President Trump prefers to use targeted economic weapons instead of the U.S. military forces against foreign adversaries. This is especially true if foreign actions are taking place amid the complex circle of geopolitical interests, against the interests of allies.
Today the White House has released a letter sent by President Trump to President Erdogan of Turkey dated October 9th. The letter was sent two days after President Trump made the decision to pull 28 members of the U.S. military out of harms way; two days before President Trump outlined the sanctions against Turkey; and five days before President Trump initiated those sanctions through Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
The warning is clear. President Trump is clear-eyed about the motives and intentions of the Turkish president, and Ergodan’s ideological alignment with political Islam, via The Muslim Brotherhood.
One of the reasons this strategy is better than any military action is simply because Turkey is a unique NATO ally, and the NATO alliance within Europe is insufferably incapable and unwilling to take action to defend their interests.
European NATO members want the benefits of a perpetual U.S. military presence. That EU outlook is simply beyond the limits of what President Trump is willing to do.
President Trump wants to bring our troops home.
President Trump made it clear that any action by Turkey into Syria was unilateral; there will be no assistance by the U.S. on any aspect; including if Turkey was counter-attacked by Russia/Syria or organized Kurdish forces.
Essentially, Trump left Erdogan naked to a myriad of his enemies.
The U.S. part of the NATO shield is removed. The Europeans will not evoke the NATO defense treaty without the U.S. Heck, the EU is essentially spineless without the power of the U.S. military. Additionally, President Trump is calling out the duplicity of the entire situation by calling all of their bluffs. President Trump is calling-out: NATO, weak EU ‘allies’ and Turkey.
In essence, this White House approach is a major Gordian knot being cut. It is unlikely President Erdogan expected to have this framework made so public.
With Europe refusing to stand-up to defend their own interests, President Trump is removing U.S. forces from the untenable position of guarding all the big cat cages, ad infinitum, to keep the zoo status intact.
Instead, President Trump is going to support the Arab coalition and the GCC that has been assembling a military coalition to protect itself from the Muslim Brotherhood.
That, along with the strategic need to keep global oil prices low to offset any influence by Iran and Russia, is why President Trump is willing to support Saudi Arabia with more troops; while simultaneously withdrawing from Syria where the U.S. was having to stand alone to protect the interests of Europeans who will not protect themselves.
In one regional area the U.S. will support and defend Israel, Egypt and Jordan. In the Southern region the U.S. will support the Gulf Cooperation Council (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, Bahrain and Qatar).
Will political Islam likely have a resurgence in the region, and will Recep Erdogan rise as the head of the Ottoman Empire once again? The former is likely, the latter is unknown.
President Trump is correctly withdrawing U.S. troops from a position of adversarialism against a NATO member. Why should the U.S. protect the interests of allies who will not stand-up to protect themselves…
President Trump is correct.
President Trump will use economic weapons against Turkey…. And, in keeping with the economic doctrine, Europe is also in the cross-hairs. President Trump will use economic weapons against the EU for creating this mess, and refusing to defend themselves.
President Trump will use military weapons to protect allies that are: (A) willing to protect themselves, and (B) willing to pay for the support of the U.S. military protection.
It is really a common sense doctrine… Help those who help themselves.
This is one of those weird “be careful what you wish for” scenarios for President Erdogan, because in his lust to recreate the Ottoman Empire he just might get removed. By isolating Erdogan, President Trump effectively left him naked to an alliance of his enemies
After President Trump talked to Kurdish General Mazloum Kobani Abdi, the commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, President Trump then discussed the options available to President Erdogan. As a result of that conversation, Erdogan requested the U.S. mediate negotiations.
Erdogan’s request happened immediately after President Trump signed an executive order [See Here] triggering the sanction authority of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
