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Benjamin H. Friedman is policy director at Defense Priorities.
He concludes:
"At
this point, there is no pretty way out. But a decent one would set a
certain date for U.S. withdrawal, giving the Kurds time to prepare and
then implement it swiftly. No foreign interest should be confused with
our own and used to keep U.S. forces in Syria forever."
I
propose a four month timetable for a complete U.S. military withdrawal,
on the grounds that this is the amount of time that the Pentagon said
they needed to withdraw last time Trump tried to pull out [regardless of
whether this was true.]
As I understand the
situation, a privileged resolution to withdraw U.S. forces from the
unauthorized war, pursuant to the War Powers Resolution, could force the
Senate to vote on such a timetable.
Then each
of the Democratic Senators running for 2020 POTUS would have to take a
clear stand on whether they support "a certain date for U.S.
withdrawal."
Get out of Syria, but give the Kurds fair warning
Benjamin H. Friedman, Opinion contributor Published 6:13 p.m. ET Oct. 8, 2019 | Updated 8:14 p.m. ET Oct. 8, 2019
President Trump’s failure in Syria was not his goal of leaving; it was failing to implement a full withdrawal.
The
United States should withdraw its military from Syria quickly. But that
does not mean clearing a path for Turkey to attack the Syrian Kurds.
The United States does not owe the Kurds indefinite protection, but they
do deserve fair warning of U.S. withdrawal.
U.S.
forces should have left Syria already. With the Islamic State caliphate
destroyed and local forces eager to attack its remnants, there was no
justification for the U.S. forces to stay. And there was grave risk of
the U.S. troops — whose presence Congress never authorized — being
pulled into a major war or sparking terrorism rather than suppressing
it.
Turkey’s threat to attack Syrian Democratic
Forces complicated U.S. withdrawal. But there was a rough solution: Let
the Kurds negotiate with Damascus to restore their status quo ante.
They lose autonomy but keep a militia, while Syrian regime forces police
the border against remnants of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.
That would have kept ISIS down, Turkey out, and the Kurds in reasonable
shape.
Instead, U.S. officials discouraged the Kurds from that course, giving them a false sense of endless protection.
And
Washington saddled the small U.S. military force in Syria with
impossible aims: Evict Iran, reconstruct to prevent extremism and keep
pressure on Syrian dictator Bashar Assad by aligning with the Kurds,
while also pacifying Turkey, somehow. U.S. policy ignored the ugly
reality that the Assad regime will win. Helping create a durable peace
requires dealing with it.
President
Donald Trump’s failure in Syria was not his goal of leaving; it was
failing to implement a full withdrawal. Even now, the U.S. forces there
are just moving out of Turkey’s way, not exiting.
At
this point, there is no pretty way out. But a decent one would set a
certain date for U.S. withdrawal, giving the Kurds time to prepare and
then implement it swiftly. No foreign interest should be confused with
our own and used to keep U.S. forces in Syria forever.
Benjamin H. Friedman is policy director at Defense Priorities.
===
Robert Naiman
Policy Director
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman@justforeignpolicy.org
(202) 448-2898 x1
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