President Trump pulls troops out of Syria

I was against us starting a war in the Middle East from the very start, believing it was done for questionable motives and without clear goals for a clean resolution, something that has been demonstrated amply since then.

That being said, now that we are there and have fought alongside allies, we cannot in good conscience abandon them or innocent civilians to slaughter or else our word is nothing and we will never build a coalition again. Trump pulling out of Syria and giving Turkey a green light to invade is a horrific decision and that Lindsey Graham (too many tweets to post a link to just one, screen shots below), Marco Rubio, and Nikki Haley among others immediately condemned this move publicly says a lot.

Turkey may be part of NATO, but they are not a good ally.
What Did Erdogan Know About the Khashoggi Murder Plot?
A closer look reveals that Turkish intel heard the Saudi plotters days before the journalist's grisly death.
By Andrew Cockburn, The American Conservative • October 1, 2019

As the world marks the anniversary of an infamous murder, Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan has taken to the compliant editorial pages of The Washington Post to advertise his ongoing outrage.

“The murder of Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi was arguably the most influential and controversial incident of the 21st century, barring the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks,” he charges to his American audience. “In the wake of Khashoggi’s demise, my administration adopted a policy of transparency.”

Mark the words “in the wake of,” and consider what the effect of a little more transparency before Khashoggi’s demise might have been.

However, a review of the copious leaks makes one thing clear: Erdogan himself may very well have been just as guilty of the monstrous crime of Khashoggi’s murder as Mohammed bin Salman and his team of killers. As is evident from the now extensive record of leaked recording transcripts, Turkish security followed the planning, as well as the execution, of Khashoggi’s murder over the course of several days—almost certainly in real time.

Lindsey Graham's Tweets today:



Trump pulls back troops from northern Syria ahead of Turkish assault, Pentagon officials 'blindsided'
By Edmund DeMarche, Lucas Tomlinson, Jennifer Griffin, Fox News | October 6, 2019

The decision to give Ankara the green light was seen by the Kurdish fighters as a major shift in U.S. policy. Over 11,000 mostly Kurdish fighters in the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been killed fighting ISIS in Syria.

One U.S. commander who helped lead the anti-ISIS effort told Fox News the decision amounts to a propaganda victory for China and Russia, saying those countries can tell would-be U.S. partners that America will abandon them.

“No one will ever partner with us again,” the commander said.

As for Turkey's intentions with the Kurds, the senior military officer said: “They are going to slaughter those cats.”