Was Pulling Out of Syria the Right Move?

By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

My military strategy has always been shock and awe.  I believe swift and decisive actions ultimately, in the end, reduces the number of dead.

It was true with the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and it’s true in today’s Middle Eastern theater of war.

It’s like with the Iraq War under the Bush administration.  I have no beef with us invading Saddam Hussein’s little dictatorship, but I have a problem with the fact that we were there for so long.  I don’t believe “spreading democracy” is a good strategy, for many cultures are not ready for that kind of government.  Sometimes, dislodging a rabid dictator causes a bad situation, creating a power void that invites groups like the Muslim Brotherhood to step in and grab the reins.

President Donald Trump was a civilian, in a sense, prior to being elected President of the United States.  He, aside from maybe some military school experience, has no familiarity with the armed forces, nor had he worked his way up through the political ranks, which would have afforded him foreign policy exposure.  He was very critical of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, for example.  As I stated earlier, I don’t agree with him about the invasion, but I do agree with Trump regarding the “regime change motive” and the lengthy stay in the region.  We have the technology to take out select targets, so why do we even have to put ourselves in a position of having boots on the ground?

I was in the U.S. Navy, and with today’s technology from a ship, or a plane, we can pick which window to put a missile through, and accomplish the task with ease.

That said, Syria creates a whole new dilemma since the Russians and Chinese have also got their hand in the cookie jar.

Lindsey Graham, who is normally a war-hawk, especially when it comes to protecting Israel, was initially critical of President Trump’s recent decision to withdraw, at least partially, from Syria.  However, he has recently changed his mind, saying, “I feel pretty good” about pulling out of Syria after having lunch with Trump

The decision to pull away from Syria drew criticism from both sides of the aisle, and ultimately led to the resignation of Defense Secretary James Mattis.

Graham emerged from the White House after a two-hour lunch with Trump and said the president “told me some things I didn’t know that make me feel a lot better about where we’re headed in Syria.”

“He promised to destroy ISIS. He’s going to keep that promise,” Graham said of Trump. “We’re not there yet. But as I said today, we’re inside the 10-yard line and the president understands the need to finish the job.”

Earlier Sunday, Graham called on Trump to reverse his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria in a wide-ranging interview broadcast on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“If we leave now, the Kurds are going to get slaughtered,” Graham told host Dana Bash, adding that Trump had discussed the matter with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford and was “reconsidering how we do this.”

“He’s frustrated. I get it. People should pay more. They should fight more,” Graham said. “But we’re not the policemen of the world here. We’re fighting a war against ISIS. They’re still not defeated in Syria. I’m asking the president to make sure that we have troops there to protect us. Don’t outsource our national security to some foreign power. If we leave now, the Kurds are going to get into a fight with Turkey, they could get slaughtered.”

Graham echoed that theme outside the White House, telling reporters that the Kurds “stepped up when nobody else would” to fight ISIS.

The last time we turned-tail from Syria was during the Obama administration . . . a move that many consider led to the rapid rise of ISIS.