Syria pullout: Bad news for U.S. allies, including Israel
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Editorial

Syria pullout: Bad news for U.S. allies, including Israel

A view of a US military base in the al-Asaliyah village, between the city of Aleppo and the northern town of Manbij, in Syria, April 2, 2018. Delil Soueiman/AFP/Getty Images
A view of a US military base in the al-Asaliyah village, between the city of Aleppo and the northern town of Manbij, in Syria, April 2, 2018. Delil Soueiman/AFP/Getty Images

From the beginning, U.S. involvement in the bloody chaos in Syria has been an inconsistent, confusing mess. It would be wrong to lay blame entirely at the feet of President Donald Trump; how can we forget former President Barack Obama’s illusory “red line” on Syria’s grotesque use of chemical weapons on its own people?

That said, Trump’s rash decision last week to end U.S. military involvement in this vastly complex crisis does not meet the test of sober, well-thought-out policy. Ending a desultory and not overwhelmingly successful U.S. intervention, the abrupt pullout angered key allies, blindsided members of his own administration, and triggered the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. It is almost certain to boost to Iran’s expansionary goals in the region.

The move essentially abandons our Kurdish allies to a potentially terrible fate, one more signal that alliances with a Trump-led America are not trustworthy. And by accelerating his “America First” foreign policy, Trump is ceding global leadership to our adversaries and competitors. It’s no wonder the move was quickly praised by Russian President Vladimir Putin, a key supporter of embattled Syrian strongman Bashar Assad.

As we said in the first editorial, all of that is bad news for Israel. Trump’s move was also a sober reminder to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has thrown in his lot with the president, that pledges, even guarantees, are transactional and subject to change with this
administration.

Let’s keep one thing straight: the U.S. involvement in Syria was never a game-changer. With only 2,000 troops and an unclear strategy from the outset, the best that could be said is that it may have helped keep a terrible situation from getting worse and slowed, but didn’t stop, Iran’s quest for regional hegemony.

But the pullout and the shocking way it came about suggest a foreign policy emanating entirely from the mind of an impulsive, not particularly well-informed, and highly volatile president. The angry Mattis departure means the loss of an experienced, sober voice amidst the growing White House chaos.

That is particularly worrisome news in the Middle East, where even the most carefully crafted policies can have unimagined and often tragic consequences. And it’s especially troubling for Israel, which relies on steady, thoughtful leadership from an America that takes seriously its responsibility for global leadership in a world filled with malignant actors.

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