President and Mrs. Trump's Baghdad Visit and the Start of a New US Role in the Middle East

PRESIDENT TRUMP AND THE FIRST LADY VISIT US TROOP IN IRAQ. And, the President's worries about the trip tell us just how much hs is a real person -- not an elitist Swamp Creature. • • • PRESIDENT TRUMP DESCRIBED SECURITY AROUND THE TRIP. The Daily Caller report, published by BizPac Review on Thursday, shows that President Trump is a real person with real concerns for those around him. When asked if he had concerns about the trip, he told reporters on Wednesday, while still in Iraq at the Al Asad Air Force Base just west of Baghdad, that he was concerned for the safety of First Lady Melania Trump during his unannounced trip to Iraq late Christmas evening to visit with US troops for the holidays. The President told reporters at a press conference that he “absolutely” had concerns traveling to the combat zone, specifically for the people with whom he was traveling : “I had concerns about the institution of the presidency -- not for myself personally. I had concerns for the First Lady, I will tell you. But if you would have seen what we had to go through -- with the darkened plane, with all windows closed, with no lights on whatsoever, anywhere -- pitch black. I’ve been on many airplanes -- all types and shapes and sizes. I’ve never seen anything like it. We’re coming in and I know all of the things that are surrounding us for safety. So did I have a concern? Yes, I had a concern.” You can see the video of the President's comments at < https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/1078073596180946944 >. • President Trump’s surprise trip to Iraq marks his first voyage into a war zone since becoming Commander-in-Chief, and of course the ProgDem lapdog media had been chastising him for not visiting troops overseas at Christmas. But, the trip was planned well in advance -- as all presidential trips to war zones are -- but the media has yet to apologize to the President, or to thank Melania Trump for being the first First Lady to accompany her husband to a war zone. • The President and Melania spent hours after touching down greeting servicemen and taking photographs. Western Journal Conservative Tribune's Ben Marquis reported on Wednesday that : "In the eyes of his supporters, President Donald Trump’s unabashed admiration, love and respect for the men and women who serve our nation in uniform is clearly evident. Naturally, Trump’s critics see things quite differently, and assert that the President really doesn’t care that much about military service members or the great sacrifices they make. A key anti-Trump talking point in that regard that critics have hyped incessantly was the fact that the President had yet to visit any of our nation’s troops stationed in a war zone, ostensibly because he was too fearful to travel to a dangerous area and just didn’t care about the risks his soldiers faced in a combat zone while under his command." But, CNBC and then NBC finally reported that the President and first lady had made a surprise trip to Iraq to visit with US airmen, soldiers and Marines deployed in the war-torn nation." On their return trip from Iraq, the President and First Lady made a stop at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where they also visited with US troops who are stationed there. • White House press secretary Sarah Sanders revealed one of the truly touching moments for the President in Iraq when she tweeted : “President Trump and the First Lady traveled to Iraq late on Christmas night to visit with our troops and Senior Military leadership to thank them for their service, their success, and their sacrifice and to wish them a Merry Christmas.” The White House press secretary was moved by the story of one US soldier in Iraq on Wednesday who told the President that he was inspired to rejoin the military because of Trump’s election. Sanders tweeted : "Powerful moment -- Member of United States Army told the President he came back into the military because of him. And President Trump responded, 'And I am here because of you.' I met him after and he gave me the patch from his arm. Incredible." After Trump and First Lady Melania left following the surprise Christmas trip to Iraq to visit with US service members, Sanders shared the story and how she met up with the young man. The “Brave Rifles” patch Sarah Sanders received was patch of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment of the US Army stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. • While the ProgDem lapdog mainstream media are eager to spread Fake news negative reports about Trump and the military, the President proved again how popular he is with the troops. Many were prepared with their Make America Great Again caps, which the President happily signed. He generously took one selfie after another with the troops, who were obviously happy to have him there for the holiday visit. And, as we would expect from the disgusting anti-Trump media, their networks, like CNN, fired off despicable criticisms of service members breaking Department of Defense guidelines for political activities because of the MAGA caps, Americans celebrated their sacrifice and the President who genuinely cares about them. Twitter was full of praise for Sarah Sanders’ story -- "Great job @PressSec! Thanks for going and sharing this w us!" // "It's great to have a real patriot at the helm. #MAGA" // "I sure wish these moments were shared with the masses on all media outlets. Thank you @PressSec and @realDonaldTrump" // "My son joined the Army in July because he wanted to serve our great country under a President who puts his country first!" // "Awesome!! I love & support our military. President Trump’s visit was wonderful and hope our brave military felt our President’s admiration & appreciation as they deserve. Thanks for sharing Sarah!" // "It's wow..great.." // "3rd Armored Cavalry - makes me extremely proud to have served in the Brave Rifles. Sgt. Jay '83-'85 U.S.A." • • • PRESIDENT TRUMP MAKES IT CLEAR -- THE US IS NOT PULLING OUT OF THE MIDDLE EAST. The surprise presidential visit to Iraq came just days after President Trump announced that he was withdrawing the roughly 2,000 US troops deployed to neighboring Syria to combat the Islamic State group, a heavily criticized decision that seemed to precipitate the resignation of Defense Secretary James Mattis. The Syria announcement was instantly followed by media reports of rumored troop withdrawals from Afghanistan, and speculation ran wild among analysts and “experts” in the media who suggested that Trump was pulling the entirety of the US military presence out of the Middle East...which isn’t really the case at all. • However, CNBC reported that the President made it clear to those he spoke with in Iraq that he had “no plans at all” to draw down and remove the more than 5,000 troops currently deployed there. No news outlet is talking about the obvious fact that if there is in the future a need for the US to engage enemies or protect allies in Syria, the thousands of troops literally next door in Iraq could move in at a moment’s notice. • President Trump also reportedly addressed the departure of Mattis while he was in Iraq, and offered high praise for Deputy Secretary Patrick Shanahan, who will soon become the acting Defense Secretary, a post President Trump suggests Shanahan could fill “for a long time.” • • • ANOTHER TRUMP CAMPAIGN PROMISE BEING KEPT. Newsmax reported that the President said he has 'no plans at all' to remove US troops from Iraq, and he defended his decision to withdraw US forces from Syria where they have been helping battle ISIS militants." President Trump told American servicemen and women at Al Asad base inin Iraq : "We're no longer the suckers, folks. We're respected again as a nation." The President said it's because of US military gains that he can withdraw 2,000 forces from Syria, telling the troops : "I made it clear from the beginning that our mission in Syria was to strip ISIS of its military strongholds. Eight years ago, we went there for three months and we never left. Now, we're doing it right and we're going to finish it off." He said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has agreed to take out "any remnants" of ISIS left in Syria. The US presence in Syria was not meant to be "open-ended," he said, adding that other wealthy nations should pay for rebuilding Syria. "The nations of the region must step up and take more responsibility for their future," President Trump said, adding that there would be a "strong, deliberate and orderly withdrawal" of US forces from Syria. Fifteen years after the 2003 invasion, the US still has more than 5,000 troops in Iraq supporting the government as it continues to fight against remaining pockets of resistance by ISIS, which has lost a reported 98% of its territory in Iraq and Syria, but is still seen as a threat. • Newsmax also reported that : "The Iraqi government now has control of all the country's cities, towns and villages after fighting its last urban battles against ISIS in December 2017. But its political, military and economic situation remains uncertain, and the country continues to experience sporadic bombings, kidnappings and assassinations, which most people attribute to ISIS. Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi recently said Iraqi troops could deploy into Syria to protect Iraq from threats across its borders." Iraq keeps reinforcements along its frontier to guard against infiltration by ISIS militants, who hold a pocket of territory along the Euphrates River in an area where Russia has been operating. • Fix This Nation wrote on December 23, just after the President announced the Syria troop withdrawal, that : "On Saturday, President Trump wrote what very well could be the truest tweet of his presidency. 'If anybody but your favorite President, Donald J. Trump, announced that, after decimating ISIS in Syria, we were going to bring our troops back home (happy & healthy), that person would be the most popular hero in America,' he wrote. 'With me, hit hard instead by the Fake News Media. Crazy!' Does anyone doubt for a second that he’s 100% right? We’re used to watching Democrats and liberals change their tune at the drop of a hat, but their reaction to the Syria pullout has been nothing less than disgraceful. These idiots have been screaming about American imperialism for the better part of a quarter-century! These morons have gone as far as to call for international war tribunals for Cheney and Bush! They have been decrying our Middle Eastern presence since the day after 9/11. And now, when a President finally begins to make inroads towards bringing those conflicts to an end, they say he’s a child throwing a tantrum? They say there are no more 'adults in the room?' We saw Michael Moore the other day saying he’s only now truly 'frightened' with James Mattis out of the government. Who ARE these people? And where were they when the very same James Mattis was fired by Obama for being too focused on the threat from Iran -- a focus that was getting in the way of Obama’s increasingly-cozy relationship with the Islamic regime over there? NOW these people are concerned that Iran will have the run of the place in Syria? None of this makes any sense at all, and one cannot possibly take it seriously." • The same could be said of the mountain being made by the media out of the molehill resignation of Brett McGurk -- an Obama appointee who was already past his expiration date. President Trump tweeted : “Brett McGurk, who I do not know, was appointed by President Obama in 2015. Was supposed to leave in February but he just resigned prior to leaving. Grandstander? The Fake News is making such a big deal about this nothing event!” • Everything is a big deal in the Trump era -- everything except the booming economy; everything except the historic criminal justice bill that just got passed; everything except the Republican tax cuts. Only the things that the media can try to turn in order to put President Trump in a bad light are reported. The non-event of Brett McGurk's resignation, for example. • • • WHAT WILL BECOME OF SYRIA? American Thinker's Gary Gindler asks, "Are there any 'good guys' left in Syria?" Gindler reminds us that : "After President Trump announced the withdrawal of American troops from Syria, in his usual manner (via Twitter), a flurry of indignation struck him. The squall is no less than after the unilateral withdrawal of America from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in October of this year. As we know, this flurry of indignation concerning nuclear missiles soon subsided. However, it sank only after Trump's critics finally bothered to read the text of the treaty and were able to ascertain that it concerns only land-based missiles and does not affect sea, air, and space-based nuclear weapons at all. At the same time, the USA has at least a tenfold advantage over Russia in sea-based and air-based nuclear systems. The hysteria about this in America and Europe has remained calm for a long time, but in Russia, this move of Trump still causes undisguised irritation." • Gindler says that the unfair accusations of "betraying the Allies" and "New Year's gift to Iran and Russia" will soon also subside, citing Russia : "She has already learned her lessons in dealing with Trump, and there is no euphoria in the Kremlin about the 'withdrawal of American troops' from Syria. Why? Firstly, only about two thousand ground-based troops will return home from Syria. Syria remains clamped on all sides by the American 6th Fleet (operations in the Mediterranean) and 5th Fleet (operations in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea). We are talking about not only naval forces, but also powerful carrier-based aircraft. Also, the American Air Force, which is based on numerous airfields in the Middle East, Turkey, Greece, and Italy, participated and will continue to participate in Syrian operations. In addition, in agreement with NATO, France will expand its involvement in military operations in the north of Syria and fill the 'gap' due to the departure of American infantry. At the same time, the withdrawal will take place in such a way that the French military will immediately replace every unit of the American military. In other words, the power vacuum that Obama left in 2011 when withdrawing troops from Iraq will not be repeated in Syria. Secondly...Trump's plan for a comprehensive settlement of conflicts in the Middle East is beginning to materialize....the use of 'peaceful' oil and gas as the weapons in a protracted conflict to achieve his goals. At the end of 2008, it was used by the Russian oil industry, stopping the supply of energy to a freezing Europe, and at the end of 2018, it was used by the American oil industry, flooding the world market with cheap and abundant energy. Thanks to the American oil industry workers, the US came out on top in the world in oil production (in September of this year) and natural gas (two years ago). The export of American energy is increasing every year, and energy's price is falling. The fall in the price of oil only since September of this year has already reached about 40%, and from the point of maximum in 2008, the price of oil has fallen by about 70%. The fall in natural gas prices since 2006 has continued uninterrupted and has already reached about 75%. These economic results lead not only to well marked price reductions at gas stations across America, but also to a strategic change in the situation in the Middle East....The innovations of American engineers (such as shale oil) lead to the fact that a hundred-year temporary delay, given to the Moslems of the Middle East, is coming to an end. After the discovery of oil in the Middle East, the war between the Sunnis and Shiites, which continues from the end of the 7th century, broke out with a new force. But at present, the lack of oil super-profits is forcing Moslems to seek alliances previously considered in the realm of fantasy. Sunni Moslems joined forces with Israel and the United States against the Shiite Moslems of Iran, the ruling elite of Syria, and Russia. The protracted conflict in Syria has led to the fact that, as often happens, there are almost no 'good guys' among the opposing sides. Everyone knows a case when, during the time of President Obama, a group of militants in Syria, supported by the Pentagon, fought with a group of militants in the same Syria, sponsored by the CIA." • But, Gindler says that Trump has made the only right choice : to take the American guys out of harm's way and extinguish the conflict with the help of oil and gas weapons. : "The withdrawal of the American infantry from Syria was prepared long ago and came as a surprise only to the uninformed. Trump ordered the development of a plan for leaving Syria as early as February of this year, and in April, this plan was partially declassified and made public. An unexpected 'victim' of the withdrawal of US infantry from Syria was the US Secretary of Defense, James Mattis. General Mattis is one of the most talented combat generals of our time. He, like General Patton before him, perfectly knows methods of military tactics and military strategy, and he does not accept civilian methods in solving military problems. Mattis was unable to come to terms with the fact that the victory over Islamic terrorism would be won by the innovations of American engineers, rather than a professional and well trained army, and decided to retire. Well, we wish our guys to return home safely, and we wish General Mattis inspiration for his memoirs in the New Year. Russia and its friends in Iran, Syria, and Venezuela in the new year should not hope for pleasant surprises." • Old-hand Patrick Buchanan spoke out about the Syria withdrawal for Newsmax last Friday, December 21 : " 'We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there,' wrote President Donald Trump, as he ordered the withdrawal of all US forces from Syria, stunning the US foreign policy establishment. Trump overruled his secretaries of state and defense, and jolted this city and capitals across NATO Europe and the Mideast. Yet, Trump is doing exactly what he promised to do in his campaign. And what his decision seems to say is this : We are extricating America from the forever war of the Mideast so foolishly begun by previous Presidents. We are coming home. The rulers and peoples of this region are going to have to find their own way and fight their own wars." But, Pat Buchanan warned that : "Despite the heavy casualties and lost battles ISIS has suffered, the collapse of the caliphate, expulsion from its Syrian capital Raqqa and Iraqi capital Mosul, and from almost all territories it controlled in both countries, ISIS is not dead. It lives on in thousands of true believers hidden in those countries. And, like al-Qaida, it has followers across the Mideast and inspires haters of the West living in the West. The US pullout from Syria is being called a victory for Vladimir Putin. 'Russia, Iran, Assad...are ecstatic!' wails Senator Lindsey Graham....But ISIS is a Sunni terrorist organization. And, as such, it detests the Alawite regime of Bashar Assad, and Hezbollah and Iran, both of which are hated by ISIS as Shiite heretics. 'Russia, Iran, Syria...are not happy about the US leaving,' Trump tweeted, 'despite what the Fake News says, because now they will have to fight ISIS and others, who they hate, without us.' If Putin, victorious in the Syrian civil war, wishes to fight al-Qaida and ISIS, the last major enemies of Assad in Syria, why not let him?" The real losers? Certainly the Kurds, who lose their American ally. Any dream they had of greater autonomy inside Syria, or an independent state, is not going to be realized. But then, that was never really in the cards. Forced to choose between Turkey, with 80 million people and the second-largest army in NATO, which sits astride the Dardanelles and Bosphorus entrance to the Black Sea, and the stateless Kurds with their Syrian Democratic Forces, or YPG, Trump chose Recep Tayyip Erdogan. And Erdogan regards the YPG as kinfolk and comrades of the Kurdish terrorist PKK in Turkey. A week ago, he threatened to attack the Kurds in northern Syria, though US troops are embedded alongside them. What kind of deal did Trump strike with Erdogan? Turkey will purchase the US Patriot anti-aircraft and missile defense system for $3.5 billion, and probably forego the Russian S-400....National security advisor John Bolton, who said US troops would remain in Syria until all Iranian forces and Iranian-backed militias have been expelled, appears not to have been speaking for his President. And if the Israelis were relying on US forces in Syria to intercept any Iranian weapons shipments headed to Hezbollah in Lebanon through Damascus, then the Israelis are going to have to make other arrangements." Buchanan says : "The war party project, to bring about regime change in Teheran through either severe sanctions leading to insurrection or a US-Iranian clash in the Gulf, will suffer a severe setback with the US pullout from Syria. However, given the strength of the opposition to a US withdrawal -- Israel, Saudi Arabia, the GOP foreign policy establishment in Congress and the think tanks, liberal interventionists in the Beltway press, Trump's own national security team of advisors -- the battle to overturn Trump's decision has probably only just begun." Pat Buchanan believes that the Syria pullout "at least has assured us of a national debate on what it will mean to America to extricate our country from these Mideast wars, the kind of debate we have not had in the 15 years since we were first deceived into invading Iraq." We should add that experience tells us that this debate will probably not occur in any objective sense, but it will give America the opportunity to redefine its Middle East role and seek new and more even-handed relationships with the Middle East countries America is trying to help -- Saudi Arabia and Egypt -- and to re-evaluate the real intentions of such 'allies' as the UAE, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq. • • • DEAR READERS, Iraq is the real issue going forward. There is no question that the US will support Israel and protect it from any assault. That is almost surely also true when it comes to Saudi Arabia and Egypt. BUT, Iraq ??? It is a 'nation' created by the French and British as part of the World War I clean-up, and it has never been a united country because its tribes are both Sunni and Shiite and have long disliked and distrusted each other. Iran has gobbled pu a large part of the Iraqi governmental power points and sides with the Shiites. The Sunnis looked to al-Qaida and ISIS as props against the Iranian takeover of their traditional lands and their elimination form positions of power in Iraqi politics. • When President and Mrs. Trump touched down in Baghdad to visit US troops at Christmas, Sabah al Saadi, the leader of the Islah parliamentary bloc, called for an emergency session of parliament “to discuss this blatant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and to stop these aggressive actions by Trump who should know his limits : The US occupation of Iraq is over.” The Islah bloc is headed by populist Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who has opposed the US presence in Iraq since the US-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. He led two uprisings against US forces in Iraq, BUT is one of the few Shiite leaders to also distance himself from Iran.The Bina bloc, Islah’s rival in parliament and led by Iran-backed militia leader Hadi al-Amiri, also objected to Trump’s trip to Iraq. “Trump’s visit is a flagrant and clear violation of diplomatic norms and shows his disdain and hostility in his dealings with the Iraqi government,” said a statement from Bina. The office of Abdul Mahdi -- Iraq's Shiite politician who iwas agreed ot by the Iraqi parliament in October as prime minister -- said in a statement that US authorities had informed Iraq’s leadership of the president’s visit ahead of time. The statement said the Iraqi prime minister and US President Trump talked by telephone due to a “disagreement over how to conduct the meeting.” Iraqi lawmakers told Reuters that the pair had disagreed over where their planned meeting should take place : President Trump had asked to meet at the Ain al-Asad military base, an offer which Abdul Mahdi declined. Falih Khazali, a former militia leader turned politician allied with the Iran-backed Bina bloc, accused the United States of wanting to increase its presence in Iraq : “The American leadership was defeated in Iraq and wants to return again under any pretext, and this is what we will never allow.” • Iraq’s Shiite militias, also known as the PMF, many of which are supported by Iran, oppose the presence of US troops in the region. The PMF was made formally part of the security forces this year after helping the military defeat ISIS in Iraq in 2017. Qais al-Khazali, the leader of the powerful Iran-backed Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia said on Twitter : “Iraqis will respond with a parliamentary decision to oust your (US) military forces. And if they do not leave, we have the experience and the ability to remove them by other means that your forces are familiar with.” • A Baghdad resident told Reuters that : “We won’t get anything from America. They’ve been in Iraq 16 years, and they haven’t given anything to the country except destruction and devastation.” • It is a sorry mess that began with the invasion of Saddam Hussein's Iraq in 2003. The US cannot leave -- as President Obama did in 2011 -- without providing some measure of protection for the Iraqi Sunnis who are being subdued by Iran-backed Shiites, both politically and economically. The real question that should be debated in America is how to do that without causing another internal war in Iraq between Sunnis and Shiites now aided by Iran and its militias who are holding a lot of the key cards. Iraq can be seen as a microcosm of a large portion of the Middle East. America has no role to play in the Sunni-Shiite centuries-old religious and ethnic war, but it can and should protect, or find those regional countries strong enough to protect, those groups whose existence is threatened by Iran, its Iraqi militias and its proxy Hezbollah. It is a long dusty minefield of a road to walk, but walk it America must. And President Trump is making a good start with the arrangements he is negotiating for Syria after US troops leave.