One of President Donald Trump’s primary campaign pledges in 2016 was to bring an end to U.S. military involvement in overseas wars, particularly in the Middle East — and despite concerted opposition to that goal from the political establishment and Washington bureaucracy, the president is taking steps toward fulfilling that vow.
During a speech delivered to the Values Voter Summit in Washington on Saturday, President Trump reiterated his increasingly urgent commitment to bringing home American troops who are fighting and dying in what are often intractable foreign conflicts.
It’s time to bring the troops home
On Saturday, Trump spoke about his efforts to rebuild the depleted American military and also of the incredible amount of resources spent over the years — both in taxpayer dollars and human lives — to wage seemingly endless wars in various parts of the globe.
He shared how painful it was for him personally to express condolences to the families of fallen service members and to witness grief-stricken relatives break down at the sight of their lost loved one returning home in a flag-draped coffin. He also spoke of meeting with wounded combat veterans at Walter Reed Hospital and of the terrible pain and difficult recoveries they endure as a result of their service to this nation.
“So, I see this. And I — you know, it’s — it’s a very hard thing to do. It doesn’t mean we won’t fight. We’ll fight — we’re fighting harder than anybody. But sometimes we have to know what we’re fighting for. And we can’t stay there forever. We have to bring our great heroes, our great soldiers — we have to bring them home. It’s time. It’s time,” the president said, to great applause from the audience.
Explaining Syria
President Trump then shifted his focus to the recent difficulties in Syria, where NATO ally Turkey is once again fighting with the Kurdish people in that war-torn region. The Turks are ostensibly engaged in an effort to create a “safe zone” buffer along their border with Syria to reduce the potential for future wars with their centuries-old Kurdish rivals — a long-running conflict in which Trump believes the U.S. has no real business being involved over the long term.
“Let them have their borders,” Trump said of Turkey. “But I don’t think our soldiers should be there for the next 50 years guarding a border between Turkey and Syria when we can’t guard our own borders at home. I don’t think so.”
The president also remarked that our nation’s military — with the aid of allies — had swiftly taken down the so-called “caliphate” of the Islamic State jihadists, something his “Washington generals” didn’t think could be done quickly, but that the generals actually in the field promised to do rapidly, and did.
An end in sight
Circling back to the current conflict between the Turks and Kurds, Trump aptly predicted that any decision he made in its regard — whether to withdraw U.S. troops from the fight or stand in the way and battle a NATO ally — would have been harhsly criticized by the media and the D.C. political establishment.
“But no matter what we did, the media will say it’s the wrong decision. I see it. It makes no difference. If I said, ‘We’re going to stay and fight. We’re going to fight them like they never saw,’ they’ll say, ‘It’s terrible. I told you he loves war,'” Trump said.
The president also spoke of the interminable 18-year-long fight in Afghanistan and of his efforts to help protect persecuted Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East, but reiterated once again that, absent clear goals and an exit strategy, the U.S. doesn’t need to be involved in “never-ending” wars.
“Any military engagement where we send young men and women to fight and die must have clear objectives, vital national interests, and a realistic plan for how the conflict will end,” the president said. “We don’t want to be in 19-year wars where we serve as a policing agent for the whole country.”
1,074 Responses
Greetings from Colorado! I’m bored to death at work so I decided to check out your site on my iphone during lunch break. I really like the knowledge you present here and can’t wait to take a look when I get home. I’m amazed at how fast your blog loaded on my cell phone .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyhow, great site!
Hi there, just became alert to your blog through Google, and found that it’s really informative. I am gonna watch out for brussels. I will appreciate if you continue this in future. Lots of people will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!
In the grand pattern of things you get an A+ just for hard work. Exactly where you actually misplaced me was first in all the facts. As it is said, details make or break the argument.. And that could not be much more accurate here. Having said that, permit me inform you just what did give good results. The text is definitely pretty persuasive and that is probably why I am taking the effort in order to comment. I do not really make it a regular habit of doing that. Next, even though I can easily see a jumps in logic you make, I am not sure of just how you seem to unite your points which inturn help to make your final result. For right now I will subscribe to your position however hope in the foreseeable future you actually link the dots better.
We are a group of volunteers and starting a brand new scheme in our community. Your web site offered us with valuable information to work on. You have performed an impressive job and our entire neighborhood will be grateful to you.
You made several fine points there. I did a search on the matter and found nearly all folks will go along with with your blog.
I truly appreciate this post. I have been looking all over for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You’ve made my day! Thank you again
You completed certain fine points there. I did a search on the subject matter and found mainly people will have the same opinion with your blog.
Throughout the great pattern of things you actually receive a B- with regard to effort and hard work. Exactly where you confused everybody was first on the specifics. As people say, details make or break the argument.. And that could not be much more true in this article. Having said that, let me tell you just what exactly did deliver the results. Your article (parts of it) is actually highly powerful and that is most likely why I am taking an effort to comment. I do not make it a regular habit of doing that. 2nd, despite the fact that I can certainly see the jumps in reason you make, I am definitely not confident of exactly how you appear to connect the details which in turn make your conclusion. For right now I will, no doubt yield to your position however wish in the future you actually link the dots much better.
Thank you for any other informative blog. Where else may I get that type of information written in such an ideal means? I’ve a project that I’m just now working on, and I’ve been at the glance out for such info.
I’m really loving the theme/design of your web site. Do you ever run into any web browser compatibility problems? A few of my blog readers have complained about my website not operating correctly in Explorer but looks great in Firefox. Do you have any tips to help fix this problem?
Only wanna tell that this is very useful , Thanks for taking your time to write this.
Ive recently started a blog, the information you offer on this site has helped me greatly. Thanks for all of your time & work.
Thanks – Enjoyed this update, is there any way I can get an alert email whenever you write a new article?
I’ve been surfing online more than 3 hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It’s pretty worth enough for me. In my view, if all website owners and bloggers made good content as you did, the internet will be much more useful than ever before.
Valuable information. Lucky me I found your web site by accident, and I’m shocked why this accident did not happened earlier! I bookmarked it.
Ive read several good stuff here. Definitely worth bookmarking for revisiting. I surprise how much effort you put to create such a great informative web site.
Heya i am for the primary time here. I came across this board and I to find It really helpful & it helped me out much. I’m hoping to provide one thing again and help others such as you helped me.|
Somebody essentially help to make seriously articles I would state. This is the very first time I frequented your website page and thus far? I surprised with the research you made to create this particular publish extraordinary. Excellent job!
Well I definitely enjoyed studying it. This article provided by you is very constructive for proper planning.
Hey! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if that would be okay. I’m undoubtedly enjoying your blog and look forward to new posts.
Hi! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any issues with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing a few months of hard work due to no backup. Do you have any solutions to prevent hackers?|
Wonderful work! This is the type of information that should be shared around the internet. Shame on Google for not positioning this post higher! Come on over and visit my web site . Thanks =)