{"id":96788,"date":"2019-10-08T08:00:26","date_gmt":"2019-10-08T08:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/10\/08\/trump-syria-withdrawal-decision-immoral-and-short-sighted\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T10:12:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T10:12:15","slug":"trump-syria-withdrawal-decision-immoral-and-short-sighted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/commentary\/2019\/10\/08\/trump-syria-withdrawal-decision-immoral-and-short-sighted\/","title":{"rendered":"Commentary: Trump Syria withdrawal decision immoral and short-sighted"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While Washington should never leave American troops in harm\u2019s way a day longer than national security interests require, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/realDonaldTrump\/status\/1181172457811697664\" target=_blank>President Donald Trump\u2019s decision<\/a> to pull back or withdraw U.S. troops from the Syrian border is morally wrong and strategically short-sighted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His decision is wrong because the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/2019\/10\/07\/brief-history-syrian-democratic-forces-kurdish-led-alliance-that-helped-us-defeat-islamic-state\/\" target=_blank>Syrian Democratic Forces<\/a> (SDF), which include a significant contingent of Kurds, have courageously fought alongside the U.S. to dismantle ISIS\u2019s so-called \u201ccaliphate.\u201d Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to crush the SDF due to longstanding concerns regarding the Kurds. By pulling U.S. troops back from the Syrian border or withdrawing the troops altogether, Trump is giving Erdogan a green light to attack the SDF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The SDF has taken heavy losses in the fight against ISIS because the U.S. mainly provided the air power, while the SDF provided the ground forces. Gen. Joseph Votel, who recently retired after serving as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2019\/10\/07\/how-the-us-troop-withdrawal-from-northern-syria-could-create-an-isis-resurgence\/\" target=_blank>the top U.S. commander in the Middle East<\/a>, said: \u201cThe SDF have been exceptional partners.\u201d He estimated the group suffered nearly 11,000 casualties in the fight against ISIS. While ISIS and its ideology are not defeated, the SDF\u2019s sacrifices likely spared the U.S. the need to deploy tens of thousands of ground troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before Trump\u2019s withdrawal announcement, the administration demanded that <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/US_EUCOM\/status\/1180429514561769472\" target=_blank>the SDF remove defensive barriers<\/a>, leaving the SDF vulnerable to an impending Turkish intervention. The SDF dismantled its fortifications because it trusted the U.S. to restrain Turkey diplomatically. That promise now looks increasingly hollow.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/09\/03\/us-backed-syrian-kurds-to-remove-fortifications-from-turkish-border-as-part-of-safe-zone-deal\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5713859.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">US-backed Syrian Kurds to remove fortifications from Turkish border as part of \u2018safe zone\u2019 deal<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">A U.S.-backed mostly Kurdish force in Syria on Tuesday carried out a patrol along with the U.S.-led coalition near a border town with Turkey to select fortifications to be removed as part of an agreement to set up a safe zone along the country\u2019s northwest border, a spokesman for the group said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump\u2019s withdrawal decision is strategically short-sighted, because it will damage America\u2019s reputation as a trustworthy ally across the globe. Diplomats from Russia, Iran, and China will have a new talking point as they whisper around the world that this is how Washington treats its friends. Fence-sitters will think twice before working with the U.S., tempted instead to bandwagon with America\u2019s adversaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a result, whether in the Middle East or in the global great power competition, America will find it more difficult to assemble coalitions to confront shared threats. That will mean letting threats grow worse or putting more American service members in harm\u2019s way to compensate for the partners we can\u2019t muster. President Trump\u2019s impulse to abandon U.S. partners will therefore have the net effect of less security for Americans and more U.S. troops eventually deployed abroad without the help of allies and partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump appears to believe that if Washington would simply bring U.S. troops home and let other countries fend for themselves, then problems will go away on their own. If only it worked that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And Trump is not alone in this misperception. In town halls and presidential debates, as well as in Capitol Hill hearing rooms, a growing chorus of politicians employ impassioned and seductive arguments that begin and end with scornful references to \u201cforever wars\u201d or \u201cendless wars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Isolationists and skeptics of America\u2019s commitments overseas often quote <a href=\"https:\/\/millercenter.org\/the-presidency\/presidential-speeches\/july-4-1821-speech-us-house-representatives-foreign-policy\" target=_blank>John Quincy Adams\u2019 1821 admonition <\/a>that America avoid going \u201cabroad in search of monsters to destroy.\u201d The United States should instead be the \u201cwell-wisher to the freedom and independence of all [but] the champion and vindicator only of her own,\u201d Adams warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Compelling advice, indeed, that represented just what a new and weak nation enjoying uniquely advantageous geography needed to hear in the 19th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Unfortunately, that advice is less sound in a world that includes, for example, the internet, airplanes, weapons of mass destruction, and the ability of a few terrorists to kill thousands of people. Today, if we fail to deter and defeat the monsters overseas, they can and will kill us here \u2014 as Sept. 11, 2001, made painfully apparent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the threats are too numerous and our resources too limited to do it by ourselves. To simultaneously address persistent terror threats in the Middle East and compete more effectively with China and Russia, the U.S. needs friends, allies and partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s why Trump\u2019s Syria withdrawal decision is so damaging and strategically short-sighted. It reinforces the narrative that America is an unreliable security partner, which makes others less likely to work with the U.S. when we need them.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/10\/07\/syrias-kurds-stand-to-lose-all-gains-from-us-pullout-near-turkish-border\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19280513169513.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Syria\u2019s Kurds stand to lose all gains from US pullout near Turkish border<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Syria&#039;s Kurds accused the U.S. of turning its back on its allies and risking gains made in the fight against the Islamic State group as American troops began pulling back on Monday from positions in northeastern Syria ahead of an expected Turkish assault.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rather than an endless war waged in the name of nation-building and regime change, the U.S. mission in Syria is actually a powerful example of how we can defeat terrorists without deploying 100,000 troops or more. Instead, the U.S. deployed a relatively small number of troops in support of partners numbering in the tens of thousands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the Syrian example suggests, the U.S. can pursue key objectives with small, shrewdly designed forward deployments that empower regional partners to further shared objectives and fight common enemies. This is an application of the military principle known as \u201ceconomy of force\u201d \u2014 put simply, the idea of doing as much as possible with less so that other priorities can be simultaneously pursued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Unfortunately, to the detriment of U.S. national security, that kind of mission is exactly what Trump is trying to end in Syria. He should change his mind before it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fdd.org\/team\/bradley-bowman\/\" target=_blank><i>Bradley Bowman<\/i><\/a><i> is senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i><b>Editor\u2019s note:<\/b><\/i><i> This is an Op-Ed and as such, the opinions expressed are those of the author. If you would like to respond, or have an editorial of your own you would like to submit, please contact Military Times managing editor Howard Altman, <\/i><a href=\"mailto:haltman@militarytimes.com\"><i>haltman@militarytimes.com<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Donald Trump\u2019s withdrawal decision is strategically short-sighted because it will damage America\u2019s reputation as a trustworthy ally across the globe, says the author of this commentary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":8215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":97,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"4":{"categories":["commentary","opinion","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"commentary"},"5":{"categories":["commentary","opinion","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"commentary"},"6":{"categories":["commentary","opinion","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"commentary"},"7":{"categories":["commentary","opinion","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"commentary"}}},"categories":[97,29,117,17],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3747],"class_list":["post-96788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-home","category-middle-column","category-opinion"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"76LWKRBG55GM3FF3LYLI7YZEN4","arc_canonical_url":"\/opinion\/commentary\/2019\/10\/08\/trump-syria-withdrawal-decision-immoral-and-short-sighted\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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