Remember Tyvor, Republicans haven’t been about making an informed, moral stand for quite some time — Reagan showed them it was much easier to succeed if they shifted positions as needed. Hence the fact that one of their shining “heros” is best known for destroying his time’s economy and not only supporting terrorists on two continents, but breaking laws to sell weapons to them. The current crop of the right is simply carrying on with that tradition, and supporters (like those above) see nothing wrong with it.

Anyone who looks at a historical atlas can easily see that the Middle East has no really permanent countries, just one empire after another, one movement after another, one set of boundaries after another, and all this often on a short timescale. The modern map’s boundaries were drawn by the fiat of European powers for their own reasons and simply ignored that the borders enclosed “countries” which contained incompatible ethnic, cultural, and religious sects. This is hard enough to manage in countries with some sort of democratic tradition but in the Middle East it is just a recipe for exactly what we have seen and will continue to see. Balkanization into countries with more homogeneity would probably be an improvement over the current mess.

Things like standing by allies should be “set in stone” — or are you a moral relativist?

If a country does not stand by allies, shouldn’t it be for a good reason in terms of that country. What “good” thing happened as a result of the fake President’s sudden irrational and unadvised action in implementing Turkey’s plan after a phone call? Here they are, you pick any which is/are good for us:
(1) Thousands of ISIS fighters are no longer held securely.
(2) America lost status in the Middle East.
(3) Russia gained status in the Middle East.
(4) Assad gained territory he had lost.
(5) Turkey which has become a theocracy and was the corridor through which ISIS’s foreign fighters entered Syria) essentially gained the border zone it wanted and the Kurds are now on the run.
(6) America has lost its only dependable ally in the fight against ISIS.
(7) American troops were put in danger because the had no forewarning or plan for their exit.
(8) The operation that killed the ISIS head was put in jeopardy and was only rescued by making it sooner and more dangerous.
(9) Troop numbers are apparently not decreasing but increasing to “guard the oil” (in a country which is not a major oil-producing country).

Christopher, you’re making the mistake of assuming that today’s right has any concern about being principled or honoring commitments. I’m not saying that Republicans have a long history of being ethical – you have to look hard to find any, and it was never found in their leadership, but the lack of concern for honesty, battling racism and general bigotry, and so on, is essentially gone from top to bottom in the right. Look at the right wonders who comment here for evidence.

America’s reputation — although it’s far from perfect — rests on honoring its commitments. We had a deal with the Kurds. We should have stuck to it.

The larger picture is that the nations of the world have grown so interdependent that “America First” as promoted by Trump is no longer an option

who made the us king of the world? wouldn’t it make more sense for america to worry about americans? Wouldn’t it make sense to reduce arms sales and reduce the size of the military?

why do you spend your time worrying about Kurds when your very country is collapsing economically, morally and demographically. The barbarians are within your own gates as your own identity melts like sugar in the rain and you don’t even know what to beleive in anymore. so you pick you favorite fairy tale and dream while the flames burn your land and the smoke burns your nose.

you think you are woke but you are mesmerized by the illusions your devices present to you as reality.

And people on the right wonder why trump is viewed as a worthless pos. They can’t handle the truth.

Fighting ISIS? Assad was fighting ISIS. We were fighting Assad. The enemy of our enemy is our friend. The US fought alongside ISIS (and al Nusra) in Syria because we all wanted to depose Assad and seize some of his nation’s real estate.

So screw off with your Imperial propaganda. And vote for Tulsi Gabbard.

They have them under control? They have branded these “terrorists” for the same reason we call so many people terrorists: no real reason at all.