By Mark Perry
In 1966, in the midst of the Vietnam War, (click here) Vermont Senator George Aiken recommended that President Lyndon Johnson simply “declare victory and get out.” While what Aiken actually said was more complex (because the U.S. couldn’t win militarily, he implied, it should stop deploying troops and start deploying diplomats), his statement is commonly cited as an example of foreign policy wisdom—then, as now, a much depleted currency in Washington.
While it’s doubtful that President Donald Trump has studied Aiken’s views (or even heard of him), his decision on Wednesday to order the unilateral withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria is one of the few “Aiken moments” in American history. Not surprisingly, given Trump’s inclinations, the news came in a tweet posted by the president on Wednesday morning: “We have defeated ISIS on Syria,” Trump announced, “my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency.” U.S. officials later said that all U.S. troops would be removed from Syria over the next 60 to 100 days.
While the announcement took much of official Washington by surprise, The American Conservative has learned that a select group of administration officials, as well as a handful of senior military officers, knew of Trump’s decision as early as Saturday morning. According to these officials, all of whom required anonymity in exchange for the information, Trump’s decision came as a result of a lengthy telephone exchange he had had with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday. Everything that Trump announced today, we have been told, was decided in that call....
Obviously, the USA was left out of the loop on this one.
The leaders of Turkey, Russia, France and Germany (click here) on Saturday called for a ceasefire around the last major rebel-held bastion of Idlib in Syria to be preserved.
A joint statement adopted at the end of a major summit in Istanbul said the countries were committed to working "together in order to create conditions for peace and stability in Syria".
It also "stressed the importance of a lasting ceasefire" in Idlib, while hailing "progress" following a deal last month between Syrian-regime supporter Russia and rebel-backer Turkey to create a buffer zone around the northwestern province.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke for several hours with Russia's Vladimir Putin, France's Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel about the Syrian conflict, in which more than 360,000 people have been killed since 2011.
Their statement, read by Erdogan, called for a committee to be established to draft Syria's post-war constitution before the end of the year, "paving the way for free and fair elections" in the war-torn country....
Erdogan enjoyed the RETREAT on Syria so much the first time he wants to repeat it. Turkey has a close relationship with Russia for the sake of tourism, so it is not unusual for Erdogan to seek stable relationships with Russia, but, with summits taking place without the USA, it is almost as though allies are running away from the USA and not just setting new ambitions at the top of international relations agenda.
December 1, 2018
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (click here) told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Dec. 1 that they should hold another summit to discuss the situation in Syria's Idlib province where the two countries are trying to create a sustainable demilitarised zone.
Erdoğan made the suggestion during an hour-long meeting with Putin on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
"Holding another four-way summit on Idlib is important. I believe that we have different steps that we should take together on Idlib," Erdoğan told journalists, after stressing that he discussed "vital issues" with Putin.
The Syrian government's ally Russia, and Turkey, which backs Syrian rebels, agreed in September to create a demilitarised zone around the insurgent-held northwestern enclave of Idlib.
But exchanges of shelling have been common since then and the first air strikes since the deal hit the area on Nov. 25....
