Syria and Trump
US President Donald Trump announced victory over Daesh in Syria, after which rumors spread about the possible withdrawal of American troops from the country.
The president stressed that US troops would soon be withdrawn, as Daesh had been the only reason for US presence in the country. Shortly after CNN, reported that Washington was planning a full and fast withdrawal of troops.
Trump has long promised that he will reduce US obligations abroad. The money, he said, should have been spent on protecting the homeland, and not some remote place that should develop its own self-reliance.
Yet, for many members of Congress – Republicans and Democrats – and those in the US-led coalition against the Islamic State, this decision was called a “disaster”, especially by the mainstream media. No one had officially been informed in advance about Trump’s statement, which left the neocons, military circle and others in total shock.
(read more details about Trump’s decision in Syria`s here).
Will Afghanistan be next?
Just a day after Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of US troops from Syria, the media began reporting that he would also begin reducing American military forces in Afghanistan. Trump announced that he wants to pull 2,000 U.S. troops out of Afghanistan within a few months.
The US military has been present in Afghanistan since 2001. There are currently more than 14,000 US troops in Afghanistan.
Trump orders 7,000 troops in Afghanistan to come home; the other 7,000 will follow over the following months. https://t.co/S8yl56i4tu
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) December 21, 2018
The decision to reduce troop presence in Afghanistan is crucial for Trump. He believes that in doing so, he will appeal to his base and fulfill a campaign promise.
Finding solutions to the US’ economic problems will be the main challenge for candidates in the upcoming election cycle. Trump, who has a strong background in business, needs to have a card up his sleeve to win in 2020. He believes that the reduction in military spending will free up some much-needed resources for the budget. His advisers from the national security team – Defense Secretary James Mattis, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton – were strongly opposed to the idea.
Let’s get out of Afghanistan. Our troops are being killed by the Afghanis we train and we waste billions there. Nonsense! Rebuild the USA.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2013
According to Afghan media reports on Saturday, Afghanistan’s interior minister denied reports of US plans to withdraw half of its troops from Afghanistan. Minister Wais Ahmad Barmak said that “withdrawing forces might have been discussed by the Trump administration due to the ongoing peace talks with the Taliban, but no decision has been made in this regard so far”.
Afghan minister says no decision yet from US on withdrawal of troops https://t.co/7Lvz58Ruxj #AFG pic.twitter.com/IQyurQ5j9Q
— 1TVNewsAF (@1TVNewsAF) December 22, 2018
Turkey`s declaration on Syria
American leader Donald Trump made authorized a final decision on the withdrawal of American troops from Syria during a conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, despite the fact that the White House had previously refuted such information, wrote The Washington Post.
The article reveals the “catastrophic” telephone conversation between the leaders of the two countries, during which, Erdogan asked Trump why the United States is still arming and supporting the Syrian Kurds.
For Turkey, they represented a threat to national security in alliance with Turkish Kurds, which even the United States considers to be terrorists. Erdogan recalled that, according to Trump himself, Daesh had been defeated. The Turkish military is strong and could take control of any remaining territories. Why are the two thousand American soldiers are still there, the Turkish President asked?
The US’ Border Wall Finance Crisis
The U.S. government was partially shut down early on Saturday after a fierce dispute over President Donald Trump`s demand that Congress assign $5 billion for a wall along the border with Mexico.
Trump’s fierce struggle alongside Congress to fund a Wall along the border between America and Mexico may further day any progress on the hotly contested project, particularly given the Holidays.
Trump and his supporters faced two serious obstacles: First, Trump and the leading Democrats of the Senate must come to an agreement that suits the House of Representatives, where Republicans occupy the majority of seats. Once an agreement is reached, the leaders may have to call Congressmen to Washington again, overcome the procedural red tape in the Senate and send the bill to the president for signature.
The question of the Wall (Trump’s signature campaign promise) continues to divide the White House, and the fight for it funding will be decisive for his presidency.
Iranian trolls charged in influencing the U.S. midterm elections 2018
US National Intelligence Chief Dan Coates said that a number of foreign countries, including Iran, had tried to influence voters in the US midterm elections last November.
He noted, however, that US intelligence services don’t have any evidence that foreign powers penetrated U.S. voting systems.
“Russia and other foreign countries, including China and Iran, conducted influence activities and messaging campaigns targeted at the United States to promote their strategic interests during the 2018 midterm elections”, the chief of the US National Intelligence wrote in his report to Donald Trump.
Coates noted that “the intelligence community does not have intelligence reporting that indicates any compromise of the American election infrastructure that would have prevented voting, changed vote counts or disrupted the ability to tally votes”.
The mid-term elections were held in the United States in November 2018. As a result, the Democrats took control of the House of Representatives, but the Republicans kept the Senate Majority.