President Donald Trump

[nullnor]

withdrawing troops from Syria would be a disaster. Turkey would immediately start going after the Syrian Kurds which would start a larger conflagration between Iran, Turkey, Iraq vs Erbil..which might draw us back to Iraq, and further harm our relationship with Turkey. ..it's not Iran or Iraq or Syria i would be worried about. Turkey is crazy. i wouldn't want to mess with that country. that Ottoman empire shit. they'd be organized fanatics. and they're Sunni, which makes them even more violent.

we've made a lot of progress with the Kurds, the only reliable faction over there. i just don't see why we are always so eager to abandon them.

edit: the Syrian Kurds would have no choice but to align themselves with Syria and Russia, further strengthening Assad. and if our military totally left the area, Turkey would annex part of Syria

On 5 August 2012, during the Syrian Civil War, the Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated that "The tomb of Suleyman Shah [in Syria] and the land surrounding it is our territory. We cannot ignore any unfavorable act against that monument, as it would be an attack on our territory, as well as an attack on NATO land... Everyone knows his duty, and will continue to do what is necessary"

which would draw everybody in.

[revo]

The problem is that Trump thinks our military should be treated as a mercenary force for hire. All of the “insider” books on his regime so far makes that painfully clear. So any use of our military for the sake of others, if they don’t pay for the privilege, he’s not interested. He has no understanding whatsoever of our place in the world order, or why our military is needed. To him, it’s all about dollars......and no sense.

And the horrifying thing is he thinks he knows better than our generals and advisers.

[Bernie Brewer]

Leaving Syria abruptly was just dumb. Doubling down on an abrupt pull out of Afghanistan as well is incredibly dangerous.




I suspect this means something big is coming. Distract and divert.

[revo]

Mattis quits. #nochaoshere


He quits because of Trumpy's Syria decision, which obviously went against his (shocking!) and now there's a yuuuuge fear that he is going to withdraw from Afghanistan as well. #stablegenius

[onejayhawk]

Leaving Syria abruptly was just dumb. Doubling down on an abrupt pull out of Afghanistan as well is incredibly dangerous. I suspect this means something big is coming. Distract and divert.

Leaving Iraq abruptly was outright insane, so I guess this is an improvement.

J

[revo]

Leaving Iraq abruptly was outright insane, so I guess this is an improvement.

J

whatabout, whatabout, whatabout, whatabout, whatabout, whatabout

[TS Garp]

This will be interesting:

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/democrats-want-use-obscure-law-grab-donald-trump-s-tax-n949286

[Judge Jude]

I want to see Trump's tax returns, but supporting this Orwellian angle is creepy:

"A 1924 law says the Treasury secretary "shall furnish" tax returns of any person for private review by the chairs of the House and Senate tax committees."

[I imagine by 'private,' they mean the nanosecond between receipt of the documents and a media leak. if we go down this path, why wouldn't either party in power fish for 10,000 tax returns at once? these are powerful, wealthy people in both parties, so with any luck at all, a lot of fish get taken down. bonus points for doing it now, so that both parties will have a chair who can go fishing. I have a feeling there are plenty of big fish who are frantically texting, or will be soon.]

[B-Fly]

Mattis quits. #nochaoshere


He quits because of Trumpy's Syria decision, which obviously went against his (shocking!) and now there's a yuuuuge fear that he is going to withdraw from Afghanistan as well. #stablegenius

After reading Mattis's pretty stunning resignation letter, it's clear that him quitting was about a rift much broader and deeper than just the Syria withdrawal. Look, I'm no neoconservative interventionist promoting the US as "the indispensable nation", but I am concerned about an unqualified, mercurial and tempermental president who appears to be no longer respecting the advice and counsel of the experienced and careful experts on his team and at his disposal.

[revo]

After reading Mattis's pretty stunning resignation letter, it's clear that him quitting was about a rift much broader and deeper than just the Syria withdrawal. Look, I'm no neoconservative interventionist promoting the US as "the indispensable nation", but I am concerned about an unqualified, mercurial and tempermental president who appears to be no longer respecting the advice and counsel of the experienced and careful experts on his team and at his disposal.

Oh absolutely, but it was the straw that broke the camel's back. Have you read the Bob Woodward book? If not, you should. These guys, especially the generals, cannot stand the fact they're reporting to a know-nothing, draft dodging imbecile who thinks he knows more than them about the military.

[DMT]

After reading Mattis's pretty stunning resignation letter, it's clear that him quitting was about a rift much broader and deeper than just the Syria withdrawal. Look, I'm no neoconservative interventionist promoting the US as "the indispensable nation", but I am concerned about an unqualified, mercurial and tempermental president who appears to be no longer respecting the advice and counsel of the experienced and careful experts on his team and at his disposal.

Our 2K troops were never going to make a difference in a war they had no authorization being a part of to begin with. I agree that Trump is not the man to be making these decisions but this is one of the few things he's done right IMO.

[Judge Jude]

I'm no fan of "the wall," but let's face it - $5B is not even one tenth of one-tenth of a rounding error in the US budget.

seems to me that Trump doesn't give a crap about the DACA issue, given his all over the place comments.

couldn't the Ds work a deal where they solve DACA and give Trump his stupid piece of the wall? I think they could.

I'm no fan of ransom, either, but if that's what it takes, assuming the Ds actually care about these families and aren't just using them as props......

[DMT]

I'm no fan of "the wall," but let's face it - $5B is not even one tenth of one-tenth of a rounding error in the US budget.

seems to me that Trump doesn't give a crap about the DACA issue, given his all over the place comments.

couldn't the Ds work a deal where they solve DACA and give Trump his stupid piece of the wall? I think they could.

I'm no fan of ransom, either, but if that's what it takes......

Not a chance. Why would the Democrats cave on an issue that most Americans agree with them on now when Trump is in his weakest position? They're going to sit back and watch the petulant man-child further implode by forcing a shut-down when he doesn't get what he wants.

[gcstomp]

wasnt the deal about a year ago, worked out bipartisan, and then landed on trump desk who rejected it, the best solution? it was 25 billion for border security, including the wall, in exchange for DACA amnesty. Wouldnt both sides find that to be vastly better than what we are looking at now? And its not so much a both sides thing, as most americans want relief given to DACA, so it would be a allowing the will of the people deal.

[gcstomp]

no, it was a pathway to citizenship for 1.8 million dreamers. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news...lion-dreamers/