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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By Benny Avni, NY POST

In what will likely mark the worst foreign-policy decision of his presidency to date, President Trump on Wednesday announced that he is ceding Syria to the jackals.

“We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there,” the president tweeted, confirming his decision to withdraw some 2,000 American troops from the war-ravaged country.

Those Yanks are currently based mostly in the eastern and northern parts of Syria, fighting ISIS remnants and training Kurdish and other ­allied fighters.

Mr. Trump’s closest Washington ­allies panned the decision almost immediately. “Withdrawal of this small American force in Syria would be a huge Obama-like mistake,” tweeted Senator Lindsey Graham.
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Decision on pullout follows Trump’s talk with Erdogan. All State Department personnel to evacuate in next 24 hours. Netanyahu informed by Trump two days ago, says Israel will fend off repercussions

Reuters, Haaretz and Noa Landau

The White House said on Wednesday that the United States has started sending troops back from Syria but that the move does not signify the end of the campaign or a halt to the work of the global coalition in the war-torn country.

The U.S. is considering a total withdrawal of forces, U.S. officials told Reuters.

All U.S. State Department personnel are being evacuated from Syria within 24 hours, a U.S. official told Reuters. Read more…

By Missy Ryan, Wash Post  December 19 at 11:45 AM

The Trump administration is planning to pull all U.S. troops out of Syria, a defense official said Wednesday, as President Trump declared victory over the Islamic State.

The president, in a message on Twitter, said the United States had “defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency.”

His statement came shortly after news organizations reported that the White House had decided on Tuesday to abruptly remove the entire U.S. force of more than 2,000 troops from Syria.
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Upcoming initiative ‘takes advantage of new technology,’ embraces ‘previously unthinkable’ realities, says outgoing UN envoy

By AGENCIES and TOI STAFF

The outgoing US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, on Tuesday called on Israelis and Palestinians to back a US peace plan to be unveiled in early 2019, saying it was far more “thoughtful” and creative than any that have come before.

Without revealing details of the plan, drawn up by US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, Haley said it was far longer than past proposals and included elements that would have previously been “unthinkable.”

“Unlike previous attempts at addressing this conflict, this plan is not just a few pages, containing unspecific and unimaginative guidelines,” said Haley, who is due to leave her post at the end of December.
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