty hard in Syria and Iraq. When the Iraqi army did a runner they were the ones who were left to fight the Caliphate. They are allying with the West for survival and fighting our enemies for us in the process. Deserves a bit more than 'sucks to be you'

 

LOL

It's a tough job fight against the tyranny of Democrats and their media ministry. And it's tough to stand against the physical offensive Dems are waging against anyone who doesn't bow to their demands.

 

I agree, the Kurds deserve far, far, better but they never seem to get it. Time and again they ally with the West and end up being betrayed when we do nothing to help them in return for all their service.

Seems to me that they are allying with the wrong side. Allying with the West only seems to bring them pain, perhaps Russia are better placed to give them what they want.

 

Yes, I read in particular the position he has taken with traditional allies. Even in Syria France and the UK believe his position is wrong.

 

He would have to have a strategy or vision in order to do that.

He doesn't give a damn and he has no vision at all.

Trump lives in the present. What he said or did yesterday doesn't matter, and there is no tomorrow.

His business had always run this way. Lurching from one thing to another. Chaotic, Lots of turnover. Lots of loose ends and poor leadership.

Taht's why he's on worth a fraction of what he would have been worth if he had just kept his father's real estate empire and cashed the checks.

 

The chickens are coming home to roost. Fasten your seatbelts.

 

They also tried allying with Iran. That didn't work either.

Russia? Seriously? Why would Russia help? Russia is aligned with Syria and Iran, which means it is also going to end up friendly with Iraq. Throw in the new friendship with Turkey and you have pretty much the last nation in the world that the Kurds can rely on. Putin would sell them out in a heartbeat.

Allying with the West stopped Saddam committing genocide after the first Gulf War, allowed Kurdish society to thrive for a generation, provided an ally when the existential threat of Daesh appeared & probably helped limit Turkish intervention. That seems pretty good to me. Russia was never going to do a fraction of that (if any) and it won't help them now. It is also worth poitig out that the US isn't their only Western friend, just the one with the boots on the ground.

The West is the best the Kurds are going to get. They just have to hope that they still have some territory left when the next US President gets inaugurated.

I honestly suspect that there are some people (not necessarily you) who simply can't forgive the Kurds for aligning with the West. Had they aligned with the failed totalitarianism of the USSR & the brutal autocracies of the Middle East like the Palestinians they might be considered 'proper' victims. But allying with Western democracies seems to produce apathy or outright hostility from self styled defenders of the oppressed.

 

You might very well be right

I fear that it's quite likely that, unless there is a major US recession in the next year, President Trump is very likely to be reelected so it's going to be a(nother) rough 6 years at least for the Kurds. By then the isolationist US foreign policy may be the norm and the Democratic candidate may have to promise not to get entangled.

 

That ad nauseum here comes from folks like you, who can't make an intelligent fact based argument. Not for this guy.

So, now you're reduced to this sort of meaningless nonsense.

I'm sure you were one of the Trumpsters who cheered loudly when your future fuhrer announced that he was appointing "Mad Dog" Matis.

The guy you Trumpsters cheered for is quitting, and telling your fuhrer as politely as possible that he doesn't know what he's doing, and that being impulsive and childish is not the way to behave when you're a world leader.

The evidence of all that is plain for anyone to see. You can't argue with it, either; as your post makes clear.

 

Funny how the left was claiming that Trump didn’t know what he was doing and we didn’t need troops in Syria. Now they are claiming we need troops in Syria. TDS at work.

 

Nonsense. The right has been crying over our being involved in Syria since day one.

 

Then why do you consistently support a President whose son in law is a Zionist and whose foreign policy ideas are diametrically opposed to the ones you just stated?

Trump is abandoning the Lavant to the Russians, who will now have a string of alliances for convenience that includes Syria, Turkey, and better relations with Iraq and Iran.

 

Funny how none of that is actually true.

In fact, "the left" did not oppose a US presience in Syria. It did oppose full scale military operations in Syria.

Right wing politicians yelled and screamed for a US invasion of Syria (and later Libya), knowing full well that there was no real political will to do so on the part of the public, and that they could yell and scream while never having to worry about it actually happening. It was an exercise in typical right wing hypocracy.

But "the left" NEVER advocated quitting Syria or leaving the Levant to the Russians.

You Trumpsters yelled and cheered when Trump launched an ineffective cruise missle attack against Syrian targets (after politely warning the Russians). The "left" criticized it for its idiotic unilateral nature and the clear lack of any plan or follow up.

Now,. we see the "follow up"

It consists of "never mind", Vlad, it's all yours!

 

The war Obama started?