UPDATE II:
After reports that our own U.S. military has bombed our own U.S. munitions storage bunker at a base in Syria, after our own U.S. troops were forced to abandon their post because of the Turkish invasion green-lighted by our own U.S. president, Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, a former U.S. Air Force officer, had this to say:
Wow. We bombed our own base on purpose, because of the impulsive decision by @realDonaldTrump didn’t leave time to evacuate the right way. Is this the America you grew up believing in?
UPDATE I:
The man who gave Turkey the green light to invade Syria and attack our allies, the Kurds, is now sending Pence and Pompeo to Turkey to “voice the United States’ commitment to reach an immediate ceasefire and the conditions for a negotiated settlement….” to an invasion that has almost completely pushed U.S. troops out of northern Syria and allowed the Russian and Assad’s military to move in.
In the meantime, Turkish president Recep Erdogan, is telling the man who gave him permission to attack the Kurds. “We will never declare a ceasefire…They are pressuring us to stop the operation. They are announcing sanctions. Our goal is clear. We are not worried about any sanctions.”
There are also reports that Erdogan does not intend to meet Pence or Pompeo when they arrive in Turkey, although he may be changing his mind on this.
Original Post:
Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, issued a “statement” yesterday “regarding Turkey, Syria border actions.”
Part of his statement: “…unilateral action was unnecessary and impulsive.”
Could Esper be referring to Trump’s impulsive, unilateral, unnecessary phone call to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a week ago where he gave Turkey the green light to invade northern Syria and possibly massacre, “ethnic cleanse,” our allies, the Kurds?”
Esper continues, “Due to…irresponsible actions, the risk to U.S. forces in northeast Syria has reached an unacceptable level. We are also at risk of being engulfed in a broader conflict.”
Could Esper once again be referring to the result of Trump’s irresponsible actions which have, among other, resulted in hundreds of casualties, “the displacement of more than 100,000 people, executions and war crimes, the escape of hundreds of Islamic State prisoners” and – as Esper himself writes — has caused ”widespread casualties, refugees, destruction, insecurity, and a growing threat to U.S. military forces…undermined the successful multinational ‘Defeat ISIS’ mission in Syria, and resulted in the release of many dangerous ISIS detainees…the risk to U.S. forces in northeast Syria has reached an unacceptable level. We are also at risk of being engulfed in a broader conflict.”?
The answers are No! and Hell No!
Esper is not referring to Trump for whom “betrayal is hardly new.” Rather, he is referring to Turkey and Erdogan who eagerly accepted Trump’s invitation to invade Syria, wipe out the brave Kurds, to redraw borders and to shatter political and military alliances – none boding well for the United States.
And, now – like the arsonist who “heroically” says he wants to put out the fire – Trump is belatedly warning and threatening Turkey, is, according to Esper, “executing a deliberate withdrawal of U.S. military personnel from northeast Syria.”
Trump is even wishing our allies, the Kurds, well. “I hope they all do great, we are 7,000 miles away!” Trump tweeted.
In the meantime, Defense One reports, “The US Is Leaving Syria. Russia Is Moving In.”
Finally, Trump is sending Esper to NATO to “press our other NATO allies to take collective and individual diplomatic and economic measures in response to these egregious Turkish actions.”
Well, good luck Mr. Secretary.
At The Atlantic, Peter Wehner puts it well:
The betrayal won’t stop with the Kurds. Every individual, every institution, every government agency, and every American ally could meet a similar fate. Donald Trump’s loyalty runs exactly as deep to his fellow citizens, the rule of law, the Constitution, America’s best traditions, and traditional codes of honor and decency as it does to his previous wives, to his former aides, and to those he has done business with. “A stain on the American conscience” isn’t just a characterization of what Trump did to the Kurds in northern Syria. It may also prove to be a fitting epitaph for the Trump presidency as a whole.
