Trump’s ‘Stunning’ About-Face on Syria

[TomSea]

Report
Trump’s ‘Stunning’ About-Face on Syria
Bowing to Turkey, the U.S. president moves to withdraw all troops.
By Lara Seligman, Michael Hirsh | December 19, 2018, 2:14 PM

In an unexpected decision that blindsided his own senior officials and signaled a concession to Turkey, U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested he is preparing to pull all U.S. troops out of Syria, a move that experts said will seriously undermine America’s already weak hand in the war-torn nation.

For Trump, it was the latest instance of conducting policy by tweet without forewarning, and it came even as key officials such as Syria special envoy James Jeffrey were signaling that U.S. policy was to stay in the country. Only the day before, State Department Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino told reporters that U.S. forces were there “to ensure the enduring defeat of [the Islamic State]. We’ve made significant progress recently in the campaign, but the job is not yet done.”

But on Wednesday morning, the president tweeted: “We have defeated ISIS, in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump presidency.” The tweet appeared to confirm multiple news reports that the administration is preparing for a “full” and “rapid” withdrawal of the 2,000 or so U.S. troops on the ground there.

Read more at: https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/12/19/trumps-stunning-about-face-on-syria-islamic-state-isis-trooops/

This is what I think, this is more about bowing to Turkey but I'm not an expert and opinions are a dime-a-dozen.

[kidd]

Why is the United States in Syria anyway? ISIS-Syria-Russia ... let them beat each other up.

By what authority are we engaging in military action in Syria? To the best of my knowledge, the War Powers act has not been invoked, nor has any of its reporting requirements.

[Fishrrman]

Seems to me that for a long time, folks have complained that we should "go in", "get the job done", and then "get out" of foreign military entanglements.

Isn't that what the Trump administration has done with Syria?
That is to say, go in, do as much as possible to defeat isis?
Has this not been substantially accomplished?
If so, then why not get out while the gettin's good?

Or... do we want another Afghanistan?