Posted on Dec 23, 2018
In a Flash, U.S. Military Policy Turns Inward and Echoes Across the Globe
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Over the course of 24 extraordinary hours this week, 17 years of American military policy was thrown out the window as President Trump spurned his defense secretary’s plea to keep United States troops in Syria and began the long process of pulling out of Afghanistan.
On Friday morning, America’s 1.3 million active-duty service members woke up to a new reality: Their leader, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, had resigned over the Syria withdrawal and Mr. Trump’s rejection of international alliances, and everything he and other military leaders had told them through three presidencies had suddenly been abandoned.
Terrorists must be challenged abroad before they end up here at home? No longer. Americans must defend their friends and stand up to authoritarians in places like Russia and Iran? A thing of the past.
As Mr. Trump overturned the post-9/11 national security consensus, the reverberations spanned the globe. In northeastern Syria, Special Operations troops who just the day before were fighting in the dirt around Hajin, the last Islamic State stronghold in the country, were now telling their Kurdish allies that they would be leaving them alone in the fight.
On Friday morning, America’s 1.3 million active-duty service members woke up to a new reality: Their leader, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, had resigned over the Syria withdrawal and Mr. Trump’s rejection of international alliances, and everything he and other military leaders had told them through three presidencies had suddenly been abandoned.
Terrorists must be challenged abroad before they end up here at home? No longer. Americans must defend their friends and stand up to authoritarians in places like Russia and Iran? A thing of the past.
As Mr. Trump overturned the post-9/11 national security consensus, the reverberations spanned the globe. In northeastern Syria, Special Operations troops who just the day before were fighting in the dirt around Hajin, the last Islamic State stronghold in the country, were now telling their Kurdish allies that they would be leaving them alone in the fight.
In a Flash, U.S. Military Policy Turns Inward and Echoes Across the Globe
Posted from nytimes.com
SECDEF
Afghanistan
Syria
Pentagon
Africa
Posted 6 y ago
Responses: 3
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He berates the generals for not winning the wars, but he unilaterally calls victory.
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Yea. That’s one view point. The other is we are hemorrhaging treasure and cannot sustain these fronts. Africa, Yemen, Egypt, Iraq/ Kuwait, Afghanistan, Korea. National debt is $21 trillion and climbing. We invest treasure in counties that don’t even want us in their region. I’m not advocating an isolationist foreign policy. We need to invest in the American people. In stead of large forces we need allies and other democrating countries to take up the mantel and help out. We cannot, and the UK, cannot do it all for the free world. They need to step up. We once again screwed over the Kurds and that really sucks but we have over extended ourself and the American people are suffering.
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