Bringing troops home from Syria

[calitom]

My posts dont seem to be going thru....

So Nixon can get us out of vietnam, bush can destroy iraq, obama can destroy libya,syria and nearly egypt...but Trump cant remove troops from syria??
makes sense Jack;)

[Maddog]

Are you for or against Trumps position on this rolly?

I think his statement is bullshit and part of an agenda.
From the link >> By the official count, there are 503 U.S. troops stationed in the Islamic State’s former capital. Unofficially, according to The Washington Post and other press reports, the figure is closer to 4,000—twice the number that is supposed to represent a “full withdrawal” from Syrian soil.
It would also be nice to think the president and commander-in-chief has the final say in his administration’s policies overseas, given the constitution by which we are supposed to be governed. But the misleading announcement on the withdrawal of troops, followed by Trump’s boastful tweet, suggest something close to exactly the opposite.

The constitution limits the war powers of the president. Not that any of them care anymore.

So does the money power and Israel.

As usual, your bias makes you miss the point. Congress is supposed to approve military action (after a certain amount of time). They have chosen to give up that power.

[Rolluplostinspace]

My posts dont seem to be going thru....

So Nixon can get us out of vietnam, bush can destroy iraq, obama can destroy libya,syria and nearly egypt...but Trump cant remove troops from syria??
makes sense Jack;)

None of those people did those things though.
One guy working alone to run America?
Give me a break.
There's a big hint from George Bush jnr when he said war for a generation .... war without end.
Means no matter who you vote for it won't change those plans.
People loosely talk about Bush did this Bush did that .... Bush was the face at the shop counter but he din't own the shop.

[Rolluplostinspace]

Are you for or against Trumps position on this rolly?

I think his statement is bullshit and part of an agenda.
From the link >> By the official count, there are 503 U.S. troops stationed in the Islamic State’s former capital. Unofficially, according to The Washington Post and other press reports, the figure is closer to 4,000—twice the number that is supposed to represent a “full withdrawal” from Syrian soil.
It would also be nice to think the president and commander-in-chief has the final say in his administration’s policies overseas, given the constitution by which we are supposed to be governed. But the misleading announcement on the withdrawal of troops, followed by Trump’s boastful tweet, suggest something close to exactly the opposite.

The constitution limits the war powers of the president. Not that any of them care anymore.

So does the money power and Israel.

As usual, your bias makes you miss the point. Congress is supposed to approve military action (after a certain amount of time). They have chosen to give up that power.

You're under the illusion your government works for the American people .... they don't and never have done.

[Rolluplostinspace]

As Trump finishes his second year in office, the pattern is plain: This president can have all the foreign policy ideas he wants, but the Pentagon, State, the intelligence apparatus, and the rest of what some call “the deep state” will either reverse, delay, or never implement any policy not to its liking.
Syria is a case in point, but one among many. Trump announced in March that he would withdraw American troops as soon as the fight against ISIS was finished. By September the Pentagon was saying no, U.S. forces had to stay until Damascus and its political opponents achieved a full settlement. From the new HQ in Raqqa, The Washington Post tells us, U.S. forces will extend “overall control, perhaps indefinitely, of an area comprising nearly a third of Syria.”

This is how 2018 has gone for Trump. This president has very few good ideas, but we can count on his foreign policy minders to block those he does have if they fail to conform to the orthodox playbook—the foreign policy “blob,” as Barack Obama famously called it.

From the link. Bye for now.

[Maddog]

Well, this was a dumb idea for a thread. We get to read the same bullshit we have all read 100 times.

[Rolluplostinspace]

Again from the link then I'm outta here .....

Earlier this month Trump complained about the Pentagon’s out-of-control budget and pledged to cut it, if marginally, from its current $716 billion to $700 billion in the 2020 fiscal year. “I am certain that, at some time in the future,” he said in one of his inevitable tweets, “President Xi and I, together with President Putin of Russia, will start talking about a meaningful halt to what has become a major and uncontrollable Arms Race. The U.S. spent 716 Billion Dollars this year. Crazy!”
Days later the president had a meeting with Defense Secretary James Mattis and the chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services Committee. The White House announced immediately afterward that the three had agreed on a 2020 defense budget of $750 billion: from a 2 percent cut to an increase of nearly 5 percent in the course of one meeting.


Trump’s idea of improving relations with Russia has faced a wall of opposition from the first, needless to say. His summit with President Putin in Helsinki last July ignited a fresh uproar—and his suggestion that Putin come to Washington in the autumn still another. With Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats in the lead, that invitation was mocked to death within days. A New Year’s prediction: There will be no second summit with Putin, probably for the duration of Trump’s term in office.

Among the biggest disappointments of the year has been the administration’s failure to build on Trump’s effort to advance a settlement with North Korea after seven decades of tension in Northeast Asia. The Trump–Kim summit in Singapore last May did what initial encounters between heads of state are supposed to do:
These same media have since treated us to the usual stories, sourced from the intelligence agencies, that the North is misleading us once again. Result: A second summit appears to have fallen off the White House’s agenda despite Trump’s statement at the UN la.......

How powerful is your president again Tom?

[Rolluplostinspace]

Well, this was a dumb idea for a thread. We get to read the same bullshit we have all read 100 times.

The same old bullshit keeps happening but you never seem to notice!

[Lady Murasaki]

Are you for or against Trumps position on this rolly?

I think his statement is bullshit and part of an agenda.
From the link >> By the official count, there are 503 U.S. troops stationed in the Islamic State’s former capital. Unofficially, according to The Washington Post and other press reports, the figure is closer to 4,000—twice the number that is supposed to represent a “full withdrawal” from Syrian soil.
It would also be nice to think the president and commander-in-chief has the final say in his administration’s policies overseas, given the constitution by which we are supposed to be governed. But the misleading announcement on the withdrawal of troops, followed by Trump’s boastful tweet, suggest something close to exactly the opposite.

What’s his agenda? To show that he has no power over the ‘deep state’?

[Rolluplostinspace]

Are you for or against Trumps position on this rolly?

I think his statement is bullshit and part of an agenda.
From the link >> By the official count, there are 503 U.S. troops stationed in the Islamic State’s former capital. Unofficially, according to The Washington Post and other press reports, the figure is closer to 4,000—twice the number that is supposed to represent a “full withdrawal” from Syrian soil.
It would also be nice to think the president and commander-in-chief has the final say in his administration’s policies overseas, given the constitution by which we are supposed to be governed. But the misleading announcement on the withdrawal of troops, followed by Trump’s boastful tweet, suggest something close to exactly the opposite.

What’s his agenda? To show that he has no power over the ‘deep state’?

Back for a few minutes .....
I have no idea what the agenda is or can even be sure there is one.
One thing's for sure Trump will do as he's told.

[Lady Murasaki]

Are you for or against Trumps position on this rolly?

I think his statement is bullshit and part of an agenda.
From the link >> By the official count, there are 503 U.S. troops stationed in the Islamic State’s former capital. Unofficially, according to The Washington Post and other press reports, the figure is closer to 4,000—twice the number that is supposed to represent a “full withdrawal” from Syrian soil.
It would also be nice to think the president and commander-in-chief has the final say in his administration’s policies overseas, given the constitution by which we are supposed to be governed. But the misleading announcement on the withdrawal of troops, followed by Trump’s boastful tweet, suggest something close to exactly the opposite.

What’s his agenda? To show that he has no power over the ‘deep state’?

Back for a few minutes .....
I have no idea what the agenda is or can even be sure there is one.
One thing's for sure Trump will do as he's told.

Ok, so some people think he’s doing what Putin is telling him and others think he’s doing what the ‘deep state’ are telling him. You can see why it all gets a bit confusing..

[Fletch]

Are you for or against Trumps position on this rolly?

I think his statement is bullshit and part of an agenda.
From the link >> By the official count, there are 503 U.S. troops stationed in the Islamic State’s former capital. Unofficially, according to The Washington Post and other press reports, the figure is closer to 4,000—twice the number that is supposed to represent a “full withdrawal” from Syrian soil.
It would also be nice to think the president and commander-in-chief has the final say in his administration’s policies overseas, given the constitution by which we are supposed to be governed. But the misleading announcement on the withdrawal of troops, followed by Trump’s boastful tweet, suggest something close to exactly the opposite.

What’s his agenda? To show that he has no power over the ‘deep state’?

Back for a few minutes .....
I have no idea what the agenda is or can even be sure there is one.
One thing's for sure Trump will do as he's told.

One might be to avoid a NATO versus NATO conflict in Northern Syria. I've posted about it before in the Middle East news thread.

150 US MILITARY TRUCKS LEFT NORTHEASTERN SYRIA: TURKISH MEDIA

About 150 US trucks carrying weapons for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), including the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), reportedly started leaving Syria late on December 19 after the Trump administration announced the withdrawal of US troops.

According to Turkish media, about 150 trucks left Syria and entered Iraq at about 2100GMT. At least a part of the trucks was carrying heavy machinery and mine cleaners.

Turkey sees the US decision to withdraw from northern Syria as an opportunity to deal with Kurdish armed groups operating in this part of the country, which is in fact remains under control of the US-led coalition. So, Ankara is closely monitoring the current developments.

https://southfront.org/150-us-military- ... ish-media/

Video on link.

Of course, moving a few KM over the border in to Iraq is not what most people would call 'bringing the troops home'.

[Fletch]

U.S. FORCES TO WITHDRAW FROM THEIR BASE IN SYRIA’S AL-TANAF

U.S. forces will withdraw from its base in the Syrian area of al-Tanaf near the border with Iraq as a part of the White House’s decision to withdraw all U.S. service members from the war torn country, an official in the Pentagon told the Washington-based Alhurra TV.

“The withdraw from Syria will includes the al-Tanaf base and the 55k [de-escalation] zone in a later stage,” Alhurrah quoted the official as saying.

The official added that the U.S. will continue to work with its proxies in al-Tanaf for the time being and warned that the upcoming withdraw will create a vacuum that will “benefit Russia and Iran.”

Citing an U.S. official, the Reuters news agency reported that the time-frame for U.S. troops pullout from Syria is expected to be between 60 to 100 days. U.S. State Department personnel are already being evacuated from the country, according to the agency.

https://southfront.org/u-s-forces-to-wi ... -al-tanaf/

That's the real test. Al Tanf has been terrorist central command for years and if that goes, then I might start believing it

In the meantime,. it looks like moving closer to Iran is the outcome of this...

[Rolluplostinspace]

My posts dont seem to be going thru....

So Nixon can get us out of vietnam, bush can destroy iraq, obama can destroy libya,syria and nearly egypt...but Trump cant remove troops from syria??
makes sense Jack;)

The Myth of Western Democracy

By Paul Craig Roberts
How does the West get away with its pretense of being an alliance of great democracies in which government is the servant of the people?

Nowhere in the West, except possibly Hungary and Austria, does government serve the people.

Who do the Western governments serve? Washington serves Israel, the military/security complex, Wall Street, the big banks, and the fossil fuel corporations.

The entirety of the rest of the West serves Washington.

Nowhere in the West do the people count. The American working class, betrayed by the Democrats who sent their jobs to Asia, elected Donald Trump and the American people were promptly dismissed by the Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton as “the Trump deplorables.”

The Democrats, like the Republicans, serve power, not the people.

In Europe we see the squashing of democracy everywhere.

British prime minister May has turned Brexit into subservience to the EU. She has betrayed the British people and has not yet been hung off of a lamp post, which shows how acceptance the British people are of betrayal. The British people have learned that they do not count. They are as a nothing.
The Greeks voted for a leftwing government that promised to protect them from the EU, IMF, and big banks, but promptly sold them out with austerity agreements that destroyed what remained of Greek sovereignty and Greek living standards. Today the EU has reduced Greece to a Third World country.

The French have been in the streets in revolt for weeks against the French president who serves everyone except the French people.

There are currently massive protests in Brussels, Belgium, with half the government also resigning in protest against the government signing a pact that will replace the Belgian people with migrants from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The corrupt and despicable governments who signed this pact represent foreigners and George Soros’ money, not their own citizens.

Why are citizens so powerless that their governments can elevate the interest of foreigners far above the interests of citizens?

There are a number of reasons. The main one is that the people are disarmed and are propagandized to accept violence from the state against them, but not to deliver violence in return against the governments’ illegal use of force against citizens.

In short, until the conquered peop .... gets a bit heavy this .... http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/50780.htm

[Cannydc]

Paul Craig Roberts

Thought to myself "This stuff doesn't quite pass my usual test for avoidance of tinfoil hat, deep state, NWO paranoia journalism - check him out"

He was a member of the US-USSR student exchange program in 1961, and addressed the Soviet Academy of Sciences in 1989 and 1990. His first book, Alienation and the Soviet Economy, was published in 1971.

Books / articles include; How the American Neoconservatives Destroyed Mankind’s Hopes for Peace, President Killary: Would the World Survive President Hillary?, and Russia’s Military Aims Achieved, Putin Switches to Diplomacy as well as Neocons' Aggression Towards Sovereign States Destroying Earth.... uhh-oooh

Then a quick look at the post above.

Putin and Trump want the breakup of the EU - check.

This bloke is Tom isn't he ?? I bet he thinks that Norway are glad to be free of the EU too...