Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis Retiring in February 2019; Trump removes Mattis effective January 1

[Secure Da Bag]

That’ll certainly be the case, both Assad and Russia know the Kurds give them significant leverage over Turkey which they will not hand over for free. The Turkish threats are bluster IMO, and the Kurds certainly planned for this possibility.

If Russia gets Assad to back the Kurds or even more audacious keep their territory, then Kurds will give the US

and

 

[BoBurnz]

If Russia gets Assad to back the Kurds or even more audacious keep their territory, then Kurds will give the US

And it'll be well deserved Abandon your most loyal and hard fighting allies because the man on the TV at 3AM told the orange moron it was a good idea. Be like if FDR just told the Pinoy's to HYON when the Japs came storming through.

 

[88m3]

If Russia gets Assad to back the Kurds or even more audacious keep their territory, then Kurds will give the US

and

That would totally alienate Russia and Turkey and probably result in Erdogan kicking Assad's teeth in

 

[Secure Da Bag]

That would totally alienate Russia and Turkey and probably result in Erdogan kicking Assad's teeth in

Turkey I understand. But how is Russia getting alienated? They benefit from a stable Syria and benefit from a Syrian rival kept in check.

 

[ZoeGod]

Trump has left the US woefully unprepared for the new, multi-polar world we're entering. His foreign policy has been absolutely, utterly disastrous. And Mattis was the last man in the room holding anything together resembling sanity and calm nature.

When the SecDef is just another GOP establishment bootlicker then the cards fall away and the US is left in the worst position possible. A declining power without key allies in regions it needs them and no ability to fix it.

We don't talk enough about how bad his FP has been from a contextual level.

We won't see the effects of Trump's incompetence until the next administration takes over.

 

[88m3]

Turkey I understand. But how is Russia getting alienated? They benefit from a stable Syria and benefit from a Syrian rival kept in check.

Turkey would see it as a betrayal by their "ally" Russia. Relations between the two would be completely broken.

 

[Secure Da Bag]

We won't see the effects of Trump's incompetence until the next administration takes over.

You think he'll be able to keep it together until 2024? It looks like it all falls apart while he's in office.

 

[Secure Da Bag]

Turkey would see it as a betrayal by their "ally" Russia.

I didn't realize they were tight like that. I thought it was just a Syria-Russia thing.

 

[88m3]

I didn't realize they were tight like that. I thought it was just a Syria-Russia thing.

They're connected at the hip lately or at least when it comes to some issues dealing with Syria. They're also fairly connected economically but Turkey is more reliant on Russia(tourism and money laundering) although some people think they're codependent. There was a whole dust up when Turkey shot down one of their jets but they patched things up.

 

[Techniec]

They may want it but it’s another thing of going to actual war

The Pentagon has war gamed that out and it’s catastrophic.

@ZoeGod disagrees but I just don’t see it.

I don't see it either and I've been saying this

A direct physical confrontation that is

Truthfully they don't even need to do that

 

[Triipe]

I don't see it either and I've been saying this

A direct physical confrontation that is

Truthfully they don't even need to do that

because any direct military action taken against iran would lead to them shutting down the the oil flow out of the gulf, 40% of the worlds crude passes thru this stretch. Shale developments have lessened OPECs market share and could pave the way for the United States exiting the region.

hopefully one day America can have a relationship with this region,but it needs to be on their terms and economically beneficial for all.
We can pray that an american exit may lead to a decline in violence

 

[Entropy Fan]

Pray for them that Allah is merciful, we're about to see some of the worst humanity has to offer in the next few months. The Turks are literally going to glass Syrian Kurdistan.

What the hell are y'all smoking. Erdogan already took land from the YPG without any masscres. Where are y'all getting your news from?

Most of the atrocities in Syria have been done by Assad and the US air Force and their scorched Earth bombings.

 

[Entropy Fan]

That’ll certainly be the case, both Assad and Russia know the Kurds give them significant leverage over Turkey which they will not hand over for free. The Turkish threats are bluster IMO, and the Kurds certainly planned for this possibility.

Turkey already took a solid chunk of North syria, and took afrin from YPG. With the US gone they'll go in for the kill.

Ypg isn't just trying to build a mini state. They want a rear base to attack Turkey and break off the southeast of the country. Historically Turkey has reacted very aggressively to such threats.

 

[88m3]

Turkey already took a solid chunk of North syria, and took afrin from YPG. With the US gone they'll go in for the kill.

Ypg isn't just trying to build a mini state. They want a rear base to attack Turkey and break off the southeast of the country. Historically Turkey has reacted very aggressively to such threats.

Seems laudable

 

[fact]

We won't see the effects of Trump's incompetence until the next administration takes over.

That is exactly the reason that Trump is so eased and relaxed when making this decision. When this administration is over, I would like to see the next administration put certain members of this current one in handcuffs, and have some public [redacted]