Much has been said of US President Trump’s shocking decision to keep a major campaign promise, and get the United States out of Syria.
With the entire establishment, permanent state, neocon/neo-liberal warmonger class attacking Trump for his decision, the US president appears to be standing firm.
The Duran’s Alex Christoforou and Editor-in-Chief Alexander Mercouris discuss U.S. President Trump’s bold stand to remain true (as it appears from judging his recent New Year’s Eve tweets) to his pledge that American troops will be leaving Syria.
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Zerohedge reports that US President fired back at the “failed generals” who are now, out and about, vocally complaining about the President’s decision to hold true to one of his major campaign promises and get the United States out of its illegal occupation of Syria.
…I campaigned on getting out of Syria and other places. Now when I start getting out the Fake News Media, or some failed Generals who were unable to do the job before I arrived, like to complain about me & my tactics, which are working. Just doing what I said I was going to do!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2018
US President Trump reminded everyone via twitter that he campaigned in 2016 on ending the ‘never-ending’ wars in Iraq, Syria and the 17 year conflict in Afghanistan.
…..Except the results are FAR BETTER than I ever said they were going to be! I campaigned against the NEVER ENDING WARS, remember!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2018
Trump’s tweets come after Lyndsey Graham told reporters this weekend before the New Year that Trump is “re-evaluating” his Syria pull out.
Via The New York Times…
Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a vocal Republican critic of President Trump’s plan for a 30-day troop withdrawal of American troops from Syria, suggested on Sunday that the pullout had been slowed and that he felt “a lot better” about it after a lunch with the president.
“I think we’re in a pause situation where we are re-evaluating what’s the best way to achieve the president’s objective of having people pay more and do more,” Mr. Graham said.
He did not elaborate on what that meant. But he may have been referring to assurances that Mr. Trump is said to have given some military officials that they can have more time than 30 days to ensure a proper drawdown of troops.
Mr. Trump’s surprise announcement on Twitter this month that he planned to withdraw the 2,000 American troops in Syria over the advice of military officials drew strong objections from many of his usual allies, like Mr. Graham, and helped prompt Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to resign.
Mr. Graham told reporters outside the West Wing entrance Sunday afternoon that he and the president had had a frank discussion over lunch.
“We talked about Syria and he told me some things that I didn’t know that make me feel a lot better about where we’re headed in Syria,” Mr. Graham said. “He promised to destroy ISIS. He’s going to keep that promise. We’re not there yet, but as I said today, we’re inside the 10-yard line and the president understands the need to finish the job.”
Mr. Graham told reporters that Mr. Trump was “worried about Iranian influence and the potential dangers to Israel from having a superhighway from Beirut to Tehran in terms of delivering weapons into Lebanon, and he’ll be talking to Turkey about making sure we don’t have a war between the Turks and our allies the Kurds.”
In an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” before the lunch, Mr. Graham issued a starker warning about the threat to the Kurds, who are allied with the United States but whom Turkey regards as insurgents.
“If we leave now, the Kurds are going to get slaughtered,” Mr. Graham said, adding: “The president is reconsidering how we do this. He’s frustrated, I get that.”
White House officials declined to comment on Mr. Graham’s remarks. Lt. Col. Carla Gleason, a Pentagon spokeswoman, had said in an email Saturday that the Defense Department would not discuss “operational details,” but was “focused on a deliberate and controlled withdrawal of forces, taking all measures possible to ensure our troops’ safety while they finish off the remnants of ISIS.”
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