SYRIA

ISIS was still going strong when the United States under President Trump intervened in the Middle East. When tested, the inept Iraqi army put up little resistance to the brutal ISIS army and lost parts of Iraq. At one time the ISIS army was closing in on Bagdad. After President Trump’s election, the United States joined Russia and Iran and intervened in Syria. As 2019 begins, ISIS still exists but in a much diminished capacity in Syria. What the U.S. military has demonstrated is that they can effectively fight and win a more conventional war. The generals know how to do this. Now President Trump wants to bring our troops home. Some U.S. military and members of Congress appear to oppose this move. When the job is done, bring the troops home.

To this observer the effect that Turkey has had on all this is unclear. Turkey bought the stolen ISIS oil and served as a conduit for ISIS volunteers to enter ISIS occupied Syria and Iraq. In addition, Turkey has gone from a secular type government to a more Islamic Sharia type government despite being a NATO member and is now considering buying Russian made armament. Should Turkey remain a NATO member?

After we leave, Assad’s Syria—which does appear to protect Christians whereas the Islamic forces do not—Russia, Iran, Turkey and maybe some remnants of NATO forces will have to work together to stop the bloodshed in Syria. The United States has not had much success in nation building and/or restoration without the enemy being totally defeated similar to post World War II. So when total defeat is not secured, why should any nation building attempts be made? If needed, maybe our forces stationed in Iraq could be used to assist in destroying any new ISIS activity. We need to make sure that we keep our allies like the Kurds safe from Iraq, Iran and Turkey. Maybe we need to station part of our Iraqi forces in Kurdistan.

SAUDI ARABIA
The murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Arabian Istanbul embassy in Turkey became an issue for some American congressmen. Khashoggi was a Saudi Arabian citizen who was murdered by Saudi agents in a Saudi Arabian embassy in Turkey. Isn’t that an entirely Saudi Arabian issue despite the fact that this man worked for an American newspaper? Why was this deplorable act an international incident that had American congressmen demanding President Trump take action? Shouldn’t these politicians worry more about keeping America safe from alien invaders? When are the crooked cops and politicians in Washington D.C. going to solve instead of covering up the murder of American DNC staffer Seth Rich and announce the result? When are the crooked FBI and Justice Department bureaucrats going to start going to jail? Don’t we need to clean up our house first?

AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan is another story. It looks like the native populations may not have accepted a central Afghan government and our nation building effort may have failed. Let’s find out what the whole of Afghanistan wants and then try to make the country safe enough for us to leave. It sure looks like our generals do not know how to fight guerilla wars and win them. If safe haven is and has been in Pakistan, why weren’t the escape routes in Afghanistan blown up and kept permanently closed? Didn’t President Trump remove the military restraints on execution of the war? How and why are the Taliban more successful than our troops? Do our generals need to learn from the enemy on how to succeed in a guerilla warfare environment? Maybe we should have those generals who have not succeeded retire.

Should American emphasis be more on how to help the Afghans economically instead of just protection? It might be cheaper in the long run. Afghanistan is a very poor country with undeveloped resources. The greatest way to improve any people’s living standard is to provide the economic environment that only free markets and that nasty capitalism offer. Personal freedom is the key ingredient.