I am posting a couple of articles about Afghanistan and Syria. I ask those interested to take the time to read the full articles at the links and to evaluate their veracity – also check out the authors.
The one country not included is Turkey. Up until 923, it was an Islamic Caliphate when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk became president and brought about major reforms, one of which was a non-secular government where Islam played no role.
However, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the current president, is moving the country away from being a firm NATO ally to what he wants as another Caliphate. Perhaps with himself as Grand Vizier or Pasha or whatever.
We not find ourselves facing off against a one-time ally, Iran, and Russia.
With all of that, what is the sense of our remaining there and spilling our precious blood for people who do not believe in and are culturally unable to accept our Western values?
Some claim that if we pull out, we will find ourselves facing Jihadis here at home.
If we truly have good border security, we should be able to have a more than fair chance of stopping them.
Here is my own personal feelings about the situation; Donald Trump campaigned about getting us out of Afghanistan and the Middle East. In spite of our generals and some forever-diplomatic nerds, he wants to keep that promise. Perhaps, if the American people know what his intelligence is telling him about the area, they would fully support his withdrawal of forces from Syria and half of our troops from Afghanistan. He has also indicated a desire of removing troops from other areas not of direct impact on our national security.
I, for one, fully support his efforts.
