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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Ret. Gen. Keane on Syria Withdrawal: President ‘Will Come to Regret This Decision'
2018-12-22
[Free Beacon] Retired Army Gen. Jack Keane said on Thursday that President Donald Trump will come to regret his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, if he doesn't reconsider the move.

"I don't discuss any conversations I may have with the president. All I can say is that I do hope he reconsiders," Keane told Fox News host Martha MacCallum. "I'm convinced that if he doesn't reconsider, he will come to regret it."

Mattis abruptly submitted his resignation letter on Thursday after meeting President Donald Trump at the White House to discuss the president's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria. Mattis tried to convince Trump to reverse his decision or at least let some troops remains, but Trump refused, according to reports. Trump tweeted that Mattis was "retiring" but Mattis' letter shows he resigned over policy disagreements with the president.

"I'm certainly saddened to see Jim Mattis departing, but I also understand. I think the factors that are contributing to the resignation ‐ maybe not all of it ‐ but certainly the decisions in Syria and Afghanistan," Keane said.

The Wall Street Journal and other outlets reported Wednesday that the Trump administration planned to pull U.S. troops out of northern Syria. There are currently 2,000 U.S. troops in the country that were there to train local forces in fighting ISIS. Trump has ordered military leaders to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, according to reports.
Posted by:Besoeker

#10  General, just spare me the Delphic Oracle prognostications:
“Give me a one-handed Economist. All my economists say 'on hand...', then 'but on the other...” ― Harry Truman
Posted by: magpie   2018-12-22 19:29  

#9  #8 is the not-spoken-nearly-enough truth of the day.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2018-12-22 13:00  

#8  So did Keane go into any detail about why we would regret this?

Or why we wouldn't regret staying in Syria even more?

The vague "ooga booga" quality of statements like
"I'm convinced that if he doesn't reconsider, he will come to regret it." doesn't impress me much.

And I'm long past the fallacious "He wears/wore a uniform so we're required to genuflect" mentality that afflicts many on the right.

John Kerry was a war hero, you know.
Posted by: charger   2018-12-22 12:53  

#7  Don't forget the entertainment factor.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2018-12-22 11:08  

#6  Another cold war general outliving his usefulness...
Posted by: 49 Pan   2018-12-22 11:05  

#5  Any thoughts on Gen. Vincent Brooks as a Gen. Mattis replacement??
Posted by: JohnQC   2018-12-22 11:01  

#4  The public is now like a man waking up in a strange city with a 3 week growth of beard with no memory of how he got there.

Amen and amen (both the "man" and the MEDIA).
Posted by: Besoeker   2018-12-22 10:05  

#3  From Instaprof -

RICHARD FERNANDEZ: Ours To Reason Why.

If there’s one good thing about the political crisis triggered Trump’s decision to withdraw from Syria it’s been to make people realize the US is there. As Seth Harp in the New Yorker noted, it has done everything possible to conceal that fact. . . .

Perhaps more people than were ever aware of the combat presence in Syria are outraged the US is leaving it and that is a good thing. The lack of awareness was the result of the breakdown of the national security debate and the abdication by Congress of its role in war making. The public is now like a man waking up in a strange city with a 3 week growth of beard with no memory of how he got there.

As the Los Angeles Times noted the US inherited a whole bunch of shadow wars from the past administrations. “Before he took office in 2008, Barack Obama vowed to end America’s grueling conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. During his second term, he pledged to take the country off what he called a permanent war footing. … U.S. military forces have been at war for all eight years of Obama’s tenure, the first two-term president with that distinction. He launched airstrikes or military raids in at least seven countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan.”

But they all went into the back pages.

Somehow withdrawing back Iraq doesn't seem like withdrawing back to the US. Get a grip.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2018-12-22 10:04  

#2  For Rantburg posters, I guess nothing is worse than being right when Trump is wrong.

Even the best Presidents make mistakes. Admit it, he is making a mistake here. Not in pulling away from Syria, but in how he is doing it. Just like Obama and Iraq. I recall reading many here being critical of how that was done. Same applies here.

Bailing out suddenly and completely will leave a mess, which will be exploited by our enemies (Iran, Turkey, Russia), and our allies, especially the Kurds, will be screwed by them.

You cant deny that. And you can't deny that Trump means well by bringing the troops home, but he is making a big mistake in how he is doing it. Cut and run is not how to do it.
Posted by: Injun Bucket8891   2018-12-22 09:34  

#1  "I don't discuss any conversations I may have with the president. All I can say is that I do hope he reconsiders," Keane told Fox News host Martha MacCallum. "I'm convinced that if he doesn't reconsider, he will come to regret it."

Heads up Fox News viewers, I have the ear of the president, of Gaia, Pachamama, Putin, and Shakti.

Instead of saluting and offering solutions and complimenting strategies which could lead to success, the general piles on. Perhaps Gen. Keane should resign from Fox News in protest.
Posted by: Besoeker   2018-12-22 05:25  

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