Boru,
I understand your points and there is some merit, but I see things differently.
I don't think the 2000 troop presence in Syria does anything to lessen the relationship between Putin and Assad or Syria's ties to Iran for that matter. Syria is boxed in by Turkey, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Israel (intentionally ignoring Jordan and Lebanon) so I put a lot less emphasis on the importance this contingent contributes to regional stability.. I don't think this is sufficient reason for troops to remain.
Your Trump distraction theory has more merit, but Trump has been after the NSC and Mattis for some time about withdrawal, he's been ignored. To me this seems more of an end around to sniff out popular support to get his way than an intentional distraction to the investigation news. I can't dismiss this though, although it's certainly less of a distraction than bombing African pharmaceutical sites.
The purpose of having troops is not to find them an occupation on foreign soil. The idea is to have a ready force for defense, an idea that has been forgotten for sometime and needs restoring. If I could have my way I would remove troops from Afghanistan and Korea. I would also consider a reduction in Okinawa. There are scores of bases of varying sizes in Africa and Europe that should also be abandoned.
I understand your points and there is some merit, but I see things differently.
I don't think the 2000 troop presence in Syria does anything to lessen the relationship between Putin and Assad or Syria's ties to Iran for that matter. Syria is boxed in by Turkey, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Israel (intentionally ignoring Jordan and Lebanon) so I put a lot less emphasis on the importance this contingent contributes to regional stability.. I don't think this is sufficient reason for troops to remain.
Your Trump distraction theory has more merit, but Trump has been after the NSC and Mattis for some time about withdrawal, he's been ignored. To me this seems more of an end around to sniff out popular support to get his way than an intentional distraction to the investigation news. I can't dismiss this though, although it's certainly less of a distraction than bombing African pharmaceutical sites.
The purpose of having troops is not to find them an occupation on foreign soil. The idea is to have a ready force for defense, an idea that has been forgotten for sometime and needs restoring. If I could have my way I would remove troops from Afghanistan and Korea. I would also consider a reduction in Okinawa. There are scores of bases of varying sizes in Africa and Europe that should also be abandoned.
