Getting ‘all out’ of Syria now will help the region…and America

The Trib’s editorial (“3 ways a Trump desertion of Kurdish allies would hurt America”, October 9) whiffs on all three reasons for keeping US forces in that war torn country. The first whiff is that we must stay in Syria to combat ISIS. That was always reason two for US intervention in Syria five years ago. The first always was and always will be regime change of the hated Assad regime. We intervened illegally and immorally without congressional approval, using ISIS as a rationale. By so doing we prevented a quick Assad victory which extended the civil war till this year, adding a hundred thousand or so needless deaths and untold misery to Syria. ISIS is a local problem for the Middle East which can and is being combated by Syria, Russia, Iran, Iraq and Jordan among others; and shouldn’t be by the US, 6,000 miles distant.

Whiff number two is that the US action makes winners out of Russia, Syria and Iran’s leaders. This should not be about posturing for schoolyard supremacy among our rivals. Iran and Russia are neighbors of Syria and have an existential stake in its stability from extremist takeover, regardless of how repressive Assad’s government may be. Demonizing their rulers as “the sordid leaders” does not serve the interests of the region or America. We must embrace sensible diplomacy using respectful engagement with all powers, not valueless name calling.   

The third whiff, claiming loss of US credibility, is a case of trying to close the barn door long after our credibility horse has skedaddled.  We lose all credibility when we use lies and fabrications to intervene in the Middle East, causing millions of deaths, injuries and refugees without an iota of societal benefit.  We lose all credibility when we tear up treaties like the Iran Nuclear Agreement; then impose war like sanctions on Iran that have put the region nearer the brink of war. The Kurds in Syria are not a US ally.  Syrian Kurdish fighters are mercenaries hired to kill and be killed in place of Americans so our forever wars can avoid public scrutiny at home.  This is a transactional relationship that does not carry over to supporting their century long quest to carve out a Kurdish homeland in Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria.  

The US foreign policy establishment will never find a good time for the US to begin withdrawing from the region. Forever wars, which enrich and empower the military, the munition makers, the political and media elite, are their lifeblood. It is time for a spirited debate on getting out of Syria entirely, along with Afghanistan and other nations suffering under our bombings and meddling.  Putting all the blame on an initial first step to actually withdraw from Syria as a means of stifling that debate is not helpful to the region and America’s national self interests.