Current US political chatter is much more about Trump’s pressure on Ukraine than it is about his betrayal of the Kurds, and you can see why. And yet it is the Syria decision that will cost lives, including in ways that may not be instantly obvious. In both Ukraine and Syria, Trump was ready to jettison long-established US policy to serve his own interests – keeping everyone else in the dark until it was too late. Ukraine is loyal, but was threatened with being starved of cash unless it agreed to act as Trump’s covert opposition research unit. Why, it’s the same person who benefits from a US pullback from Syria: Trump’s old friend, Vladimir Putin.

Source: The Guardian October 11, 2019 15:52 UTC