American battle tanks and armored military vehicles are rolling into Syria to “secure” oil fields across the country, likely requiring a larger U.S. military presence in the region than before President Trump’s recent pullout of American troops.
U.S. troops in Syria were “COMING HOME!” Trump tweeted Friday morning, but his Pentagon announced the complete opposite policy shortly afterward. An anonymous U.S. official told USA Today that while the details are being worked out, the number of tanks and other equipment rolling in will “require more logistical personnel to support them than the previous force of American commandos needed.”
“I’m trying to get out of wars. We may have to get in wars, too,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting Monday, USA Today reported.
Trump apparently folded under pressure from the military industrial complex as well as Republican interventionists such as Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Clearly, the president has also failed to appoint non-interventionists to key posts who would carry out his orders to exit Syria.
There is nothing political for Trump to gain in this betrayal of the “America First” agenda. Despite the reversal in the Syria War, Trump is still getting berated from the usual suspects for not being aggressive enough against Syria and Russia.
It must not be forgotten that Trump did campaign in 2016 on “taking the oil.” This strategy, however, cannot be distinguished from permanent occupation and war. Plus, the oil would never actually be extracted or exported for American use anyway, as long as Exxon or whatever corporation fears risk of repercussions for violating international law.
In fact, it would deplete U.S. energy, as Ron Paul Institute president Daniel McAdams points out, with approximately half a million dollars spent every single day on fuel for maintaining such a dispersed occupation.
Trump should fear losing in 2020 over this. That seemed to be part of the motivation when he announced a pullout from northeastern Syria as the impeachment inquiry heated up in Congress.
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is widely anticipated to overtake Joe Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination. As a sort of economic populist, she is well-positioned to undermine Trump on foreign policy. She has already promised to end the Afghanistan War, where Trump has failed to make a dent.
Antiwar libertarians understand that in order to make America great again, the empire must be reined in, and many conservatives who support Trump understand this too. There is disagreement on how to practically achieve that goal, but both groups should want to see a strong and competent Libertarian Party or independent challenger rise up in 2020 to amplify the issue of peace.
As previously stated, Trump doesn’t appear capable of keeping good personnel on hand. As shown at the Moon of Alabama blog, the Special Representative for Syria Engagement, James Jeffrey, evaded Trump’s initial orders to instead keep the U.S. mired down in Syria.
This is Trump’s fault and will be his legacy if something doesn’t spark some courage in him. The billionaire real estate tycoon-turned- reality TV star who demolished the Bush and Clinton families to shockingly win the Oval Office will end up having nothing to show for it.
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