Why does Donald Trump say the things he does about Syria and its government?
He insists that the SAG attacks its people with chemical weapons when such attacks have never been proven. They have only been asserted by opponents of the government and in fact there exists a lot of evidence that these attacks have been staged by information operations projects like the White Helmets film production group with the surreptitious backing of a network of covert action people within the the UK government and money from USAID.
He insists that the jihadi defenders of their lodgement in Idlib Province are somehow worthy of American protection when in fact they are the same breed of salafi takfiri fanatics that he boasts of having defeated in the "caliphate."
He insists that the SAA and its allies are in the process of massacring the civilian population of Idlib Province when in fact the opposite is true. Is it not clear that the usual blizzard of anti-government propaganda has been generated solely because the SAA is winning the day in Idlib Province?
He seems oblivious or indifferent to the fact that the Syrian Government are the protectors of the Christian and other minorities in the country. Is he not a Christian?
His positions seem to imitate precisely the attitude of the the Israeli Likud run government and its closest US supporters like Sheldon Adelson, the casino man. These forces have made it clear that they prefer that Syria be made into a Hobbesian maelstrom in which many small groups fight among themselves forever rather than that the present multi-confessional government should survive.
Where does Trump get such ideas? Is it from his addiction to Fox News personalities like Jack Keane, Lou Dobbs, Brian Kilmeade and Sean Hannity? These are people who collectively have no real understanding of the realities of the Middle East but they all have a lot of opinions seemingly based on free floating hostility toward anything in the world that does not serve their hyper-nationalism.
Is it the Turks who tell him such self serving untruths? Is it not clear that Erdogan and company are intent on splitting off parts of Syria for future annexation?
Do CIA, DIA, State INR and the rest of the IC also feed him such nonsense? The analysts must know the truth if they are not swept up in massive group think. Perhaps their leaders are simply afraid to tell him the truth in the face of the opposition of people like Jared Kushner and his allies in Bolton's NSC staff.
I support many of Trump's positions with regard to the economy, immigration and his trade struggle with China. I may even vote for him considering the choices likely to be advanced by the Democrats but I am at a loss to understand why he claims to believe his own foolish statements about Syria. pl
A few days ago Trump said tht the hurricane Dorian would hit Alabama. It didn't and the FEMA disgreed with that and so did the map they produced about Dorian.
Iirc today Trump was back with that map and (perhaps by himself) the area of the hurricane was increased with an felt pen, now covering parts of Alabama - and said that he was all totally right all the time. An ego thing I presume. Well, Trump is Trump.
As for where Trump gets his info about Syria from, well, there are Pompeo and Bolton and of course his son in law Kushner.
Pompeo and Bolton are already very pro Israel and anti Syria, and Kushner is probably out of his depth and happily used by Netanyahu and he's on a "Du" with the occasionally murderous saudi prince Mohammed bin Salman.
IMO from none of these three Trump will get sensible or rational advice and since the so called "grownups" (Tillerson, Mattis, Kelly) in the whitehouse have been driven out or quit themselves there is probably no 'alternative opinion' to whatever Bolton, Pompeo and Kushner say.
Posted by: confusedponderer | 06 September 2019 at 02:13 PM
My sense is that, whereas most politicians state what the people want to hear and then actually do what nameless forces behind the scenes desire, Trump actually does what the people want, while stating what the nameless forces behind the scenes want to hear.
To me at least that's how his admin has appeared to act thus far.
Once in a while he tosses the nameless forces a bone - like recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. That way the nameless forces can't totally turn on him. He's done just enough to remain a "friend" without recklessly endangering or alienating the USA and his base.
Posted by: Eric Newhill | 06 September 2019 at 02:19 PM
pl it is likely a bit from all of the above. trump does not seem like a reader or even scholarly of the type to discover his own truth from wide spread source material certainly available to him. thus his world view must be imported from other people he trusts/needs/owes.
of more importance is his thus far adamant refusal to start any new wars. clinton, obama and bush jr were/are bloodthirsty maniacs compared to trump.
whatever can be said of trump and his bombast he is at core a peaceful man compared to his predecessors.
Posted by: ted richard | 06 September 2019 at 03:16 PM
I was going to explain who Trump listens to but would take too long and loyalist would poo poo it anyway.
So.... Send in the Clowns! The Circus Must Go On!
Jason Geenblatt , uber zionist and former Trump Organization lawyer and then Trump’s chief “international negotiator” for the Middle East is resigning.
This could have been good news depending on who replaced him.
BUT...
Trump Somehow Replaces Unqualified Mideast Envoy With Even Less Qualified One
Following Middle East peace envoy Jason Greenblatt's imminent departure from the administration, 30-year-old White House aide Avi Berkowitz will take on much of Greenblatt's work.
https://www.businessinsider.com/avi-berkowitz-will-take-over-major-middle-east-peace-responsibilities-2019-9
'Former White House spokeswoman Hope Hicks told Insider in March 2017 that Berkowitz's White House role was primarily administrative and involved assisting Kushner with daily logistics.
Hope Hicks, then a White House spokeswoman, told Insider in March 2017 that Berkowitz's role was primarily administrative and involved assisting Kushner with daily logistics like getting coffee or coordinating meetings.
Berkowitz qualifications for the job? He worked for Trump's election campaign, has some personal connections to Israel, where he studied for two years at an Orthodox seminary after high school and is a friend of Kushner.
Posted by: catherine | 06 September 2019 at 03:18 PM
catherine
"daily logistics like getting coffee or coordinating meetings" That is preceisely how the great hero Ollie North got started at the NSC
Posted by: turcopolier | 06 September 2019 at 03:25 PM
Trump is a bullshit artist. He doesn't believe in anything. He has no ideological positions, and certainly nothing like sense of strategy beyond short-term deals and electioneering.
Someone tells him the headchoppers are freedom fighters? Great, then they're freedom fighters.
But I think he has a gut-level sense that people dislike wars that don't result in a big win and a parade. I think he also understands that our Middle Eastern policy as been a goat-rope for decades and people are sick of it.
His hero Reagan cut and ran after Beirut... and it didn't hurt him one bit.
Bush 41 got a parade... and then lost to a draft-dodger.
W played Tom Cruise on a carrier deck... and now he looks like a hollowed out shell.
Trump will go along with whatever the Likud wing of the uni-party wants, but my sense is he will always draw the line at a real war unless he can be false-flagged into one.
For me, the real question is: how did it come to pass that American evangelicals allowed themselves to be bought off by Zionists, beginning after'67 and really after '73, to the point that they put there interests of those people (who hate them and spread abortion, homosexuality and general degeneracy in their communities) over the survival of their fellow Christians?
Posted by: Vegetius | 06 September 2019 at 03:26 PM
He is being duplicitous. From the second Presidential debate
"Now, she talks tough. She talks really tough against Putin and against Assad. She talks in favor of the rebels. She doesn't even know who the rebels are. You know, every time we take(talk)rebels whether it's in Iraq or anywhere else, we’re arming people. And you know what happens? They end up being worse than the people.(Syrian People - SAA - Government)"
3rd debate referring to Saudi Arabia donating to the Clinton Foundation
"It's a criminal enterprise. Saudi Arabia given $25 million, Qatar, all of these countries. You talk about women and women's rights? So these are people that push gays off business, off buildings. These are people that kill women and treat women horribly and yet you take their money. So I'd like to ask you right now why don't you give back the money that you've taken from certain countries that treat certain groups of people so horribly? Why don’t you give back the money?"
3rd debate Syria
"Now they have lined -- he has aligned with Russia and with Iran. They don't want ISIS, but they have other things because we're backing, we're backing rebels. We don't know who the rebels are. We're giving them lots of money, lots of everything. We don't know who the rebels are, and when and if -- and it's not going to happen because you have Russia and you have Iran now. But if they ever did overthrow Assad, you might end up with as bad as Assad is. And he’s a bad guy. But you may very well end up with worse than Assad."
He knows. He is not a Christian as far as I can tell. He is more devoted to his daughter than Evangelicals. I believe him to be a Zionist. May be just opportunist motive or deeper.
Posted by: Harlan Easley | 06 September 2019 at 03:28 PM
CP
The Map thing is meaningless. he drew a line on a map because someone told him it might go that way.
Posted by: turcopolier | 06 September 2019 at 03:29 PM
I'll risk a bit of a long winded answer to your question. It relates to a few things I've been pondering about Trump and his foreign policy and challenges dealing with the Borg. I have noted that there are significantly less posts on ME war issues for a while, which IMO reflects the fact that Trump is not as well leashed by the Borg compared to Obama.
The last time Trump was in North Korea, simultaneously Bolton was in Mongolia. And not only that Bolton made a point to the news that this was long planned in advance (hahahaha). I have noticed the absence of Bolton in the headlines. Just before I started typing this I searched google news on Bolton and the main stories are about how he has been sidelined.
IMO, Trump is saying those things about Syria to cover his ass against both the neocons and the MSM. Every time he has bucked the Borg on FP issues in a public way, he has gotten slammed. Look at how the MSM reacted to his meeting with Putin not long after he was elected. Then he was chastised about his Syrian policy because he was ready to pull out of Syria and to let Putin finish up there, but the Borg and MSM went apeshit until he had a vacant warehouse (or something like that) in Syria bombed at which point ALL rejoiced at his newly found anti Syrian gov't action. And of course, US troops were only somewhat removed.
Last year I listened to an interview with Sebastian Gorka where he explained that when the big meetings on FP/war issues were held (with whatever Pentagon, State Dept, CIA,etc) none of them would listen to what Gorka was trying to tell them about what Trump wanted done. They did not want any input from Trump on these issues. So Trump has to be aware that the Borg don't want him to modify US imperial FP.
Where does all of this leave Trump if he wants to cut back on foreign entanglements in terms of war and nation building? He has to be devious in his dealings with the Borg and the MSM, which means saying one thing to appease while actually doing other things. This is also how he tries to play the Dems with his tweets, meanwhile getting conservative judges appointed on the QT (for example). In addition to being a cool thing in it's own right, I think the Space Force is both something to keep the Borg occupied and keep their approval as well as something for him to boast about. There are probably other FP issues that Trump can throw his support behind so that Borg creatures have imperial projects (like Africom) to keep them busy that don't involve color revolutions, nation building or troop deployments.
It has been interesting to watch him try and thread the needle on Iran. On the one hand trying to appease Israel and the Borg, but on the other hand NOT engaging in actual hostile military action. Trump's troll of the Iran gov't recently is hilarious. Here's Bill Whittle & co on that topic...
Trump Tweet-Trolls Iran Regime After 'Catastrophic Accident' at Safir Missile Site https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vonsJULD5cE (~12 min)
"President Trump Tweet-Trolls the Iranian regime using a satellite photo of a "catastrophic accident" involving its Safir SLV missile at Semnan Launch Site One. The American Left goes ballistic, accusing Trump of leaking the classified image."
Posted by: Valissa | 06 September 2019 at 03:56 PM
My SWAG is similar to what Eric Newhill and Vegetius have already said. I think the answer is rather prosaic: He simply believes that his re-election chances are enhanced by playing the role of 'King of Israel', or more precisely Prince of the Likudniks. If parroting Ziocon propaganda wrt Syria is required for this role so be it. The truth? Unlike most of us, I think this just isn't a concept that troubles the showman-in-chief.
Before his decision to audition for his current role, did Trump display signs of Zionist or neocon sympathies? Even as POTUS, his gifts to Bibi have been (highly) symbolic, but symbolic nonetheless. Perhaps he will even tweet support for the JINSA treaty in the next 10 days, as a last minute bit of symbolism. But is he willing to go to war for Bibi? Until bombs start dropping on Iran I will remain unconvinced.
Unfortunately, I am not at all sure Trump appreciates that war on Israel's behalf may not be something within his control. Or perhaps far worse, he believes the likes of Bolton who doubtless tell him Iran & Hizbullah can be dispatched with quick & painless air campaigns. Anyway, the sad truth appears to be that the immediate prospects of war are more closely linked to Bibi's re-election chances. That said, the charade on Sunday seems to indicate both sides were happy to role play real conflict, at least on this occasion.
Posted by: Barbara Ann | 06 September 2019 at 04:52 PM
It seems he likes to regurgitate whatever the last person he talked to said to him. Trump is an idiot.
If he vetoes the warmongers desires he is a useful idiot though.
Posted by: rswojo | 06 September 2019 at 04:52 PM
It is just a distraction, anything to take the press heat off of the three and a half billion dollar raid on the defense budget to build the great wall of China. Just like the sharpie on the hurricane map, it also was a distraction. Along with many others in the past
As much as I dislike him, I have to admit the guy is a maestro at manipulating the media.
Posted by: JP Billen | 06 September 2019 at 06:26 PM
Confused,
A few days ago everyone except Trump was saying that hurricane was going to hit Florida South of Melbourne and drive across to Orlando and make a right turn and head North. The weather forecasters were wrong but it didn't stop the news broadcasters from repeating that for close to 3 days straight. The Syria forecasts from bombing Bolton and company are just as wrong. Syria poses no threat to the US and hopefully Trump knows that.
Posted by: Fred | 06 September 2019 at 08:21 PM
My guess is that the root of Trump's behavior in the Mideast can be traced to his relationship with Netanyahu, MBS and other Israelis and Arabs dating back to 2015 at least. It's purely transactional, certainly not out of any allegiance to neocon or Zionist principles. Trump either got something from these people and/or thinks he will get something from them in exchange for his pro-Israeli, anti-Iran and anti-Syria utterances and actions. I seriously doubt this can be attributed to a case of Trump being ridden like a rented mule by the neocon advisors around him. Trump knows what he's doing.
Posted by: The Twisted Genius | 06 September 2019 at 08:29 PM
The map thing should be meaningless. Trump has been fixated on the hurricane going to Alabama for a week now through his repeated tweets, ham-fisted sharpie map adjustment and calling of a Fox reporter into the WH to personally insist he's right about Alabama. The more the internet ridicules him, the more fixated and enraged Trump becomes. It's not healthy.
Posted by: The Twisted Genius | 06 September 2019 at 08:35 PM
If you tell me America is an empire, I'm like, 's cool. I dig history. Dan Carlin's Hardcore History just as good as it gets. I'd rather be in the empire than under it. Although, if I were under it, I'd be all there, too. I just have a problem with fecklessness. Ah well... Nothing lasts forever.
Posted by: coboarts | 06 September 2019 at 11:44 PM
I don't believe they did get bought off. I believe they saw an opportunity to support a Greater Israel as a stepping stone to creating the Final War at Armageddon and the End Of Days; after which Jesus will come back to establish a Thousand Year Rule of Righteousness on the Earth.
In the Evangelical Vision ( or more specifically the Rapturanian Armageddonite wing of the Evangelical Vision), all the Jews from all over the World will be re-Ingathered into the Greatest Ever Israel, there to be exterminated except for 144,000 who will be spared by God and converted to Rapturanian Armageddonism.
There is even a "rapture index" (no joke) for Rapturanians to check for signs of Leading Rapturenomic Indicators. I would offer the search engine blurb but I can't copy paste it. But here is the link.
https://www.raptureready.com/rapture-ready-index/
So maybe moderate Evangelicals really did sell out. . . if that is what they did . . . but the Rapturanian Armageddonites didn't sell out anything. Rather, I would hypothesize that they have "captured" Israel in certain significant ways, and will keep it on course to fulfilling the role they have assigned for it in the coming End Of Days War at Armageddon.
Posted by: different clue | 07 September 2019 at 12:57 AM
When I see negative stories about Trump in the Fake-Stream Media, I don't know whether I am receiving genuine early-warning information about a looming Trump problem or whether I am just seeing newer kinds of catapulted propaganda in service to various narratives designed to prepare public opinion for demise-ing Trump.
So this story caught my eye. It purports to describe a rolling melt-down in Trump's behavior just lately. But is it true or fact-based? Or is it part of a multi-channel narrative campaign designed to massage the public mood in favor of Article 25ing the President since the other approaches to removal appear not to have worked? If it is the latter, then I would expect more such stories from seemingly different and unrelated channels. If indeed an "Article 25-ing" is what is being slowly engineered into preparation and roll-out, then I would expect the Article 25ers to take as much time as necessary to get so many other cabinet officers involved in the Declaration of Incompetency that VP Pence can stay un-involved one way or another . . . so as to inherit Trump's base of supporters when Pence is made President . . . under this scenario.
Anyway, here is the link to kick and sniff at . . . from every possible angle of approach and attack.
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/trump-aides-worried-about-mental-state-alabama-hurricane-dorian-2019-9
Posted by: different clue | 07 September 2019 at 01:09 AM
Pat,
is it really so meaningless?
"18 U.S. Code § 2074. False weather reports
Whoever knowingly issues or publishes any counterfeit weather forecast or warning of weather conditions falsely representing such forecast or warning to have been issued or published by the Weather Bureau, United States Signal Service, or other branch of the Government service, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ninety days, or both."
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2074
"Not more than ninety days" isn't that big a deal when compared to things like, say, tax evasion, bribery or habitually cheating at golf.
In the end it doesn't so much matter why he did it and then, thanks to Giuliani, "reality isn’t reality" and in that field Trump is rather experienced.
The point is that he apparently did it.
The why is something about character and motive and that would be a question for an investigation.
Trump could entertain us with pardoning himself ... for something he of course most certainly didn't do.
Probably Trump would go into a rabid tweet frenzy if, say, the congress would want to look into that (or his finances). That written, Trump has very likely done some worse things than playing with a pen on a weather map.
But then - so it is not 'fake news by badly losing media' but 'greatly grandiose fake weather news to the effing media'? I don't see that as an improvement.
Posted by: confusedponderer | 07 September 2019 at 05:19 AM
My observation for what it’s worth is that DJT is very aware that he wields a Presidential veto. His formative influences appear to be what happened to his brother and conversations with his Uncle John G Trump. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_G._Trump
His reality tv shows gave him understanding of that audience base and he used that knowledge to construct a sufficient electoral base to defeat all other Republican candidates then go on to win what was seen as an unlosable election for his opponent. He has maintained that political base throughout his Presidency to date. His Trade Policy has been consistent throughout under Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. Domestic policy has been left as the provenance of his electoral base and power brokers.
Defence and State has been more about avoiding trench warfare and losing by keeping the forces involved off balance. Love him or ridicule him DJT has proven to be a formidable operator and may yet win a second term.
Posted by: Johnb | 07 September 2019 at 05:36 AM
Oliver North, hero of regime change neocons.
Posted by: fritzenfreiberlin | 07 September 2019 at 05:48 AM
I've detected the same pattern. That's why I'm sticking with Trump--at least until/unless something better comes along.
Posted by: Seamus Padraig | 07 September 2019 at 06:56 AM
Posted by: Seamus Padraig | 07 September 2019 at 07:01 AM
I agree, no different to Trump fibbing about the Chinese calling about trade last week. Trump has tied his record to that of the stock market so he lied when the markets looked like they would open dramatically lower.
Posted by: LondonBob | 07 September 2019 at 07:51 AM
CP
I do not think that the president drawing a line on a map is a weather forecast in the legal sense. Once again, you are stereotypically humorless.
Posted by: turcopolier | 07 September 2019 at 09:21 AM