Lindsey Graham Loses It, Blasts ‘Shortsighted’, ‘Irresponsible’ Trump After Syria Decision
Lindsey Graham, arguably Donald Trump's staunchest ally on Capitol Hill, is furious.
It comes as no surprise that Graham isn't enamored with news that the White House sold out America's Kurdish allies in Syria during a Sunday phone call with Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Graham has never seen eye-to-eye with Trump on foreign policy.
What is surprising, though, is how forcefully Graham came out in opposition on Monday at a time when Republicans are circling the wagons amid the spiraling impeachment pro
What would anyone expect? – “Everything Trump Touches Dies” ……
I have several American-Kurdish friends, so I’m glad LG found religion on this.
BUT, this is where he criticizes Trump? He can sell out his own country but not a region in the mideast. At least he has one principle left.
@PJSPHD That is also my opinion of LG.
There was always that point where Trump could become the Deep States worst nightmare… It is exemplified in this issue and this post..The ideology and role of the US going forward is what is at stake here and that is a polarizing issue to be sure… A lot of Trumps base is divided on this so his support could well be in jeopardy… WOW this should get a lot of attention as it is crucial…
This is Trump’s mindless support of a dictator at the expense of America’s allies, who he’s betraying on a whim. He’s not only betrayed the Kurds but also the Saudi’s, among others. This won’t help Ithe Israili’s either.
Trump is losing against North Korea where Mr. Kim fired off a submarine-launched missile (now he could do that off L.A.), without a ‘peep’ from Trump
The Chinese are pulling back trade offers, sensing Trump’s weakness.
I could go on…
so much winning.
The majority of Americans should be rejoicing that at least, in this one instance, Trump is doing the right thing.
The U.S. Middle East wars have been a futile, costly, and human tragedy for more than a generation now. The casualties have been estimated in the high hundreds of thousands in Iraq, alone. How many Syrians, Yemenis, Libyans, Afghans have been killed and injured, and for what? The human tragedy in that part of the world will continue, with our without the U.S. involvement. So, let’s just not be such a large part of it.
I recently saw the movie classic “Lawrence of Arabia”. It was a clear reminder that it is a great conceit of the western world that we can just go in like the good sheriff in a western movie, clean out the bad guys, and bring peace and stability to a troubled land.
You are lumping conflicts together with no regard for nuance whatsoever. There is a reason why everyone, almost unequivocally, is condemning this decision. It cost the US almost nothing to keep those handful of troops embedded with the YPG, thereby shielding them from Erdogan. The fact is, Trump has green-lighted a massacre. period.
Or is this the point where LG has an excuse to release himself from Trump’s coattails. Maybe he wants to remain a Senator?? No hope for Mitch. That asshole can rot in hell.
McConnell lambasted the move too. As did Pelosi. As did Klobuchar. As did Rubio. As did literally everyone (almost). My point here today is that if Trump were trying to end an actual war, or bring home thousands of “regular” soldiers, etc., then that would be great. But this is not that, so to speak. This is a literal handful (and I do mean handful) of personnel. yes, they were in danger as anyone is in Syria, but this isn’t some heroic effort to save American lives. this has nothing to do with saving American lives. this was a blatant concession to Erdogan who obviously bullied Trump over the phone or else engaged in some kind of quid pro quo with him. as Iran’s Zarif put it today, the US presence in Syria is “irrelevant”. And he wasn’t necessarily trying to be derisive. He was just stating a fact. This move has nothing to do with anything other than letting Erdogan kill Kurds without having to worry about accidentally killing a SEAL or something.
I am not sure what the correct policy here is, nor what you are advocating for. The United States either has to overthrow the Assad regime or fight for some kind of partition. No bordering country, each with significant Kurdish minorities, would ever countenance a Syrian Kurdish statelet, and as Assad consolidates control over the rest of the country, his eye will turn north. How big of an American presence, whether of “advisors”, special forces, or C.I.A. personnel, would have to be there to effectively deter him? And for how long? There may be a broad-based bipartisan support for perpetual presence there, but please forgive us for thinking this is in service of the Complex instead of humanitarian concern for Syrian Kurds. The support for intervention is just not there among the demos; not among M.A.G.A.s and not among Progressives. The Kurds will either lose to Turkey this week or Damascus in the coming decades because they are there forever and the United States is not.
Spare me. Seriously, spare me. This is a wholly disingenuous comment and I’m not going to entertain it other than to say that if you don’t understand why a panicky Donald Trump who is rumored to abuse Adderall and who had spent 72 straight hours tweeting the most unhinged balderdash imaginable, shouldn’t be making monumental decisions about the fate of America’s alliance with the Kurds in a Sunday night phone call with one of the most notoriously manipulative, conniving political operators on planet Earth, then I don’t know what to tell you.