During his Presidency, Donald Trump has said the most deplorable things, behaved in an unforgivable way, on so many occasions it has become commonplace, normalised. When you see a medical definition of psychopath, Trump meets every symptom. But everything to date pales into insignificance compared to his betrayal of brave Kurdish fighters who have been critical to the containment and near defeat of Islamic State in Syria.
By withdrawing US troops along the Turkey-Syria border, thereby giving the green light to the autocratic Erdogan to launch a direct attack in US, British, and French allies, Trump has shown exactly how treacherous and untrustworthy he really is. Turkey, as a NATO member, is also guilty of acting against the interests of its allies.
Trump has made it clear in his campaign and Presidency that he opposes US military intervention in foreign lands. However the civil war in Syria, had IS managed to consolidate their positions, was not a local issue but one of intense danger for the entire democratic World. Defeating IS, mainly using Kurdish fighters, is a matter of self-defence, not intervention. Having done their job we should all be eternally grateful to the Kurds. Trump, of course, has business interests in Istanbul, and Erdogan has threatened those interests before and caused Trump to dance to his tune. Who knows what was said in their recent phone call but let’s hope someone manages to subpoena the transcript.
We must make it clear to Turkey that they must stop their assault against our Kurdish allies. If they don’t then their membership of NATO should be suspended and trade sanctions applied. Tourists should be advised against travel to Turkey. I would go further and provide practical military support to help defend the Kurds. As to Trump, there’s nothing we can say or do that would have any impact on him. He is certifiable. We must rely on his countrymen to deal with him and this time he seems to have horrified many of his own supporters. Can he get any worse? Probably.