Posted on 10/08/2019 10:01:33 AM PDT by xzins
Some Republicans, including Trump allies such as Sen Lindsey Graham, have joined Democrats in sharply criticizing the president's decision to withdraw an unannounced number of U.S. troops from northeastern Syria.
But Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) strongly supports the president's move, even if the "neocon war caucus of the Senate" -- Paul's words -- does not.
"We haven't been able to find peace for 18 years in Afghanistan," Paul told Fox News's Neil Cavuto in a telephone interview on Monday. "So I certainly don't think we're going to find peace in Syria. But I do think a couple of hundred people there is simply a trip wire for a bigger war or for a calamity for our soldiers."
The neocons "always want to stay at war. They always think it's the best answer," Paul said:
But I would say this. I think President Trump recognizes what President Reagan recognized, unfortunately too late, in Beirut. Leaving three or 400 people in an area that is vulnerable could lead to catastrophe, but also doesn't really do anything to secure our national security.
You know, I'm kind of the belief go big -- go big or go home. You know, 200 or 300 people are just a trip wire to get us drawn into something and a tragedy probably, but they aren't enough to do anything.
In fact, there may be a couple of -- there may be dozens of people at a time -- maybe a dozen here, dozen there. They aren't enough to deter anything. And part of the resolution of the war over there has to be people who live over there.
The Turks live over there. The Syrians live over there. And we have -- they have apparently come to an agreement. There's about three million Syrian refugees in Turkey. You know, they're going to try to get some of those people back into Syria. And they have to have an area -- a zone where they can control that.
And, you know, I think that the best answer is, is that we don't have all the answers and that the people who live there are always going to have more of a stake in the game, and we need to not think that it's always the U.S.' responsibility to fight every war and find every peace.
We haven't been able to find peace for 18 years in Afghanistan. So I certainly don't think we're going to find peace in Syria. But I do think a couple of hundred people there is simply a trip wire for a bigger war or for a calamity for our soldiers.
Paul said world powers "could have done a better job drawing up these country lines" after World War I:
Right now, there at least is a Kurdish autonomous region within Iraq. And I think that's a good place for people to live if they want to have more Kurdish autonomy. But then, it may be unrealistic to think that either Turkey or Syria is going to give up part of their territory up there to an autonomous region for the Kurds.
So, you know, some have said this will force the Kurds to decide who their allies are. But I guess that's kind of what they have got to decide. It's definitely not going to be Turkish allies.
So the question is, do they have more in common with Syria? And could there be some unification of causes there to try to find stability in Syria?
The bottom line is, this chaos was fed by outside intervention. The Turks got involved. We got involved, the Qataris, the Saudis. All these people got involved in this Syrian civil war. And to what end?
I mean, hundreds of thousands of people have died. Millions of people are displaced. So, once again, the idea of regime change in the Middle East -- and this is what President Trump is so right about -- regime change hasn't worked. It's led to more chaos.
And the rise of ISIS came in the chaos of Hussein being toppled, but also the chaos of Assad's regime being made marginal and made fragile.
The United States has an estimated 1,000 troops in Syria. According to The New York Times, Trump's pullback order affects around 100 to 150 of them.
Turkey wants to set up a buffer zone, free of Kurdish fighters, along its 300-mile border with Syria. It then plans to repatriate some two million Syrian refugees who fled to Turkey to escape the civil war
So the question is, do they have more in common with Syria? And could there be some unification of causes there to try to find stability in Syria?
The Kurds could have more in common with Syria than Turkey. Perhaps some arrangement could be made with Assad.
Mark says there’s only like 50 troops there. So why don’t they get 50 of their own troops and police themselves?
Who cares if we betray allies? Trump has real estate investments in Istanbul and that is frankly more important than some dead Kurds. Ha Ha, Kurds what a funny name!
I’m tired of endless war. I’m sick of sacrificing our best for dubious results.
If we’re going to fight, fight. Don’t hamstring the troops and allow them to be picked off by whoever. The Kurds are good people who deserve a chance. So, carve out a place for the Kurds, and make it abundantly clear that attacks on the Kurds will be met with a furious response.
Meanwhile, bring the troops home.
Is that workable?
The Turks are holding about 2 million Syrian refugees. They want to send them home and have them be safe. They want to do that by taking about a 30 mile swath of northern Syrian and setting up a protectorate area.
Many of the Kurds are PKK, an identified terrorist group that hates Turkey. They will do what they can to destroy any initiative on Turkey’s part.
So, the issue isn’t ONLY abandoning the Kurds. It’s safely repatriating a couple million Syrians back to their own country. The alternative for Turkey is to send them to Europe. The bottom line, then, is that Trump is helping Europe more than Europe helps Europe. But for the repatriation to be effective, the Kurdish terrorist groups need to be controlled.
In the meantime, the US Troops will just be cannon fodder for some group to attack to try to get the US involved.
Trump’s making a decent decision here. But all we’ll hear is that the Kurds are being betrayed. That’s by those who are into empire building by the USA.
I think the Kurds and Turks are enemies for the most part. But the Kurds could negotiate with Syria maybe. It would be nice if someone tried to make that happen. See post #6
The CIA and Military are very unhappy. But the US can’t hold position without a large cost. Who knows what is going on there. And by the way, where is NATO. Notice this is just a US thing not a NATO thing. Why are we the only ones caring here. If its so bad to leave, why wouldn’t the rest of NATO step up. Frankly, I think its a CIA boondoggle. We can control the skies from Romania, The Mediterranean or IRAQ. We don’t need to be in Syria with boots on the ground.
Rand Paul 2024
I like a lot of what Paul says.
I agree. We can launch air missions from so many locations given the Navy, Romania, and our mideast presence elsewhere.
Not our Circus
Not our Monkeys
Do not expend US lives on issues
that are not a direct threat to the US
I can only imagine what the threads would look like here on FR if the Chinese government started maintaining diplomatic and military ties to La Raza or Black Lives Matter.
5 Americans have died in Syria this year since the fighting has ceased. We are not a police force. Our military is designed to fight wars, not to patrol sectarianism in foreign countries.
I don’t know how many injured.
And Obama got us in there.
‘Cuz those 50 troop know the magic spells “Summon Airstrike” and “Summon Artillery Support” which makes them far more powerful than their numbers indicate.
If you owe 10 times what you earn, and are piling on more debt, you are flat broke. US is in that boat currently.
So essentially we go in debt to Japan, China and others to protect oil supplies from middle-east going to Japan & China. We no longer need the middle-east and their oil. Let them manage their own 1400 year wars among themselves.
“Paul said world powers “could have done a better job drawing up these country lines” after World War I: “
A huge part of the borders of Africa, the Middle East and Asia are drawn based on European colonial priorities. They are responsible for many countries containing groups that really should be in separate countries and others case where an ethnic group is split into more than one country.
This has contributed greatly to instability across that part of the world.
Kurds hate the Turks, Iraq, and the Syrian governments. We made a deal with them to give them guns. They use the guns to hold mountain positions inside of Turkey, Syria and IRAQ. All three countries hate the Kurds. The Kurds are lawless people who kill people who trespass in their regions. Its like if we had Apache’s still active in the Dakota mountains but with rocket launchers and machine guns. Or consider Mexican gangs.
I don’t say that the Kurds don’t have a right to exist. They do have a right to exist. But they never seem to get along with anybody else except the US. And they get along with us because we pay them huge amounts to fight for us. And when we go, they are left with money and guns until it runs out. Then they have to make a deal to survive. This game has been being played for over a hundred years.
What is the legal basis for US troops to be in Syria?
Was there a UN Security Council resolution? Was US military assistance requested by the de jure government of Syria? Was there a Congressional Declaration of War against Syria?
What is the legal basis? Inquiring minds want to know.
I spent two hours yesterday looking for a US official number of troops in Syria. No one publishes this. You can’t even get a number from CNN.
I doubt if it’s more than 300 total but that’s just a humble guess.
As for the Kurds...what exactly did they really want? Their own independent land? Carving it off from Syria? That wasn’t going to happen.
As for the ISIS prisoners? If you are European ISIS, I suspect Turkey will put them on a raft, and send them in a quiet way to Greece. In three months, all of that 800-odd ISIS Europeans will be in Greece and everyone will get all hyped up about this happening.
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