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MY COMMENT
The US President ran a campaign on defeating ISIS, ending forever wars and putting "America First." He is also a student of Sun Tzu: "One hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the most skillful. Subduing the enemy without battle is the most skillful." He has threatened to "decimate" Turkey's economy if Turkey harms the Kurds. By the way, which of the at least NINE Kurdish political and/or military groups are we talking about, and which religions? There literally is no such thing as "The Kurds" as a singular entity. No country, no central government, no single military command/philosophy, no parliament, congress or constitution. There has never been a political and/or military MISSION called "Save the Kurds." So, as President Trump has said, we have three choices, 1) Send in thousands of troops and win militarily, 2) Hit Turkey very hard financially with sanctions, or 3) Mediate a deal between Turkey and the Kurds. The author doesn't get to set the conditions for morality. The Kurds are not angels, nor is the US always right or perfect. But those aren't the goals. For the Kurds the goal is self-determination in lands historically Kurdish. For the US the goal is to diminish and destroy external threats from terrorist organizations (Global War on Terror). The President must ultimately decide what is in the best interest of the US. It is NOT in our best interest to sit idle in Syria as a human buffer between Turkey and Kurdish forces. Without conventional or Special Forces "troops," the US can still operate to protect its interests with so-called Shadow Warriors, CIA, drones, aircraft, missiles and ECONOMIC options. The latter of which may just turn out to be the most effective and efficient. So, boys and girls, blow your noses one last time, put away your hankies, put on your big girl and boy underpants, and then continue to march - smartly - down the avenue. This too shall pass, and without needless loss of precious American blood and treasure.
The US President ran a campaign on defeating ISIS, ending forever wars and putting "America First." He is also a student of Sun Tzu: "One hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the most skillful. Subduing the enemy without battle is the most skillful." He has threatened to "decimate" Turkey's economy if Turkey harms the Kurds. By the way, which of the at least NINE Kurdish political and/or military groups are we talking about, and which religions? There literally is no such thing as "The Kurds" as a singular entity. No country, no central government, no single military command/philosophy, no parliament, congress or constitution. There has never been a political and/or military MISSION called "Save the Kurds." So, as President Trump has said, we have three choices, 1) Send in thousands of troops and win militarily, 2) Hit Turkey very hard financially with sanctions, or 3) Mediate a deal between Turkey and the Kurds. The author doesn't get to set the conditions for morality. The Kurds are not angels, nor is the US always right or perfect. But those aren't the goals. For the Kurds the goal is self-determination in lands historically Kurdish. For the US the goal is to diminish and destroy external threats from terrorist organizations (Global War on Terror). The President must ultimately decide what is in the best interest of the US. It is NOT in our best interest to sit idle in Syria as a human buffer between Turkey and Kurdish forces. Without conventional or Special Forces "troops," the US can still operate to protect its interests with so-called Shadow Warriors, CIA, drones, aircraft, missiles and ECONOMIC options. The latter of which may just turn out to be the most effective and efficient. So, boys and girls, blow your noses one last time, put away your hankies, put on your big girl and boy underpants, and then continue to march - smartly - down the avenue. This too shall pass, and without needless loss of precious American blood and treasure.
The US has betrayed the Kurds, yet again
Posted from middleeastmonitor.com
Donald Trump
War on Terror
ISIS
Kurds
Posted 5 y ago
Responses: 11
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"He is also a student of Sun Tzu...". That's funny. Do you reallybelieve that Trump is a student of him? That requires complex actions, like reading and studying. If Sun Tzu had a show on FOX news, I could believe it. Otherwise, no chance.
As for whichKurds we betrayed, its the ones who fought side by side withour troops and led the ground fight against ISIS. The ones we told to trust us, and reduce their defenses in the border area, which they did. There are lots of arguments about whether we should have working with the Kurds, been in Syria at all, gone in in a big way, etc. but the fact is we did choose a course of action, the Kurds were an important piece of that,and now we screwed them. Sanctions after the factwont change anything.
As for whichKurds we betrayed, its the ones who fought side by side withour troops and led the ground fight against ISIS. The ones we told to trust us, and reduce their defenses in the border area, which they did. There are lots of arguments about whether we should have working with the Kurds, been in Syria at all, gone in in a big way, etc. but the fact is we did choose a course of action, the Kurds were an important piece of that,and now we screwed them. Sanctions after the factwont change anything.
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MAJ Montgomery Granger
Donald J. Trump was a military boarding school graduate and studied the military way. He uses the principles of Sun Tzu and other great military philosophers and generals in his dealings with others. You'd know this if you were paying attention, Sir. And you don't even know "which Kurds" you're talking about. The ones who sold oil to Iran? The ones who deal with our enemies? The ones who have their own agenda and use our resources for purposes that have nothing to do with our mission and objectives? The ones who can stand on their own two feet? Keep guessing.
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There is a similar example from history. Special Forces (Green Berets) worked alongside the ethnic minority Montagnard people during the Vietnam War for counterinsurgency efforts. Similar to Kurds, they feel that we abandoned them by withdrawal without care plan.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2013/11/the-green-berets-and-the-montagnards-how-an-indigenous-tribe-won-the-admiration-of-green-berets-and-lost-everything.html
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2013/11/the-green-berets-and-the-montagnards-how-an-indigenous-tribe-won-the-admiration-of-green-berets-and-lost-everything.html
A Forgotten Chapter of Vietnam: How an Indigenous Tribe Won the Admiration of the Green Berets—...
In 1965, syndicated columnists Rowland Evans and Robert Novak used a frontier metaphor to describe the American Special Forces’ advisory role with...
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MAJ Montgomery Granger
Very good! But the similarity is blurred by the fact that Montagnards were primitive indigenous people with loose political structure and no national identity. They are portrayed in the classic pro-Vietnam involvement movie, "The Green Berets," starring John Wayne. In the movie they are exploited by the Viet Cong, and punished for cooperating wiith the Americans and South Vietnamese. They were portrayed as fierce fighters (with crossbows), and loyal. However, because of their primitive ways it is unclear if they would have thrived in any case as refugees or re-settled people in the United States. Under Vietnamization, Montagnards were joined with the fate of South Vietnam. My opinion is that the US was never in a position to rescue the Montangnards, nor was that ever the mission.
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