https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/trumps-absurd-hypocrisy-abandon-the-kurds-send-troops-to-saudi-arabiaPresident Trump proved beyond all doubt this week that his vision for military deployments is defined by hypocrisy.
On Monday, Trump pulled U.S. forces out of northern Syria. Although those forces were not engaged in active combat operations, Trump says he's no longer willing to inject America into complicated foreign wars. But then, on Friday, the Pentagon announced the deployment of an additional 2,000 U.S. military personnel to Saudi Arabia.
Help me here, but I'm really struggling to see how the two decisions can support a common strategic narrative.
On the one hand, Trump says America shouldn't be involved in complex foreign struggles far off American shores. Trump argues that years of Turkish-Kurdish sectarian animosity can never be resolved by America. Just for a second, let's say that's true. How on Earth does Trump explain why he is sending 2,000 more personnel to defend Saudi Arabia against Iran? After all, while the roots of Saudi-Iranian animosity are also sectarian in nature, they are also far older than Kurdish-Turkish animosity! It's not even close: Saudi-Iranian animosity reaches back 1,339 years to the Battle of Karbala.
Trump says it's not America's place to use military force to temper two adversaries engaged in a decadeslong conflict. But in the very same week, Trump then says it's America's responsibility to send thousands more in troops to defend an ally against an adversary it has struggled with for more than a millennium!
more at link
