With the exception of Trump's followers who support his cooperation with Vladimir Putin, Trump has accomplished the impossible. He has made Americans feel ashamed of being an American.
He betrayed an ally. He has proven, that under his stewardship, America cannot be trusted. He has ceded power broker status in the Middle East to Russia.
"Russia Assumes Mantle of Supreme Power Broker in the Middle East," proclaimed Britain's Telegraph. "Russia's status as the undisputed power-broker in the Middle East was cemented as Vladimir Putin continued a triumphant tour of capitals traditionally allied to the US."
"Donald Trump Has Handed Putin the Middle East on a Plate," according to the Telegraph. "Putin Seizes on Trump's Syria Retreat to Cement Middle East Role," said the Financial Times.
The conservative leaning Washington
Examiner writes,
"The awful and obviously predictable outcome of President Trump’s surrender in Syria has now come to pass.
"Turkey and Russia have announced an
agreement to remove Kurdish fighters from northern Syria, a horrible development for the forces of freedom and Middle Eastern stability. This agreement supersedes the Kurds' earlier attempt at an agreement with Russia and the government of Bashar Assad. Now,
Turkey will move against YPG Kurdish units in northern Syria from one side, while Russia and its Syrian government clients will move in from the other. Crucially, all Kurdish fighting “elements and their weapons” will “be removed from Manbij and Tal Rifat.”
"Those towns, especially the large town of Manbij, are strategic linchpins.
Without them, the Kurds can be essentially starved out. There could be an immense humanitarian crisis."
If Russia ends up effectively dominating Turkey, the damage it can do in the eastern Mediterranean region is immense.
The conservative
Examiner concludes,
There is not a single strategic or tactical gain for U.S. interests that has been gained from Trump’s order of withdrawal. In fact, more U.S. troops will be in the Middle East than before, but nations traditionally hostile to the U.S. are now ascendant.
This is disastrous, pure and simple.
Of course, none of this bothers Trump's fans.
