Trump’s decision lets the Turks take over more Kurdish areas, while Russia and Iran can breathe a sigh of relief and go ahead with their own plans

By Zvi Bar’el, HAARETZ

Lockheed Martin, the maker of the F-35 stealth fighter, is biting its nails. Will Turkey’s multibillion-dollar purchase of 100 planes go through, or will Congress block it?

The main obstacle is Turkey’s plan to buy the S-400 anti-aircraft system from Russia. The Pentagon fears that this will damage strategic coordination among NATO countries, and more importantly, that the F-35’s classified technology might wind up in Russia, which could use it to improve its air defense systems.

Washington’s decision is complicated because Turkey was a partner in the plane’s development and invested $1.25 billion in it. Moreover, 10 Turkish companies have been trained to make parts for the planes.

Thus if Turkey is ousted from the project, it could lose around $12 billion in orders for parts. But American companies would lose the mammoth deal for the purchase of the jets.

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T. Belman.  First of all, I am surprised that AT published this article considering how pro-Israel they are. He argues “There are plenty of other countries in that region who can constrain Iran.”

Israel never expected America to do the fighting for them. In a way, a by-product of this withdrawal will be to cement the alliance of anti-Iran countries such as Israel, Saudi Arabia and UAE. I expect that King Abdullah will fall in the next 2 or 3 weeks and then Jordan will join this group. Israel will take the lead of this group. Won’t that be rich.

Finally, Algeria wants Syria’s Assad invited to Arab League summit in Tunisia. Remember when the Syria war started, it was the sunni Arabs that tried to bring down Assad. No doubt they are trying to win Syria away from Iran which is neither Arab nor sunni.

Arab Parliament urges Arab League to reinstate Syria, Egypt’s news agency said a week ago.

By Peter Skurkiss, AMERICAN THINKER

An uproar has arisen over President Trump’s decision to pull U.S. military forces out of Syria. But note, it isn’t the American people who are protesting this decision. Rather, it’s those who propose perpetual war — the ivory tower think-tankers, the TV talking heads, and a whole gaggle of Beltway insiders. The cloud of dust they have created distracts from the fact that the Syria is at best a minimal national security interest to the U.S.

One of the arguments the pro-war crowd makes for keeping the U.S. military in Syria indefinitely is to constrain Iran. But this is bogus. There are plenty of other countries in that region who can do that. But why should they bother if Uncle Sam is willing to do the dirty work for them? The bottom line is that America should not be doing everything for everybody.

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T. Belman. I have posted a number of articles on Trump’s decision. from which we can derive a better understanding of why Trump did this. There is more to be discovered.

American president rejected advice of top aides and agreed to pull out troops in a phone call with Turkey’s Erdogan, say officials

The Associated Press
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T. Belman. Remember that the author, Walt, was a co-author of The Israel Lobby.  Though he points out that the withdrawal is at odds with Trump’s otherwise anti-Iran stance, he does not specifically deal with the land corridor that such policy is meant to prevent,

BY STEPHEN M. WALT, FOREIGN POLICY DEC 21, 2018,

President Donald Trump’s sudden decision Wednesday to withdraw the roughly 2,000 U.S. troops stationed in Syria has set off an all-too-predictable debate between those who believe he is abandoning the sacred mantle of U.S. global leadership and those who believe that Syria is not a vital interest and that U.S. power should be deployed elsewhere or preserved for future contingencies. Hard-line hawks such as Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and neoconservatives such as Max Boot were quick to denounce Trump’s decision, along with other establishment figures (and Trump critics) such as former CIA Director John Brennan. By contrast, libertarians on the right and non-interventionists on the left have embraced the move, despite their deep aversion to Trump himself and their concerns about most of his other policies.
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T. Belman.  The article below was written during the Trump transition period.  Apparently Mattis wasn’t a shoe in for Defense Minister. Mattis is known for his staunch anti-Russian stance. Less so for his pro-Israel credentials.

Maybe the real reason Mattis resigned was that he disagreed with Trump’s readiness to work with Russia signalled by this withdrawal.

Though ZOA has voiced opposition to Trump’s defense chief pick, most everyone else is enthusiastically on board, leaving Jewish Democrats incredulous

By RON KAMPEAS, TOI

WASHINGTON (JTA) — US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary is on the record decrying the burdens that Israel places on the United States and warning that the Jewish state could be headed toward apartheid. And with one notable exception, the right-wing pro-Israel community is enthusiastically on board.

In 2013, Gen. James Mattis, then recently retired as the top American commander in the Middle East, said he paid a “military security price every day” for US support of Israel. The Republican Jewish Coalition and the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, despite waging a fierce battle four years ago against an Obama defense pick deemed too critical toward Israel, are now defending Mattis, who is slated to be formally nominated by Trump on Tuesday evening.

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By Edwin Mora, BREITBART

U.S.-allied Syrian Kurds, in the wake of America’s decision this week to withdraw its military forces from Syria, are faced with the prospects of making a pact with the Iranian and Russian-backed regime of Bashar al-Assad to repel a prospective attack by Turkish forces.

Vowing to ultimately clear U.S.-allied Kurdish groups from Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said his country would postpone a military operation into territory held by Syrian Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria, Al Jazeera reported.
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The Resignation of James Mattis Is the Scariest Moment of Trump’s Presidency

By JIM GERAGHTY, NATIONAL INTEREST

This is bad. Really, really bad.

Defense Secretary James Mattis was arguably the best and most important cabinet decision that President Trump made. Indisputably qualified and brimming with experience, he personified what the Trump administration presumably wanted to be: tough, smart, thoroughly reassuring, and sometimes intimidating. As a man who had seen war up close many times, Mattis sought to avoid it. If it couldn’t be avoided, Mattis was ready to fight it and win it.
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T. Belman. This article takes a more nuanced approach to the withdrawal decision. But it doesn’t say what if any agreements the US has with Turkey or Russia. Nor does it say why the US is in such a hurry. Furthermore, since he argued that it was time to bring the boys home, why is it more important to leave troops in Afghanistan then in Syria? Many unanswered questions.

The Pentagon to submit its plan to the White House by Wednesday to pull U.S. troops out of Syria

By Nancy A. Youssef and Alex Leary, WSJ
Updated Dec. 20, 2018 5:31 p.m. ET

U.S. Army soldiers conduct surveillance during a patrol in Manbij, Syria, in November. Photo: Zoe Garbarino/U.S. Army/Associated Press

As military officials scrambled to produce an exit plan over Christmas, President Trump on Thursday defended his decision to order 2,000 U.S. service members to return home from Syria amid a growing schism between Washington and coalition partners who vowed to continue fighting the Islamic State extremist group.

“Getting out of Syria was no surprise,” Mr. Trump wrote. “I’ve been campaigning on it for years, and six months ago, when I very publicly wanted to do it, I agreed to stay longer.”
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THIS GUY GETS IT THOUGH THERE IS MORE TO THE STORY THAN HE HAS EXPLAINED. ESSENTIALLY THE US HAS AGREE TO PULL OUT ITS TROOPS IN EXCHANGE FOR RUSSIA AGREEING TO FORCE IRAN OUT OF SYRIA. HE DOESN’T FULLY DESCRIBE THE DEAL WITH TURKEY. NOR DOES HE SHOW WHAT IS TO HAPPEN WITH THE kURDS.

T. Belman.  This isn’t the first time the NYT has been wrong.  In fact when writing about Trump, it is always wrong.  Their premise is that the removal of 2000 US troops from Syria counterdicts the US ME policy goals as articulated by John Bolton and James Jeffrey among others. No other evidence is presented to support their conclusions. In truth, the withdrawal of 2000 troops does no such thing. The policy goal of pushing back Iran remains the same.  Trump will fill the gap in Syria with the cooperation of Russia, Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

This isn’t the first time the president and his administration have sent mixed messages.

Editorial Board, NYT

The editorial board represents the opinions of the board, its editor and the publisher. It is separate from the newsroom and the Op-Ed section.

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By Christina Laila, GATEWAY PUNDIT

Matthew Whitaker was appointed acting Attorney General in November after Jeff Sessions was fired in disgrace.

Whitaker immediately took over the Mueller investigation, bumping DAG Rod Rosenstein from the role and the Democrats went crazy calling for him to recuse himself.

Three Senate Judiciary Democrats then sued to block Matthew Whitaker from serving as Attorney General.
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T. Belman. Democrats used the same technique to drive Sarah Palin from office.

by Cassandra Fairbanks, GATEWAY PUNDIT

A “nonpartisan” organization in DC that has been inundating President Donald Trump with lawsuits received $1.35 million dollars from liberal billionaire George Soros.

According to a new report from the Free Beacon, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), the “nonpartisan” organization, also shares employees with Media Matters for America, an organization that was founded by Democratic operative and Clinton loyalist David Brock.
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As the Kurdish minority faces a possible massacre, the US president could be opening a direct route from Tehran to Beirut

By AVI ISSACHAROFF, TOI

Devoted Israeli supporters of US President Donald Trump tend to praise him primarily for his uncompromising policy in the Middle East: He renounced the nuclear agreement with Iran, blocked UN resolutions condemning Israel, and even gave Jerusalem a political safety net for settlement construction.

However, Wednesday’s announcement of the withdrawal of American forces from Syria constitutes one of the most severe blows for Israel in the northern arena.

In one decision, the Trump administration abandoned two allies: Israel and the Kurds. Read more…

BREITBART

The United States agreed in 1980 to implement the United Nation’s rules on refugees. This means a group of recently deported migrants must be flown back to the U.S. and be given another chance to win asylum, a Democratic-appointed judge declared December 17.

“Congress made clear its intent in promulgating the Refugee Act was to bring the United States’ domestic laws in line with the [U.N.] Protocol,” Judge Emmet Sullivan declared in response to an ACLU lawsuit for several migrants against asylum policies established by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Sullivan added: “The new credible fear policies are arbitrary, capricious, and in violation of the immigration laws,” and so must be discarded.
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ASIA NEWS

As days of protest against austerity draw hundreds, security forces show an iron fist. The crisis highlights the country’s weak political institutions. Some fear criminal and jihadist infiltrations. The political class must be renewed and economic and social reforms must be implemented.

Amman (AsiaNews) – The atmosphere in Jordan is tense and things could get worse as hundreds of people continue their protest in the streets. What is more, old problems have been compounded by an unprecedented fragility of the kingdom’s political institutions, this according to Amer Al Sabaileh, a Jordanian scholar who spoke to AsiaNews about recent demonstrations in Amman.

Prime Minister Omar Razzaz “has shown himself to be weak and incapable. The royal entourage is not up to it nor are the heads of the services. There have been disturbing signs for some time, but they were treated superficially.”
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The U.S. decision now throws into question everything that has been done in the past four years.

BY Seth J Frantzman, JPOST

The US withdrawal of its troops from eastern Syria is an unprecedented move, coming after six months in which Washington had laid the groundwork for a longer-term commitment.

US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford recently said that the US had completed training only 20% of the 30,000 local stabilization forces. In addition, the White House, National Security officials, the State Department and the Pentagon have previously suggested that the US would remain in Syria until Iranian-commanded forces leave. This was a developing policy, and the US was committing more diplomatic staff to Syria, including appointing James Jeffrey as an envoy.

The US-led coalition has also been carrying out a large number of air strikes in recent weeks. Between December 9 and 15 the coalition carried out 208 strikes. And ISIS isn’t beaten. Estimates say there are thousands of fighters, some of them the most dangerous and hard-core foreign fighters. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that ISIS has executed hundreds of prisoners recently. Beyond that, there are hundreds of ISIS detainees held by the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main US partner on the ground, which has been fighting ISIS.
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