Tag: Trump has no foreign policy

Esper confirms Trump ordered larger withdrawal of US forces from Syria

The Hill logoDefense Secretary Mark Esper confirmed Sunday that President Trump has ordered a larger withdrawal of U.S. forces from northeastern Syria than was previously indicated.

During an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Esper said the U.S. has withdrawn about 1,000 U.S. troops from northern Syria since an initial smaller withdrawal of troops.

Trump made the decision to increase the withdrawal amid reports that Turkey will expand its offensive “further south than originally planned and to the west,” Esper told CBS’s Margaret Brennan on Sunday.

View the complete October 13 article by Zack Budryk on The Hill website here.

As Trump withdraws U.S. forces from northern Syria, his administration scrambles to respond

Washington Post logoPresident Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from northern Syria, where they had long kept an uneasy peace among competing forces, left the region in upheaval Sunday and the administration scrambling to respond to fast-moving events.

In urgent meetings and telephone conferences, top national security officials studied often-conflicting accounts of what was happening on the ground. In public appearances, Cabinet secretaries denied that the United States had “abandoned” its Syrian Kurdish allies to invading Turkish ­forces and threatened severe sanctions against Ankara.

“This is total chaos,” a senior administration official said at midday, speaking on the condition of anonymity about the confusing situation in Syria.

View the complete October 13 article by Karen DeYoung, Don Lamothe, Missy Ryan and Kareem Fahim on The Washington Post website here.

Trump’s Abrupt Shifts in Middle East Unnerve U.S. Allies

New York Times logoPresident Trump’s surprise acquiescence to a Turkish incursion into northern Syria this week has shaken American allies, and not just because it was a betrayal of a loyal partner. What alarmed them even more was his sheer unpredictability.

His inconsistent and rapidly shifting positions in the Middle East have injected a new element of chaos into an already volatile region and have left allies guessing where the United States stands and for how long.

Previous American policymakers were clear about their intentions, said Mowaffak al-Rubaie, a former Iraqi national security adviser.

View the complete October 12 article by David D. Kirkpatrick, Ben Hubbard and David M. Halbfinger on The New York Times website here.