Syrian Democratic Forces and U.S. troops are seen during a patrol near the Turkish border in Hasakah, Syria, November 4, 2018. (Rodi Said/REUTERS)
David French, NRO: The Frustrating Necessity of Staying in Syria and Afghanistan, Explained
We almost certainly know who will dominate in our absence, and we know their hostile intent.
One of the primary problems with our endless debates over (seemingly) endless American conflicts with jihadists overseas is that we rarely go back to first principles. We rarely take a step back and accurately define our strategic and tactical challenge. We don’t do this in debates between pundits, and we don’t do it in public arguments. Instead, all too often we resort to sloganeering and sniping, with serious pieces like those of my colleagues Andy McCarthy and Michael Brendan Dougherty (who disagree, by the way, with my counsel to stay in Syria) the welcome exceptions to the dreary rule.
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WNU editor: There is no overwhelmingly public will in the U.S. to keep U.S. military forces in Syria or Afghanistan, and there is certainly no strategy or plan on how to defeat the foes that the above author David French believes are a threat to he U.S.. But to me this discussion is all moot. In the end the people in these trouble spots are going to determine (for better or worse) what their future will be. And keeping a few thousand U.S. soldiers here or there are not going to make a difference.
