DragonI

Trump Is Said to Be Preparing to Withdraw Troops From Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia

Facing the end of his time in power, the president is pushing to accelerate withdrawals from counterterrorism conflicts. He campaigned on ending the longstanding wars.

www.nytimes.com

Under a draft order circulating at the Pentagon on Monday, the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan would be halved from the current deployment of 4,500 troops, officials said.

In Iraq, the Pentagon would trim force levels slightly below the 3,000 troops that commanders had previously announced. And in Somalia, virtually all of the more than 700 troops conducting training and counterterrorism missions would leave.

Shortly before Mr. Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper last week and installed Christopher C. Miller as the acting Pentagon chief, Mr. Esper had sent a classified memo to the White House expressing concerns about accelerating the troop drawdown in Afghanistan, a senior administration official said.

• ✔️ Crimea  ❌ Ukraine
• ✔️ Syria and Betraying Kurds
• ✔️ Trade War with China
• ❌ Pull the U.S. out of NATO
• ❌ Getting Russia back into the G7 (G8)
• ✔️ Trump is the reason why Turkey, NATO ally, purchased Russian missile systems
• ✔️ Russia put on a bounty on American soldiers and Trump said nothing — did nothing
• ✔️ Destroying Democracy — delegitimizing elections
• ✔️ Iraq — abandoned NATIO allies
• ✔️ Afghanistan — abandoned NATIO allies
• ✔️ Dismantle U.S. institutions
• ❓

Replying to @realDonaldTrump

Russian newspaper say Trump is one of their best agent spies...cant make this stuff up...only in the special world Donald Trump is everything misunderstood.

— AI Ni @AINi78686768

A sh*t-stained man-child fiddling with the American integrity and dignity, consequently messing with the global stability and making it fly back right in his own face. The only thing missing is Putin promising that there is candy behind the flag...

— Ddddoooogggg - Dec. 5, 2019

#Goering said this during his trial  at #Nuremberg for #CrimesAgaintHumanity and it is till true today. 

— Bonnie Greer @Bonn1eGreer

Rukmini Callimachi on Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s Death and ISIS | October 28, 2019

Rukmini Callimachi; Frank Luntz & Elizabeth Holtzman; Aarti Shahani

www.pbs.org

• After each of its leaders was killed, ISIS grew larger.
• Pentagon: There are “between 14,000 and 18,000 fighters between Syria and Iraq”

We defeated 100% of the ISIS Caliphate and no longer have any troops in the area under attack by Turkey, in Syria. We did our job perfectly! Now Turkey is attacking the Kurds, who have been fighting each other for 200 years....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 10, 2019

Some context: ISIS operates in West Africa, Libya, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Afghanistan and the Philippines, and has followers in Europe and elsewhere. That in addition to, according to a report issued by the Pentagon’s Inspector General in August, between 14,000 and 18,000 fighters between Syria and Iraq.

— CNN

So, we sort of started by asking a question, does this actually decapitate this movement, this terrorist organization or does it pave the way for some kind of, you know, resumption of an underground insurgent, movement that is nonetheless lethal and that can continue without their leaders?

Look, on the one hand, I don’t want to minimize what has happened. I think that this is a very big deal for ISIS. It is a very big blow to them and I would consider the death of Baghdadi to be the biggest news in terms of the death of a terror leader since the death of bin Laden.

I think you will have the same style of ramifications for ISIS.

But that said, ISIS has now — this is a group that implanted itself in Iraq after the American-led invasion. And since 2003, 2004, they have now gone through three leaders. And with each — with the decapitation of each leader, what we have seen is that the group reconstituted itself and, in fact, grew ever stronger.

In 2011, when U.S. forces were pulling out of Iraq, this is a group believed to have less than 700 fighters. Now, today, after the loss of all of its territory in Iraq and Syria, after all of the air strikes, after the ground troops, after the artillery fire, after the war that we have seen for the past five years, the Pentagon estimates that the group, just in Iraq and Syria, still has 18,000 members. 18,000. So, more than 18 times what they had in 2011. That gives you a sense, I think, of the scope of this group.

• Iraqi president: It's reckless to think defeat of ISIS is complete, Axios
• French Armed Forces Minister: "Early retirement for a terrorist, but not for his organization", CNN
• Baghdadi Is Dead, but ISIS Remains Emboldened Since Trump’s Drawdown, Foreign Policy

The 41 most shocking lines from Donald Trump's Baghdadi announcement

On Sunday morning, President Donald Trump announced that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had died as a result of a US raid in northern Syria. And then he kept talking. And taking questions. And more questions.

www.cnn.com|Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large

• “Stable Genius” Trump’s words incite more violence against Americans.
• Republicans, terrorists will be repeating Trump’s words after they’ve killed members of the U.S. Armed Forces and American citizens.

5. "Baghdadi was vicious and violent. And he died in a vicious and violent way, as a coward, running and crying."

6. "He died like a dog. He died like a coward."

8. "Russia treated us great. They opened up. We had a fly over certain Russia areas, Russia-held areas. Russia was great."

13. "You know, they use the internet better than almost anybody in the world, perhaps other than Donald Trump." 

14. "And what they've done with the internet through recruiting and everything -- and that's why he died like a dog, he died like a coward. He was whimpering, screaming and crying."

19. "That was to notify you guys that you have something big this morning, so you wouldn't be out playing golf or tennis or otherwise being indisposed."

25. "The European nations have been a tremendous disappointment, because I personally called, but my people called a lot, take your ISIS fighters. And they didn't want them."

26. "They can't walk to our country. We have lots of water in between our country and them."

37. "I wrote a book. A really very successful book. And in that book, about a year before the World Trade Center was blown up, I said there's somebody named Osama bin Laden, you better kill him or take him out, something to that effect, he's big trouble."

38. "And I'm writing a book. I think I wrote 12 books, all did very well."

Graham: Trump’s worst critics should praise him for killing al-Baghdadi

WASHINGTON – Sen. Lindsey Graham on Sunday praised President Trump for ordering the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi — calling it a “game-changer” and saying his “worst critics…

nypost.com

Stop congratulating Obama for killing Bin Laden. The Navy Seals killed Bin Laden. #debate

— Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump -  Oct 22, 2012

Why don't we ask the Navy SEALs who killed Bin Laden? They don't seem to be happy with Obama claiming credit. All he did is say O.K.

— Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump -   Oct 22, 2012

@LindseyGrahamSC talks out of both sides of his mouth. No matter what he says, just watch how he acts. He toes the line like the toady he is. #GrahamIsTwoFaced #GrahamBetrayedTheKurds #GrahamIsStillRussiasBoy

—  𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐚  #Resist & #Remain @Serena_Spencer

This Delta Force Hero Gave His Life for the Kurds Trump Has Now Abandoned

Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler was fighting ISIS with Kurd commandos when he was killed in 2015.

www.thedailybeast.com

The citation for the Silver Star awarded posthumously to 39-year-old Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler of Delta Force begins: “For Gallantry: in action on 22 October 2015 during combat operations against an armed enemy of the United States as a Team Leader for a Joint Task Force in support of Operation INHERENT RESOLVE.”

“On multiple occasions, Master Sergeant Wheeler fearlessly exposed himself to heavy small arms fire from barricaded enemy positions,” the citation continues. “His selfless actions were critical in achieving the initiative during the most dangerous portion of the raid. Master Sergeant Wheeler’s actions saved the lives of the partner force.”

The partner force was Kurdish commandos who were also aboard the helicopters. ISIS was believed to be holding a number of Kurds hostage in the prison, and aerial reconnaissance had spotted 70 freshly dug open graves in the yard. The Kurdish government had asked American assistance in a rescue mission to prevent a mass execution.

By one account, the Kurds had difficulty breaching the compound wall and a firefight erupted. Wheeler rushed to assist them.

Wheeler and his team are said to have quickly breached the wall. He would have known that the terrorists were sure to concentrate their fire on the resulting hole. He could have left it to the Kurds to charge on in. He is said to have been the first one through.

The terrorists were soon subdued. The partners, the Kurds, all survived. Some 70 hostages were rescued. They proved to be Iraqis and ethnic Arabs, not Kurds. They were saved lives nonetheless, just like someone of whatever ethnicity rescued from a New York City fire.

But Wheeler was mortally wounded. He was on his 14th combat deployment in our two longest wars and he had been awarded 11 Bronze Stars, four for valor. He now became the first American soldier to die in the fight against ISIS. He left a wife and four sons, the youngest just three months old.

"We have won against ISIS,” Trump prematurely declared. “We have beaten them and we have beaten them badly. We have taken back the land and now it's time for our troops to come back home."

Potatoes Thrown at American Troops As They Depart Syrian City

The scene encapsulated the Kurds' feelings of betrayal

time.com

One man blocked the way of a U.S. van with a poster reading: “Thanks for US people, but Trump betrayed us.”

The withdrawal could take weeks, he said, and troops around the town of Kobani on the border with Turkey are the first leaving

Russian Media Cheers Trump’s Moves in Syria: ‘Putin Won the Lottery!’

For Russia, Trump’s presidency is a gift that keeps on giving. The Kremlin’s propagandists see no acceptable alternative among any viable presidential candidates in 2020.

www.thedailybeast.com

“Those who were convinced of Trump’s uselessness for Russia ought to think again...What Washington got out of this strange move is completely unclear. To the contrary, what Moscow gained from this is self-evident...Trump’s mistake in Syria is the unexpected ‘lottery win’ that further strengthened Moscow’s position in the Middle East and undermined America’s prestige as a rational political player and a reliable partner.” 

“All of this benefits the Russian Federation,”

He is laboring so hard to strengthen the international image of Russia in general—and Putin in particular...In this situation, Americans—to their chagrin and our enjoyment—are the only losers in this situation.” 

- Maksim Yusin

nightly television show The Evening with Vladimir Soloviev

During the same show, political analyst Mikhail Sinelnikov-Orishak was overcome with gratitude: 

“I look at Trump and think: ‘May God grant him good health—and another term. This is a great situation for Russia...We can practically sit back and reap the dividends from what others are doing...Meanwhile, Trump is yet to make a single good deal, which is why I wish him good health, may he flourish and get re-elected...Trump is a great candidate. I applaud him...”

Erdogan’s Ambitions Go Beyond Syria. He Says He Wants Nuclear Weapons.

A month before invading Kurdish areas in Syria, Turkey’s president said he “cannot accept” the West’s restrictions that keep him from a bomb.

www.nytimes.com

• “Erdogan is playing to an anti-American domestic audience with his nuclear rhetoric” Ally?
• Only Russia and China refer to western democracies as The West.
• Erdogan has already aligned Turkey with Russia and Syria. Turkey, a NATO country purchased a Russian air defense system  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
• Trump is kowtowing to Erdogan again by offering to sell Turkey F-35′s in exchange for not attacking the Kurds. The U.S. stopped the sale FOUR MONTHS AGO - in July 2019 because of Russia.

“Some countries have missiles with nuclear warheads,” he told a meeting of his governing party in September. But the West insists “we can’t have them. This, I cannot accept.”

His country would become the first NATO member to break out of the treaty and independently arm itself with the ultimate weapon.

With Turkey now in open confrontation with its NATO allies, having gambled and won a bet that it could conduct a military incursion into Syria and get away with it, Mr. Erdogan’s threat takes on new meaning. 

There is another element to this ambiguous atomic mix: The presence of roughly 50 American nuclear weapons, stored on Turkish soil. The United States had never openly acknowledged their existence, until Wednesday, when Mr. Trump did exactly that.

Already Turkey has the makings of a bomb program: uranium deposits and research reactors — and mysterious ties to the nuclear world’s most famous black marketeer, Abdul Qadeer Khan of Pakistan. 

“They’re building up their nuclear expertise,” Olli Heinonen, the former chief inspector for the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in an interview. “It’s high quality stuff.”

“It is also building its first big power reactor to generate electricity with Russia’s help.”

First, Trump made Iranian nuclear weapons great again by scrapping the Iran treaty.

Then Trump made Syria's Bashad and ISIS great again by abandoning our Kurdish brothers to Erdogan's dictatorship and ethnic cleansing.

And now Turkey is headed toward nuclear 'freedom'.

Trump will be remembered for destabilizing the Middle East, just like the last profoundly incompetent Republican President who rigged his way into office who didn't like to read or critically think.

Heckuva' job, GOP.

— Socrates

Replying to @LindseyGrahamSC

Maybe you can discuss the situation with Trump while playing golf this weekend. WTF Lindsay.

— The Crosswalk @crosswalk_the