[DailyMail] Brett McGurk (center) has moved up his departure date two months after very publicly stating the possibly catastrophic outcome that could result should President Trump (right) elect to pull American forces at this time. The veteran diplomat, who got his start in the administration of George W. Bush and was appointed to his current post by Barack Obama
teachable moment ...
| What, dear Reader, are the odds that he’s a closet NeverTrumper? |
now joins Defense Secretary Jim Mattis (left) in an administration exodus of experienced national security officials. Mattis, who is the most respected foreign policy official in the administration, announced on Thursday that he will leave by the end of February.
McGurk’s letter, submitted Friday to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, was described to The News Agency that Dare Not be Named on Saturday by an official familiar with its contents. The official was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter before the letter was released and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Trump is acting to pull all 2,000 US troops from Syria and has now declared victory over ISIS, contradicting his own experts’ assessments. Many politicians have called his action rash and dangerous.
The decision will fulfill Trump’s goal of bringing troops home from Syria, but military leaders have pushed back for months, arguing that the ISIS group remains a threat and could regroup in Syria’s long-running civil war.
| That sounds like it was not a sudden impulse responding merely to the mood of the moment... |
McGurk said at a State Department briefing on December 11 that "it would be reckless if we were just to say, ’Well, the physical caliphate is defeated, so we can just leave now.’ I think anyone who’s looked at a conflict like this would agree with that."
A week before that, Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the US had a long way to go in training local Syrian forces to prevent a resurgence of ISIS and stabilize Syria. He said it would take 35,000 to 40,000 local troops in northeastern Syria to maintain security over the long term, but only about 20 percent of that number had been trained.
| Considerably more than that have been trained, but they kept skiving off with their weapons to join Al Nusra and similar groups instead of sticking to the plan. |
McGurk, 45, previously served as a deputy assistant secretary of state for Iraq and Iran, and during the negotiations for the landmark Iran nuclear deal by the B.O. regime, led secret side talks with Tehran on the release of Americans imprisoned there.
| Did he, indeed? Fascinating. |
Taking over for now for McGurk will be his deputy, retired Lt. Gen. Terry Wolff, who served three tours of active duty in Iraq.
Jim Jeffrey, a veteran diplomat who was appointed special representative for Syria engagement in August, is expected to stay in his position, officials said. |