Trump's Ill-Advised Decision to Withdraw from Syria

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis has abruptly announced his resignation.

(SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.) - Without consulting his military advisors, his White House staff, Congress, or our allies, the Twitter-in-Chief announced an immediate, full withdrawal of the 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria, Tweeting “we have defeated ISIS in Syria.”

If he had consulted with his military advisors, Trump would have known that ISIS has not been defeated there. While the long fight against ISIS looks good on a map, it is yet to be decisive on the battlefield.

At least 2,500 ISIS fighters remain and it retains the capacity to continue to do damage, especially if let off the hook now. And it cedes control of Syria to Russia and Iran, and it abandons our Syrian-Kurdish allies.

One day after Trump announced the withdrawal, U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis, a stabilizing force in Trump's cabinet, abruptly announced his resignation and said Trump should pick a successor whose views align more with his own.

Why this announcement now? Is Trump acceding to Turkey’s request/demand to cease supporting the Syrian-Kurds by withdrawing from Syria? Or is Trump attempting to divert media attention away from his legal problems? Or is this Trump’s revenge for no money for a wall in the budget? Or all of the preceding?

This is yet another example of Trump’s ill-advised decisions via Tweet.