Why Trump Doesn't Always Get It Wrong on the Middle East

 BlogviewPatrick Cockburn Archive Select Year/MonthAll Years = 1,220 ItemsDecade 2010s = 874 Items  Year 2019 = 5 Items    January 2019 = 5 Items      Current Item  Year 2018 = 94 Items  Year 2017 = 114 Items  Year 2016 = 131 Items  Year 2015 = 134 Items  Year 2014 = 153 Items  Year 2013 = 69 Items  Year 2012 = 50 Items  Year 2011 = 81 Items  Year 2010 = 44 ItemsDecade 2000s = 345 Items  Year 2009 = 43 Items  Year 2008 = 51 Items  Year 2007 = 83 Items  Year 2006 = 42 Items  Year 2005 = 42 Items  Year 2004 = 53 Items  Year 2003 = 16 Items  Year 2002 = 6 Items  Year 2001 = 9 Items---    January 2019 = 5 Items      Current Item    December 2018 = 7 Items    November 2018 = 6 Items    October 2018 = 9 Items    September 2018 = 5 Items    August 2018 = 2 Items    July 2018 = 7 Items    June 2018 = 9 Items    May 2018 = 9 Items    April 2018 = 11 Items    March 2018 = 14 Items    February 2018 = 6 Items    January 2018 = 9 Items    December 2017 = 7 Items    November 2017 = 8 Items    October 2017 = 12 Items    September 2017 = 8 Items    August 2017 = 2 Items    July 2017 = 13 Items    June 2017 = 12 Items    May 2017 = 13 Items    April 2017 = 12 Items    March 2017 = 9 Items    February 2017 = 9 Items    January 2017 = 9 Items    December 2016 = 11 Items    November 2016 = 13 Items    October 2016 = 7 Items    September 2016 = 17 Items    August 2016 = 5 Items    July 2016 = 16 Items    June 2016 = 10 Items    May 2016 = 8 Items    April 2016 = 13 Items    March 2016 = 9 Items    February 2016 = 9 Items    January 2016 = 13 Items    December 2015 = 9 Items    November 2015 = 18 Items    October 2015 = 15 Items    September 2015 = 15 Items    August 2015 = 2 Items    July 2015 = 12 Items    June 2015 = 7 Items    May 2015 = 11 Items    April 2015 = 9 Items    March 2015 = 12 Items    February 2015 = 12 Items    January 2015 = 12 Items    December 2014 = 7 Items    November 2014 = 10 Items    October 2014 = 12 Items    September 2014 = 11 Items    August 2014 = 11 Items    July 2014 = 15 Items    June 2014 = 30 Items    May 2014 = 12 Items    April 2014 = 8 Items    March 2014 = 14 Items    February 2014 = 11 Items    January 2014 = 12 Items    December 2013 = 12 Items    November 2013 = 9 Items    October 2013 = 11 Items    September 2013 = 6 Items    July 2013 = 2 Items    June 2013 = 8 Items    May 2013 = 8 Items    April 2013 = 2 Items    March 2013 = 4 Items    February 2013 = 3 Items    January 2013 = 4 Items    December 2012 = 3 Items    November 2012 = 4 Items    October 2012 = 3 Items    September 2012 = 5 Items    July 2012 = 2 Items    June 2012 = 5 Items    May 2012 = 6 Items    April 2012 = 4 Items    March 2012 = 5 Items    February 2012 = 6 Items    January 2012 = 7 Items    December 2011 = 5 Items    November 2011 = 6 Items    October 2011 = 6 Items    September 2011 = 10 Items    August 2011 = 10 Items    July 2011 = 8 Items    June 2011 = 8 Items    May 2011 = 8 Items    April 2011 = 9 Items    March 2011 = 8 Items    January 2011 = 3 Items    December 2010 = 3 Items    November 2010 = 4 Items    October 2010 = 2 Items    September 2010 = 2 Items    August 2010 = 3 Items    July 2010 = 4 Items    June 2010 = 5 Items    May 2010 = 4 Items    April 2010 = 5 Items    March 2010 = 5 Items    February 2010 = 3 Items    January 2010 = 4 Items    December 2009 = 4 Items    November 2009 = 4 Items    October 2009 = 1 Item    August 2009 = 3 Items    July 2009 = 5 Items    June 2009 = 6 Items    May 2009 = 6 Items    April 2009 = 4 Items    March 2009 = 2 Items    February 2009 = 6 Items    January 2009 = 2 Items    December 2008 = 4 Items    November 2008 = 2 Items    October 2008 = 3 Items    September 2008 = 4 Items    August 2008 = 6 Items    July 2008 = 4 Items    June 2008 = 5 Items    May 2008 = 1 Item    April 2008 = 3 Items    March 2008 = 8 Items    February 2008 = 7 Items    January 2008 = 4 Items    December 2007 = 2 Items    November 2007 = 3 Items    October 2007 = 3 Items    September 2007 = 8 Items    August 2007 = 6 Items    July 2007 = 8 Items    June 2007 = 4 Items    May 2007 = 13 Items    April 2007 = 9 Items    March 2007 = 12 Items    February 2007 = 6 Items    January 2007 = 9 Items    December 2006 = 3 Items    November 2006 = 4 Items    October 2006 = 2 Items    September 2006 = 8 Items    August 2006 = 2 Items    July 2006 = 5 Items    June 2006 = 4 Items    May 2006 = 4 Items    April 2006 = 1 Item    March 2006 = 9 Items    December 2005 = 10 Items    October 2005 = 7 Items    September 2005 = 2 Items    July 2005 = 4 Items    June 2005 = 2 Items    May 2005 = 4 Items    April 2005 = 1 Item    March 2005 = 1 Item    February 2005 = 8 Items    January 2005 = 3 Items    December 2004 = 10 Items    November 2004 = 3 Items    October 2004 = 1 Item    September 2004 = 15 Items    August 2004 = 2 Items    July 2004 = 1 Item    June 2004 = 10 Items    May 2004 = 3 Items    April 2004 = 7 Items    January 2004 = 1 Item    December 2003 = 1 Item    November 2003 = 2 Items    October 2003 = 2 Items    September 2003 = 1 Item    July 2003 = 1 Item    May 2003 = 3 Items    April 2003 = 3 Items    March 2003 = 2 Items    February 2003 = 1 Item    December 2002 = 1 Item    October 2002 = 1 Item    May 2002 = 1 Item    April 2002 = 1 Item    March 2002 = 1 Item    January 2002 = 1 Item    November 2001 = 2 Items    October 2001 = 6 Items    September 2001 = 1 Item

PATRICK COCKBURN • JANUARY 24, 2019

Must one talk of Donald Trump? One must and not just because of the power of his position as US president, but because the nature of his foreign policy is misunderstood.

I was answering questions about the future of the Middle East at a meeting of Independent subscribers on Tuesday evening when there was a predictable question about the impact of Trump on the region.

I had the impression, perhaps unfairly, that the person who made this very reasonable and important query was expecting a reply that would be a blend of denunciation and derision.

This is usually the automatic reaction to all Trump foreign policy initiatives by the media across the world as soon as they read his latest tweet. It does not matter if the subject is Canada or Afghanistan, the reaction is one of instant condemnation and often this response is more than justified – but not always.

The exceptions are important but Trump does not get credit for them because of the knee-jerk hostility which rules out any possibility that Trump may be right and his vast array of critics wrong.

North Korea, Russia and Syria are good examples of the positive side of Trump foreign policy, however unorthodox its expression.

He may not have got as far as he wanted through talks with Kim Jong-un, but war in the Korean peninsula is certainly less likely than it was in pre-Trump times. Any contact between Trump and Vladimir Putin is portrayed by most news outlets as a hideous act of betrayal of the west. But Russia has a nuclear arsenal capable of blowing up the world several times over, so it is surely unwise to refuse to talk to, and treat as a pariah, the Russian leader who could press the nuclear button?

Trump’s sudden decision in December to pull US troops out of Syria was condemned by everybody from the most liberal Democrats to the most belligerent Republicans. They all jumped on to their moral high horses, but none proffered an alternative policy and happily pretended that the status quo was sustainable – though it is not.

The US is a bit player in Syria where the Kurdish-led forces it backs have largely defeated Isis. “Oh no they haven’t,” shouts the Washington foreign policy establishment, but Isis used to rule eight million people in a powerful state stretching from the outskirts of Baghdad to the Mediterranean. It now controls only part of a single small town, Hajin, in the depths of eastern Syria. The jihadis are never going to run up the white flag, but if this is not defeat it is something very close to it.

Other US objectives in Syria, such as curtailing Iranian influence and weakening Bashar al-Assad, are not attainable and are simply an excuse for continuing a war of extraordinary ferocity and destructiveness. The Washington establishment, which is itself a child of the Cold War against the Soviet Union, seems quite happy to contemplate this and denounces Trump for breaking the logjam.

What is needed is for the US, as it withdraws, to keep Turkey from launching an onslaught against the Syrian Kurds, and this can only be done – if it is to be done at all – by allowing the Kurds to do a deal with Damascus and for Syrian troops to return to the Syrian-Turkish border.

It may not turn out that way, but Trump’s approach is more realistic than those who dismiss it as dangerous idiocy. For all his verbal belligerency, Trump is a genuine isolationist who has yet to start a war anywhere. It is an achievement not to be underrated.

(Republished from The Independent by permission of author or representative)

http://www.unz.com/pcockburn/why-trump-doesnt-always-get-it-wrong-on-the-middle-east/