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Vets, what is your opinion on the Syrian pullout?

Do you agree with the pullout as done?

  • No, we should remain there forever as the world's police.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    19
  • Poll closed .

Casper

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Noticed that there is much talk about how many Vets, past and present disagree with how we pulled out of Syria, so l thought it might be interesting to see what the Vets here think.
Thanks
 
Noticed that there is much talk about how many Vets, past and present disagree with how we pulled out of Syria, so l thought it might be interesting to see what the Vets here think.
Thanks

Ham handed and without any thought to what was going to happen next.....
 
Noticed that there is much talk about how many Vets, past and present disagree with how we pulled out of Syria, so l thought it might be interesting to see what the Vets here think.
Thanks
When our A-10 unit was deployed to Turkey providing close air support for Kurds in Northern Iraq. We met with several of the community leaders but werent boots on the ground in those areas. About midway through our tour we got a call in the middle of the night to reconfig the jets and fly CAS missions for the Turkish F4s...the targets...the Kurds...on the wrong side of the border. When word got out, people were pissed, upset, confused, betrayed...how the **** do we defend them here and kill them there?

Do your job. Your job was to make sure the pilots were safe coming and going. Make sure the jets were well maintained. Do your job. Dont argue global politics. Thats not your job. Dont question the motives of the Commander in Chief...thats not your job. Dont like your job? Next time you have the opportunity to raise your hand and say "I do"...dont. If you do...then do. Because the moment you say i do your world becomes about the guy standing next to you. Not momma and the kids back home. Bot God, baseball, the flag, or apple pie. The guy standing next to you and going home safe.

I let people bitch a bit then about the ****ty end of the stick and Clinton...and then told them to shut up and color, reminded them that he was our boss, and we went to work and did our job. I reckon if I was in Syria today I'd feel the same way.

Id love to say if I was in charge I would have told Erdogan to kiss my ass and stood against any aggression there. Id love to say that its worth any price to save lives of innocent men women and children including putting our military base and assets as well as the lives of 6000+ men women and children currently living in Turkey at risk. Id love to believe that if I was president I would have the full backing and support of the people and congress of my decisions and not 50% of the country that would **** themselves over any and everything I do. But thats the beauty of being an idealist in an armchair world. As someone that has served under 4 commanders in Chief in 7 combat tours and seen some of the worst **** people can do to each other and sometimes knowing there wasnt **** we werent going to do in response, I have learned to see the world more pragmatically. If you struggle with that concept read "Shake Hands with the Devil" and ask yourself why you are only now finding your voice.
 
The military always gets pissed when they aren’t allowed to do the job they think they are there to do. The simple fact is that 50 Americans weren’t going to do much when Turkey decided to move into Syria, unless you think they should be used as human shields.

We’ve pulled out of ugly places before. Vietnam, Beirut, Mogadishu for example.

Even in peacetime it happens. When I was in the Philippines during the earthquake in 1990, we had the capability and the manpower to get to some of the places with severe damage and where Americans were involved. Because of politics, we weren’t allowed to go help until a few days later. I don’t know if we could have saved anyone, but it was a bit frustrating flying some of the bodies back to our base for transport to the US.
 
Wow, talk about a biased poll. As usual in these things, I just voted "Other".

First and foremost, our purpose of being in Syria was primarily in response to the Chemical Weapon attacks that both ISIS and Syria were doing. It was not to try and stop the war, or to pick one side over another. It was primarily to stop the use of chemical weapons, and secondly to try and protect civilians caught in the crossfire.

Well, the main part has been accomplished. Neither Syria nor the other combatants are using chemical weapons anymore. Therefore, mission done.

We are not there to pick one side or another in the civil war. One that is one of the most confusing messes I had ever seen, with at least 8 major factions, both fighting for and against Syria, and some even wanting to expand the conflict into Turkey, Iraq, and the rest of the region.

So yea, I say it is time to move out. However, in saying that I also believe we should keep a strong force nearby, prepared on short notice to return if needed. But a continual presence? Not anymore.

If people think we should still be there, and permanently try to put an end to this conflict, then I have an answer for you. Bring it up with the UN. Petition them to demand a cease fire, and put UN Peacekeepers in place to separate the sides and find some kind of solution. After all, is this not why we have the UN in the first place?

But funny, I have not heard many of those screaming that the US should stay asking for that. Is almost like they simply want yet another reason to lash out at the President, and really could not give a damn about those killed or the fighting in reality. To them it is just another excuse. And I am positive if he had instead ordered 10,000 troops in to try and end it they would have condemned that as well. And if he had done nothing and let things continue as they were, they would have condemned that also.
 
Noticed that there is much talk about how many Vets, past and present disagree with how we pulled out of Syria, so l thought it might be interesting to see what the Vets here think.
Thanks

I love how you immediately went off the rails by using the term genius.
 
Fox News | Trump 'went off script' during call with Erdogan, senior military source reveals

Trump phone call with Erdogan on October 6 said:
During the phone call, Trump had talking points, according to the source: “Tell Erdogan to stay north of the border." “He went off script," the source said.

Pretty much says it all. Trump conferred with no one and simply pulled this disastrous move out of his ass to appease his dictator friend Erdogan.

Now our Kurdish allies in Syria are paying a high price for Trumps impulsive betrayal.
 
Wow, talk about a biased poll. As usual in these things, I just voted "Other".

First and foremost, our purpose of being in Syria was primarily in response to the Chemical Weapon attacks that both ISIS and Syria were doing. It was not to try and stop the war, or to pick one side over another. It was primarily to stop the use of chemical weapons, and secondly to try and protect civilians caught in the crossfire.

Well, the main part has been accomplished. Neither Syria nor the other combatants are using chemical weapons anymore. Therefore, mission done.

We are not there to pick one side or another in the civil war. One that is one of the most confusing messes I had ever seen, with at least 8 major factions, both fighting for and against Syria, and some even wanting to expand the conflict into Turkey, Iraq, and the rest of the region.

So yea, I say it is time to move out. However, in saying that I also believe we should keep a strong force nearby, prepared on short notice to return if needed. But a continual presence? Not anymore.

If people think we should still be there, and permanently try to put an end to this conflict, then I have an answer for you. Bring it up with the UN. Petition them to demand a cease fire, and put UN Peacekeepers in place to separate the sides and find some kind of solution. After all, is this not why we have the UN in the first place?

But funny, I have not heard many of those screaming that the US should stay asking for that. Is almost like they simply want yet another reason to lash out at the President, and really could not give a damn about those killed or the fighting in reality. To them it is just another excuse. And I am positive if he had instead ordered 10,000 troops in to try and end it they would have condemned that as well. And if he had done nothing and let things continue as they were, they would have condemned that also.

Unfortunately, I think they're still using chemical weapons...only this time it's Turkey using them on Kurd civilians.

Turkey may have used chemical weapons on Kurdish civilians - Business Insider
 
Trump’s blunder in Syria is irreparable | The New York Times

data50672686-8173e2.jpg

Turkey allied Islamist militia forces prepare to attack Manbij, where Trump removed the US blocking force.

The New York Times Editorial Board

UNTIL NOW, it was possible to hope that the damage caused by President Trump’s terrible incompetence, ignorance and impulsivity in foreign policy was largely theoretical, and possibly reparable. That is no longer true. The cost of his latest Syria blunder is unfolding before our eyes: Innocent lives lost. U.S. servicemen and -women betrayed. Butchering dictators emboldened. Dangerous terrorists set free. A ghastly scene is playing out, and it almost surely will get worse. How often have Mr. Trump and his Republican enablers in Congress berated President Barack Obama for allowing Syria to cross his “red line” without dire consequences? None of them is entitled ever to mention that again. Mr. Trump — with no consideration, no warning, no consultation with allies, no regard for the other nations that have fought alongside the United States and risked their men and women in the fight — has turned tail. In the past two years, courageous U.S. troops cooperated with our Kurdish allies to defeat the deadly Islamic State caliphate. These allies (the Kurds) lost more than 11,000 men and women killed; the United States, a dozen. It was a rare U.S. success in the Middle East. The president has thrown it all away. His surrender is so hasty that U.S. forces could not execute a long-standing plan to take dozens of high-profile Islamic State detainees with them; we can expect to hear from those terrorists before long, in the region, in Europe or in the United States.

The Islamic State is likely to exert its malign force again. The allies who fought alongside us are being slaughtered, and noncombatant women and children, too. Iran is strengthened, which threatens Israel. The murderous Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad is strengthened, too. Russia is taking charge. America’s adversaries could not have scripted a better outcome. Mr. Trump likes to preen and posture as a champion of American fighters. But what more bitter medicine could any commander in chief administer to U.S. troops than ordering them to abandon the comrades who fought alongside them? He likes to preen, too, as a great enemy of Iran, and even as he runs from Syria he is ordering 1,800 U.S. troops to Saudi Arabia, ostensibly to deter Iran. But that deployment, while proving the utter incoherence of his claim of “ending wars in the Middle East,” will have far less effect on Iran than the U.S. pullout from Syria, which opens the door for it to swell its influence there, on Israel’s border. And speaking of preening: Republican senators such as Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.), who have cheered and celebrated Mr. Trump and his national security team, now huff and puff about imposing sanctions on Turkey as punishment for its invasion. Mr. Trump said Monday that he now supports such sanctions. But only one week ago he greenlighted Turkey’s incursion, and on Sunday he further encouraged it with his announcement of a hasty U.S. withdrawal. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan bears responsibility for Turkey’s depredations, of course. But if there is any coherence — or morality — in Mr. Trump’s position, he is doing a good job of concealing it.

Says it far better than I ever could. The damage Trump has wrought is unprecedented and indeed irreparable.
 
The wife of a US soldier that served in the ME wrote an open letter to the Kurds....

A letter to Kurdish soldiers from a US military wife (opinion) - CNN

How touchy feely of her to send such a sweet letter.

On the other hand, I never read anything from you about Obama's betrayal of the massacred Iraqi civilians after he pulled out. ISIS wasn't very kind after they moved in.

So here is a little lesson for you. It's a quick read. ;)

How the 2011 US Troop Withdrawal from Iraq Led to the Rise of ISIS | Small Wars Journal
 
Well, the main part has been accomplished. Neither Syria nor the other combatants are using chemical weapons anymore. Therefore, mission done.

Mission done. wtf? A Bush/Trump impersonation, and a bad one.....

UN investigates alleged use of white phosphorus in Syria

methode%2Ftimes%2Fprod%2Fweb%2Fbin%2F0c4b07c0-f118-11e9-ba44-aad5db5172e7.jpg

Mohammed, 13, had 12 hours of agony before his phosphorus burns could be treated

Turkey is suspected of using white phosphorus against Kurdish civilians in Syria

The Organization for the Prohibition Against Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is on the way to northern Syria. Just like the Russians, Erdogan is employing white phosphorus on civilian populations.
 
How touchy feely of her to send such a sweet letter.

On the other hand, I never read anything from you about Obama's betrayal of the massacred Iraqi civilians after he pulled out. ISIS wasn't very kind after they moved in.

So here is a little lesson for you. It's a quick read. ;)

How the 2011 US Troop Withdrawal from Iraq Led to the Rise of ISIS | Small Wars Journal

Have to change the topic don't ya?

What Trump did here is indefensible so the best you can muster is a diversion to .... wait for it .... Obama.

Whooda thunkit?
 
How touchy feely of her to send such a sweet letter.

On the other hand, I never read anything from you about Obama's betrayal of the massacred Iraqi civilians after he pulled out. ISIS wasn't very kind after they moved in.

So here is a little lesson for you. It's a quick read. ;)

How the 2011 US Troop Withdrawal from Iraq Led to the Rise of ISIS | Small Wars Journal


I never read anything from you, either. Here's a rebuttal to your article....

Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (English: Organization of Monotheism and Jihad), which may be abbreviated as JTJ or Jama'at, was a militant Jihadist[1] group. It was founded in Jordan in 1999 and was led by Jordanian national Abu Musab al-Zarqawi for the entirety of its existence. During the Iraqi insurgency (2003–11), the group became a decentralized network with foreign fighters[3] and a considerable Iraqi membership.[4]

On 17 October 2004, al-Zarqawi pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, and the group became known as Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (commonly known as al-Qaeda in Iraq[2][5][6][7] or Tanzim). After several mergers with other groups, it changed its name several times until it called itself Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) in 2006...."

Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad - Wikipedia

Looky there, ISIS was formed under GWBush and it was under his orders that US troops were to pull out....

The U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement (official name: Agreement Between the United States of America and the Republic of Iraq On the Withdrawal of United States Forces from Iraq and the Organization of Their Activities during Their Temporary Presence in Iraq) was a status of forces agreement (SOFA) between Iraq and the United States, signed by President George W. Bush in 2008..."

U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement - Wikipedia


Next time you want to teach someone a lesson you might want to do a little homework of your own.
 
I never read anything from you, either. Here's a rebuttal to your article....

Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (English: Organization of Monotheism and Jihad), which may be abbreviated as JTJ or Jama'at, was a militant Jihadist[1] group. It was founded in Jordan in 1999 and was led by Jordanian national Abu Musab al-Zarqawi for the entirety of its existence. During the Iraqi insurgency (2003–11), the group became a decentralized network with foreign fighters[3] and a considerable Iraqi membership.[4]

On 17 October 2004, al-Zarqawi pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, and the group became known as Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (commonly known as al-Qaeda in Iraq[2][5][6][7] or Tanzim). After several mergers with other groups, it changed its name several times until it called itself Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) in 2006...."

Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad - Wikipedia

Looky there, ISIS was formed under GWBush and it was under his orders that US troops were to pull out....

The U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement (official name: Agreement Between the United States of America and the Republic of Iraq On the Withdrawal of United States Forces from Iraq and the Organization of Their Activities during Their Temporary Presence in Iraq) was a status of forces agreement (SOFA) between Iraq and the United States, signed by President George W. Bush in 2008..."

U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement - Wikipedia


Next time you want to teach someone a lesson you might want to do a little homework of your own.

I know far more about what you just ran off to get for some cut & paste material.

You don't have a clue as to what you just cut and pasted.
 
I know far more about what you just ran off to get for some cut & paste material.

You don't have a clue as to what you just cut and pasted.

Your knowledge leaves a lot to be desired if that's the best you can do. Sad.
 
Other: we had no combat mission. U.S. troops were there in an advisery role. The CIC decided that U.S. troops weren't going to be used as human shields. If the Turks decided to attack, there's nothing that our people were going to do to stop it, other than die, creating an all out war with Turkey.
 
Mission done. wtf? A Bush/Trump impersonation, and a bad one.....

UN investigates alleged use of white phosphorus in Syria

methode%2Ftimes%2Fprod%2Fweb%2Fbin%2F0c4b07c0-f118-11e9-ba44-aad5db5172e7.jpg

Mohammed, 13, had 12 hours of agony before his phosphorus burns could be treated

Turkey is suspected of using white phosphorus against Kurdish civilians in Syria

The Organization for the Prohibition Against Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is on the way to northern Syria. Just like the Russians, Erdogan is employing white phosphorus on civilian populations.

Those aren't white phosphorous burns. If you'll notice, he's only burned where his shirt covered him. His face and hair aren't burned. The burns end at his waste.

This what white phosphorous burns look like.
 

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Noticed that there is much talk about how many Vets, past and present disagree with how we pulled out of Syria, so l thought it might be interesting to see what the Vets here think.
Thanks

Don't completely the wrong way and screwed over the Kurds, who I consider to be our best allies in the region. We don't hear of Green on Blue attacks on our forces from the Kurds and they actually fight. I think we could've kept a nominal force there that served nothing more than a buffer against Turkey, not participating in any operations or anything. We could've then worked on pulling out, while at the same time ensuring Turkey knew that if they cross the border there would be serious consequences from the get-go.

I don't believe in most of the interventions we've done and I do support the pullout but we should've made sure that it was done better.

This has been the worst decision the President has made.
 
Those aren't white phosphorous burns. If you'll notice, he's only burned where his shirt covered him. His face and hair aren't burned. The burns end at his waste.

This what white phosphorous burns look like.
Phosphorous tends to burn like a mother****er and doesnt stop at clothes lines or even surface tissue. Willie Pete doesnt get dispersed like a spray...its spread like shrapnel. You cant tap it out or smother it. I'm not saying what that is nor am I saying what it isnt...but that certainly doesnt look like any WP burn damage on an individual I have ever seen...except perhaps if someone found a large chunk of it burning and took their shirt off and sat around it to get a tan.

I could be wrong......but I dont think so.
 
Noticed that there is much talk about how many Vets, past and present disagree with how we pulled out of Syria, so l thought it might be interesting to see what the Vets here think.
Thanks

We should have never been there to begin with.

Pulling out the small handful of people we have is the correct decision.

The bias of your poll responses is noted.
 
The military always gets pissed when they aren’t allowed to do the job they think they are there to do. The simple fact is that 50 Americans weren’t going to do much when Turkey decided to move into Syria, unless you think they should be used as human shields.

We’ve pulled out of ugly places before. Vietnam, Beirut, Mogadishu for example.

Even in peacetime it happens. When I was in the Philippines during the earthquake in 1990, we had the capability and the manpower to get to some of the places with severe damage and where Americans were involved. Because of politics, we weren’t allowed to go help until a few days later. I don’t know if we could have saved anyone, but it was a bit frustrating flying some of the bodies back to our base for transport to the US.

The same thing happened during Katrina. The governor of Louisiana refused the help of our 82nd Airborne who were standing by before the hurricane even hit. The fact that we cannot deploy our military to help the American people because of political hate is one of the worst atrocities in this country. Whether it is to help in catastrophes, secure our border, or even help our allies in natural disasters is absolutely ridiculous. You would think our military if deployed in emergencies were going to start shooting our citizens or allies. There can be nothing more insulting or ridiculous.

As far as policing the Middle East that could actually be more ridiculous than not using our military when the people of this country or allies need help in natural disasters. I would love to see our military deployed in Puerto Rico after the hurricane to help rescue, feed and build shelters for these poor people. But know we are screeched too thin thinking we can actually fix the Middle East.
 
Have to change the topic don't ya?

What Trump did here is indefensible so the best you can muster is a diversion to .... wait for it .... Obama.

Whooda thunkit?

It's valid in that the outrage you're showing here was absent there, showing your position to be partisan. That said, I'm still wondering why you're upset. You love war and people dying. There hasn't been a war you haven't cheered for so I'm wondering why this is the exception.
 
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