Ignatius on Syria, the Wall: ‘President Trump Does Not Want to Abandon Any Campaign Promise, No Matter How Wrong It Is’

‘This has been something that President Trump has wanted to do, let’s be honest, pretty much since he came into office’

EXCERPT:

IGNATIUS: "And that’s part of what bothers me the most, is that we could be intimidated by a regional power like Turkey which has this historic, in some ways irrational blood feud with our Kurdish allies. This has been something the President Trump has wanted to do, let’s be honest, pretty much since he came into office. In April, he decided, 'That’s it, I’m out.' And he was talked out of it. And people really thought they had his support for a longer term mission. Up until Tuesday night, if you had asked any senior official of government what’s our policy, they would have said stay until Iran is contained, until the area is stabilized. And the President on this conviction — President Trump does not want to abandon any campaign promise, no matter how wrong it is. So he sticks with the wall. He sticks with his insistence he’s going to get troops out of everywhere. I think that’s what happened. I think he was pushed in that direction by Turkey. The fear I hear from friends in the military is that we could have a real ignition point in northeast Syria. I mean, that’s — of hundreds of people who have depended on us for protection in an area that became stable. What do we do then, Mr. President, as people begin dying in large numbers? I fear that's the scenario we may face."

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