President
Donald Trump’s order to withdraw from Syria has been greeted,
predictably, with an avalanche of condemnation culminating in last
Thursday’s resignation by Defense Secretary James Mattis. The Mattis resignation letter
focused on the betrayal of allies, though it was inevitably light on
details, suggesting that the Marine Corps General was having some
difficulty in discerning that American interests might be somewhat
different than those of feckless and faux allies like Israel and Saudi
Arabia that are adept at manipulating the levers of power in Washington
and in the media. Mattis clearly appreciates that having allies is a
force multiplier in wartime but fails to understand that it is a
liability otherwise as the allies create an obligation to go to war on
their behalf rather than in response to any actual national interest.
The media was quick to line up behind Mattis. On Friday, The New York Times featured a lead editorial
entitled “Jim Mattis was right” while neocon twitter accounts blazed
with indignation. Prominent chickenhawk mouthpieces David Frum and Bill
Kristol, among many others, tweeted that the end is nigh.
During
the day preceding Mattis’s dramatic announcement, the press went to war
against the Administration over Syria and also regarding other reports
that there would be troop reductions in Afghanistan. The following
headline actually appeared on a Reuters online article
the day after the announcement by the president: “In Syria retreat,
Trump rebuffs top advisers and blindsides U.S. commanders.” It would be
difficult to imagine stuffing more bullshit into one relatively short
sentence. “Retreat,” “rebuffs” and “blindsides” are not words that are
intended to convey any sort of even-handed assessment of what is
occurring in U.S. policy towards the Middle East. They are instead meant
to imply that “Hey, that moron in the White House has screwed up
again!”.....http://www.unz.com/pgiraldi/syria-withdrawal-enrages-the-chickenhawks/
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