Betrayal by a man without honor

Trump's betrayal of allies is perhaps the signature characteristic of his presidency.  It started with pulling out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, attacking NATO, pulling our nuclear deal with Iran, pulling out of NAFTA (only to make minor changes and get back in with a different name he can claim credit for).


But now his betrayal of the Kurds in Syria is a new level of betrayal.  Many who have fought side by side with our Special Forces are going to die.  Why did he do it?  As I wrote earlier, he satisfies Russia by turning the Middle East over to them. 


But, as subsequent stories have revealed, he did this infamous deed at the direct request of the dictator of Turkey - Erdogan.  This gives green lights to the Turks and to ISIS. 


Turkey now has full permission from the U.S. to slaughter the Kurds who are fighting to defeat ISIS.  Turkey now has full permission to slaughter Kurds in Turkey.  Turkey now has permission to slaughter Kurds wherever it wants to slaughter Kurds. Turkey sees the Kurds as a revolutionary force inside of Turkey and wants to crush their efforts to create a Kurdish state, as I understand it.  So, let the blood bath escalate, with full permission of our Honorless president.


ISIS of course is not defeated despite the ridiculous Presidential claim.  They have been given a tremendous morale boost by the announcement of U.S. withdrawal.  They have sent waves of suicide missions against the Turkish forces who have been working with U.S. special forces.


David Ignatius of the Washington Post is an expert on the Middle East.  His interview of the Kurdish leader, Gen. Mazloum Abdi, alongside our Special Forces today is disheartening and says obvious truths.


"Mazloum explained the dangers of a terrorist resurgence after Trump’s sudden decision. Islamic State communications last week showed new hope they can restore their caliphate, which was on the way to destruction"..."after this decision, what are people going to say about America? All the credibility and trust that was built, we have lost.”..."With American air support, SDF fighters destroyed the Islamic State’s capital of Raqqa and all its major strongholds. The Kurds and their Syrian allies paid a severe price: They have suffered about 4,000 dead and 10,000 wounded since 2014. Over that same period, the United States lost only three soldiers in Syria, according to a U.S. military spokesperson"..."Mazloum said his forces had suffered at least 27 killed in action since Trump’s abrupt decision, and many more wounded, as a revitalized terrorist adversary sent a wave of more than 10 suicide attacks against Mazloum’s front lines."...“Right now, we are fighting for ourselves, for our existence,” Mazloum said. “Because all our fighters know that if they don’t defend themselves [the Islamic State] will come back and be stronger, murdering and beheading their families.”


I pay special attention to the following statement by Mazloum -


"...after Trump’s announcement, he’s scrambling to open channels with Russia and the Syrian regime, "to fill this vacuum left by America.” 


Note - Russian and Syria will enter the vacuum left by the U.S  - no, the vacuum is not created by the U.S., the vacuum is created by Trump.  Is it just ignorance?  stupidity? a distraction from the Mueller investigation?  Treason? 


A man without honor is turning America into a nation without honor.  WHERE IS CONGRESS?  WHERE ARE THE REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS?


Speaking of betrayal of allies, anyone who has worked with Trump in his campaign or administration knows full well this pathologically narcissistic man-child will turn on them in an instant - just look at the Kurds.  The Betrayer in Chief is a very dangerous.

Trump to pull Special Forces out of Syria

Trump suddenly and without warning decided that America is pulling about 2000 special forces out of Syria.  I don’t know if this is wise or foolish. 

 

Why did he do it?  Probably just to distract America and the world from the ever growing criminal investigations into his criminal activities.  The long arm of the law is reaching out for the Criminal in Chief.

 

I think Putin is happy because that leaves Russia as the only superpower in the region and elevates Russia’s influence in the region.   Did Putin order Trump to leave?  He certainly seems to benefit from Trump’s foreign policy, and he seems to me to have some form of control over our president.

 

Who benefits from American withdrawal from Syria?  Putin.  He finally gets his long term goal of being  the sole power broker in the Middle East.  He gets to push America out and put Russia into the power vacuum.

 

Who benefits?  The murderous Syrian president, Assad (fully supported by Putin) because the Americans have been helping the anti-Assad forces.

 

Who benefits?  Iran and their support for and control of Assad.

 

Who benefits?  The authoritarian despot Erdogan of Turkey who now has full permission to attack and destroy the Turks who have been backed by America.

 

Who benefits?  ISIS, who were badly damaged but have never gone away, melted into the populace, and will very likely emerge newly, dangerously, and powerfully.  They could claim a victory in pushing America out of Syria as a recruiting ploy, and perhaps multiply alarmingly.

 

Who benefits?  Russia, of course, as they become the power broker in the Middle East.

 

Who benefits?  Perhaps the American boots on the ground who are no longer in harms way.


Who benefits? Trump - in some way since his only motivation is to benefit himself - pleasing someone on Fox News? pleasing Putin? thinking he will get votes in 2020? probably just another day's distraction from his legal problems I suppose.

 

Who is harmed?  Perhaps American boots on the ground in the future if ISIS and Iran and the forces of chaos multiply with the absence of American influence.

 

Who is harmed?  Perhaps America.  We lose all ability to negotiate and shape things in Syria.  We flee the arena and turn over power to our avowed enemies -  Putin’s Russia, Iran, and Assad.

 

Who is harmed?  American allies who have fought and died with us and under our direction and protection.  As always happens in the Middle East, America has proven beyond a doubt that we are not reliable or trustworthy allies.

 

What is likely to happen?  Russia and their ally Iran will control Syria.  America will not have influence in Syria.  ISIS will rise again.  America will be drawn back to fight and die all over again.  I hope I am wrong, but….

The Criminal in Chief

The Trumpsters haven't figured it out yet, but their president is a criminal, always has been, and will continue to be.


His long time attorney, Michael Cohen, was just sentenced to three years in prison for carrying out the orders of his boss.  His boss is guilty of the same crimes, of course.


Step one is to show the country and the world that Trump directed felonious activity to violate campaign finance laws by covering up sexual affairs that were about to be revealed just prior to the election.  He did it. He is guilty.  Will the Republicans impeach for this? (only the Reps can impeach Trump, the Dems can't do it on their own) - No, they can't impeach for covering up sexual affairs, look at what happened when Clinton was impeached for a sexual affair.


Step two is to show the country and the world that Trump received and solicited the help of a hostile foreign power, Russia, to get elected.  We already know this is true (the Trumpsters pretend not to know this as they keep their heads buried in the right wing media bubble which ignores, discounts, diminishes, denies, and deflects actual news about the conspiracies between the Russians and Trump's campaign, and Trump himself).  I expect Mueller will be revealing hard evidence of this going forward.


Regarding the Trump Russian connection, it is a matter of record now that Trump was negotiating with Russia to build a 100 story Trump Tower in Moscow up until the Republican convention that nominated Trump to be their candidate.  Part of that negotiation with the Kremlin was to gift Putin himself with $50,000,000 apartment in the tower.  


So what?  Well, I think it should give the Trumpsters a reason to notice that Trump lied, over and over again, when he said that he had no connections with Russia. (By the way, do you think it might be possible that after Trump leaves office Putin will approve the Moscow tower and Trump can flee to Russia and live in his own tower there?)


So what? Hard evidence of Trump-Russian conspiracy in the hands of Putin gives Putin the leverage of exposure and empowers Putin to control Trump's foreign policy - which we have been witnessing for two years.


Step three will be when Muller and/or the Southern District of New York Attorney General exposes Trump's decades long crimes of money laundering for the Russian oligarchy.  This crime is an even stronger leverage that Putin has over Trump.  You will never see Trump strongly displease Putin. Jail time for this one. 


Eventually, the best option for Trump will be to do what Nixon did - resign with a promise of a pardon from his Vice President who will become president and have the power to pardon him for federal crimes.  Of course, that won't protect him from prosecution by New York, Illinois, or New Jersey, so he may just have to flee to Moscow and trust that Putin will treat him nicely.  But why would he?  Trump will no longer be useful to the wealthiest criminal on the planet. 


Trump's future could be quite bleak.  And he knows it. So, watch out world, the desperate actions of a cornered man-child who happens to have influence over America's military and nukes could become unbelievably ugly. 


It could be that the real ugliness is about to begin.