The man in charge of the world's most powerful military is a deranged lunatic
You truly hate to see it
President Trump is facing down an impeachment inquiry, and his former subordinates are starting to disobey his efforts to keep them from testifying. After a lifetime of total impunity for alleged crimes, sexual assaults, and business failures, Trump is just possibly facing a serious consequence.
So naturally, he chose to upset his own caucus by randomly ordering a withdrawal of American forces from northern Syria and green-lighting an invasion by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan — thus throwing Kurdish militias who have been loyal allies of U.S. troops for years, and took thousands of casualties fighting ISIS on America's behalf, directly to the wolves. Thousands are fleeing, and hundreds have been killed. After the House of Representatives voted 354 to 60 to condemn the action, Vice President Pence announced Thursday he had negotiated a five-day ceasefire to allow Kurdish forces to withdraw — which was over a week too late and, as Rachel Maddow outlines, gave Erdogan exactly what he wanted.
It turns out having an incurious, vicious dolt whose mind is clearly fading by the minute in charge of the world's largest military is not so good.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
It is hard to put into words just how weird and unsettling it is watching this oaf blunder his way around world politics. In some ways, it's like being ruled by an abusive father. Every time something happens — like the unfortunate recent passing of Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) — people are on tenterhooks wondering what horrible poison Trump is going to tweet. With such a cruel and graceless person, you can never be sure what is going to set him off, or who is going to be shoved down the metaphorical stairs. (This time it wasn't so bad, luckily.)
But in other ways, it's worse than that. The Syrian withdrawal was so abrupt and unplanned that U.S. troops couldn't even dismantle their bases. In at least one case they ended up bombing their own weapons depot so it didn't end up in the hands of Turkey — or worse, like the hundreds of ISIS prisoners who escaped from confinement, or were set loose by Turkey-backed forces. Russian state TV is running gleeful segments exploring all the expensive stuff and personal items that got left behind.
Now, on the list of worst U.S. crimes, this would go pretty far down the list, behind the Vietnam War, the Iraq invasion, the Guatemalan civil war, and many others. And certainly the U.S. has made stupid, nonsensical foreign policy decisions as well.
But abandoning the Kurds like this might just be the most purely loopy foreign policy act an American president has ever done. The U.S. has spent tens of billions of dollars since 2014 fighting ISIS, propping up both the Kurds on one side and the Iraqi military on the other. The whole U.S. position in the region has been oriented around this goal. Now not only are we giving up on that entire project, seemingly because Trump had a short conversation with a quasi-dictator, we didn't even give our former allies — who are incidentally about the most sympathetic group in the entire region — a few days' warning.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
One can criticize President Obama's war on ISIS, but instantly pulling up stakes like this is far from some responsible wind-down of an overextended U.S. military. It is a stark demonstration that the United States' decisions have become impossible to predict because its president is an irrational maniac. As Bernie Sanders said in the recent debate, "[W]hat he has done is wreck our ability to do foreign policy, to do military policy, because nobody in the world will believe this pathological liar." America's promises mean nothing, its positions might swing by 180 degrees from one day to another, and it might end up blowing up its own military hardware as a result.
As David J. Roth, for whom Trump has (perhaps unfortunately) become a sort of muse, writes:
Remember how the president of the United States can order a nuclear strike at any point on the planet on his word alone, and legally nobody can tell him no? Yeah.
Meanwhile, Trump is reacting to criticism in the usual way: whiny blustering and blaming everyone but himself. When people got mad about the Syria decision, he sent an absolutely deranged letter to Erdogan that was so bizarre that reporters initially thought it was a hoax. (Erdogan, naturally, threw it directly in the trash.) He gave a press conference where he accused Kurdish militias of being "more of a terrorist threat in many ways than ISIS." Then he had a shouting match with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer where he called her a "third-grade politician."
The man, frankly, is out of his gourd.
It is anybody's guess how long the Republican Party will remain absolutely behind Trump. Let's just hope the country doesn't collapse before he can be run out of office.
Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.
-
Mary Poppins tour: 'humdinger' of a show kicks off at Bristol Hippodrome
The Week Recommends Stefanie Jones and Jack Chambers are 'true triple threats' as Mary and Bert in 'timeless' production
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
Jaguar's stalled rebrand
In the spotlight Critics and car lovers are baffled by the luxury car company's 'complete reset'
By Abby Wilson Published
-
What the chancellor's pension megafund plans mean for your money
Rachel Reeves wants pension schemes to merge and back UK infrastructure – but is it putting your money at risk?
By Marc Shoffman, The Week UK Published
-
US election: who the billionaires are backing
The Explainer More have endorsed Kamala Harris than Donald Trump, but among the 'ultra-rich' the split is more even
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
US election: where things stand with one week to go
The Explainer Harris' lead in the polls has been narrowing in Trump's favour, but her campaign remains 'cautiously optimistic'
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Is Trump okay?
Today's Big Question Former president's mental fitness and alleged cognitive decline firmly back in the spotlight after 'bizarre' town hall event
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The life and times of Kamala Harris
The Explainer The vice-president is narrowly leading the race to become the next US president. How did she get to where she is now?
By The Week UK Published
-
Will 'weirdly civil' VP debate move dial in US election?
Today's Big Question 'Diametrically opposed' candidates showed 'a lot of commonality' on some issues, but offered competing visions for America's future and democracy
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
1 of 6 'Trump Train' drivers liable in Biden bus blockade
Speed Read Only one of the accused was found liable in the case concerning the deliberate slowing of a 2020 Biden campaign bus
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Biden, Trump urge calm after assassination attempt
Speed Reads A 20-year-old gunman grazed Trump's ear and fatally shot a rally attendee on Saturday
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published