What Trump’s Syria decision means on the front lines of the fight against the Islamic State

[TomSea]

What Trump’s Syria decision means on the front lines of the fight against the Islamic State
By David Ignatius
December 23 at 6:30 PM

The voice of Gen. Mazloum Abdi, the Kurdish commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces militia, is tight and controlled as he describes President’s Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from the country and leave America’s allies to their fate.

“This was something we never expected,” he said somberly in a telephone interview Saturday night from his command headquarters in northeast Syria. “Honestly, until now, everything the Americans told us, they fulfilled, and the same thing for us. . . . So we were surprised and confused. We were not ready for a decision like this.”

Mazloum explained the dangers of a terrorist resurgence after Trump’s sudden decision. Islamic State communications last week showed new hope they can restore their caliphate, which was on the way to destruction, he said. What’s more, Mazloum has been holding more than 2,200 Islamic State prisoners, including 700 foreign fighters. Without help from the United States and other coalition members, those deadly fighters may eventually escape.

Read more at:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/what-trumps-syria-decision-means-on-the-front-lines-of-the-fight-against-the-islamic-state/2018/12/23/f4735f9c-06ff-11e9-a3f0-71c95106d96a_story.html

[Right_in_Virginia]

“This was something we never expected,” he said somberly

This action was planned since February.  We are under an obligation to no one to announce our military plans according to their timetable and satisfaction. 

The withdrawal of the American infantry from Syria was prepared long ago and came as a surprise only to the uninformed.  Trump ordered the development of a plan for leaving Syria as early as February of this year, and in April, this plan was partially declassified and made public.

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2018/12/are_there_any_good_guys_left_in_syria.html

[Right_in_Virginia]

The first is that America’s primary military threat today is no longer Muslim weirdos. They are still a threat, and we should still hunt them down, but the real threat is a high intensity conventional war with North Korea and/or China.

We are not ready for one, and devoting our efforts to make the barbaric denizens of the desert into peaceful small “d” democrats is not helping us get ready for a land-sea-air-space-cyber battle against a real enemy that has real weapon systems.

The thing we need to focus on now, after 17 years of capping Bedouin savages, is the coming war in the Pacific. And that war will be absolutely certain to come if our enemies see that we are not prepared to fight and win it.

https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2018/12/24/trump-the-disrupter-pivots-back-to-trumpism-and-the-establishment-freaks-out-n2537978