@mrmhead Said
Kind of, could be again, and it's more than that.
I thought about the Kurds too.
As I understand it, we basically abandoned them in Iraq back in the. ...90's? (One narrative implies we encouraged them to rebel, then never came to help, and Saddam gassed them)
And now we're abandoning them in Syria while Erdogan has them in their sights.
What a mess
But Putin will be happy, and that makes Trump happy.
Ah, I see.
@mrmhead Said
"If the decision to withdraw was made, then it is a correct one," Putin said at his annual news conference on Thursday.
I'm glad we've got Putin's agreement on this!
I’m not sure if you are being sarcastic or......
@chaski Said
Depends on who you talk to.
> ISIS as they were a few years ago, controlling large areas of land... not as big an issue.
> ISIS and/or other local Syria/Iraq terrorist groups still existing and causing problems in the area (and really throughout the ME)... absolutely still an issue.
Is ISIS "defeated"... no. That would be like saying al Qaeda has been defeated... again... no. The head of the snake gets cut off, only to be replaced some time later. (Keep in mind the terrorists in the ME are playing a long game... it was roughly 10 years between the 1st and 2nd attacks on the Twin Towers. A few years mean nothing to these people... they are looking at a very long religious war and are periodically prepared to go under ground to regroup.
Now.. as to pulling out of Syria. Personally I don't think we should have sent troops into Syria anyway.... But we did. Now the only thing pulling out does is
> play into Putin's hands to give him greater influence in the area.
> help Bashar al-Assad's regime
> help Iran (who also supports Assad)
> undermine Saudi Arabia's influence in the region (sort of)
> undermine U.S. influence in the region
> make Trump look like he is pursuing a very Obama like strategy (which isn't altogether true, but some think it is)
In all honesty, I expected them to whither (but not die) and then another group would emerge. The war on Terrorism is one that won’t end any time soon. That’s why I still consider my old and “inhumane” thoughts on this.