When Napoleon was asked what sort of enemy he wanted to fight, he replied, "allies."
But I do note that according to general Keane these Kurdish allies sustained 10,000 dead and 20,000 wounded.
Posted on 10/10/2019 2:04:53 AM PDT by robowombat
A lot of opposition to us getting out of Afghanistan and Syria.
WRT Afghanistan, it should now be obvious to everybody that it was a mistake to Americanize the war, the planning for which was done under Bush, and the follow-through was conducted by Obama.
We’ve been in Afghanistan since 2001 and, still, the Afghanistan army cannot stand up on the battlefield. Nobody thinks the Afghanistan army will be able to stand up on the battlefield any time soon. At some point, we have to accept that we made a mistake attempting to “reconstruct” that Godforesaken place, and announce that for the foreseeable future, we’re out of the reconstruction business, and re-considering our options when attacked by a country such as Afghanistan or by terrorists operating from within such a country.
WRT Syria, it now should similarly be obvious that it was a mistake to support the uprising in this country. This decision was the brainchild of the Obama administration and was mostly the work of Hillary Clinton. This was a catastrophic mistake, with refugee crises in both north Africa and the Middle East, and with the rise of ISIS in Syria and Iraq and of Boko Harem in west and central Africa.
Part of the re-calibration of our strategy in response to transnational terrorist and criminal organizations has to be that we do not have many allies in the world. NATO is useless and, in the case of Turkey, part of the problem in the Middle East. Our foreign policy and military strategy has to consider what is sustainable in a world in which almost all of our so-called allies have disarmed.
Furthermore, the UN and the UN Security Council cannot play more than a token role in peacekeeping. The collapse of the UN in Iraq following our overthrow of Saddam forced us into a difficult situation. No country, not even one the size of the US, can be both the peacemaker and the peacekeeper in the world. These two roles are almost antithetical.
In any case, with the loss of the small capacity the UN once had for peacekeeping, and with the lose of almost all of our allies in peacemaking, the world should be recognized to be a much more dangerous place. Everybody should be forewarned to be on their guard.
We should after ourselves what few allies we have that are willing to belly up to the bar of mutual self-defense.
When Napoleon was asked what sort of enemy he wanted to fight, he replied, "allies."
But I do note that according to general Keane these Kurdish allies sustained 10,000 dead and 20,000 wounded.
If NATO and the EU wanted to stop Erdie, they could do it without firing a shot. Trump is clearly for an approach like that. Why isn’t Europe?
Answer: This isn’t about saving the Kurds. It’s about getting Trump. And our allies are in this up to their armpits.
Congress should just declare War against Turkey.
Otherwise give up the posturing.
Don't you dare try to pin that label on me. I have long argued in a vanity mea culpa that I was wrong in favoring the onset of the Iraq war. I have long posted that these wars are draining us, diverting our resources and weakening the nation.
On the other hand, I have warned against taking the wrong lessons from the last war which seems to be history's invariable grim joke played on humanity.
Right is right no matter who is against it and wrong is wrong no matter who is for it. Leaving those troops there would have condemned many of them to death and ultimately others would be added to the crucible to either rescue them or some idea of misplaced honor.
We are not prepared to decisively win battles so we should stay out of them until we are.
If I fight I will fight to kill and so I don’t. There is no other fight that is decisive or worth the investment or that ever ends. Life is hard and hazardous enough without spending it looking over your shoulder for someone you have injured to get even with you.
The very people who can impeach Trump hate him and what he does will not change that one bit. They, including most of the republicans, would turn on him in an instant over nothing but that they hate him. Sacrificing troops over moral outrage that is not in the immediate national interest to avoid impeachment is wrong and Trump knows that.
In the end none of our opinions matter one whit. The forum for sharing ideas may, from time-to-time enlighten someone so thank both of us for our views.
After what CONGRESS caused in Vietnam and Cambodia in 1975, when they pulled the plug on aid and would now allow President Ford to help them in any way, they literally have NO BUSINESS telling Trump how to run policy.
Note also that the Democrats have NEVER apologized for the genocide there.
Shipping war material is more than anyone would do for us and it is more than enough that we do for them.
Which is why our Deep State and the Euroweenies are going ballistic.
>>>But I do note that according to general Keane these Kurdish allies sustained 10,000 dead and 20,000 wounded.
Sure, but they did nothing to help us at Normandy.
Think about this: Some of Europe, our allies participated in Spygate. They have been aiding and abetting seditious Americans attempting a coup.
Would you trust those allies with/around your service personnel in a war zone?
I wouldn’t.
I mostly agree with you on this issue. You’ve been rying to reason with the current makeup of the dovish isolationist posters on FR and I think it is a waste of time. The misuse of the term “neocon” is one example of the lack of intelligent thought by this group. They use it as a slur against many Conservatives when they don’t even understand the meaning.
While we have disagreed from time to time, you are a serious thinker.
We have options with respect to the Kurds and others in Syria who fought alongside us. It’s not either defend them where they are or abandon them. We can relocate them to a place that can be defended; such as Iraqi Kurdistan; or taken them in as refugees. (There may be other options.) (I realize that Iraqi Kurdistan has challenges of its own, surrounded as it is by Turkey and Iran and Iran’s puppet states.)
This is in response to your prior reply in which you said: It’s about getting Trump. And our allies are in this up to their armpits. This isn’t about saving the Kurds. It’s about getting Trump. And our allies are in this up to their armpits.
The Kurds are against this, the Israelis are against this, our European NATO allies are against this, congressional Democrats are against this, most congressional Republicans are against this, but nevermind, the Turks are all for it.
If this is not a trap what is it, Fourth dimensional chess?
The Constitution specifies that Congress has the right to declare war. They haven’t done that. So why are they upset that POTUS is bringing out troops home from an undeclared War?
Bush wanted to get Bin Laden and get out of Afghanistan. It was Tony Blair who convinced him to attempt the building of a nation, something Bush’s advisors advised against.
The PPK Erdogan is attacking are Maoist Communists who have waged an insurrection in Turkey for decades. IEDs against civilians and all.
So many half truths.
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