{"id":29567,"date":"2019-10-08T13:55:30","date_gmt":"2019-10-08T13:55:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/packetstormsecurity.com\/news\/view\/30565\/Trumps-Syria-Move-Blindsides-National-Security-Leaders.html"},"modified":"2019-10-08T13:55:30","modified_gmt":"2019-10-08T13:55:30","slug":"trumps-syria-move-blindsides-national-security-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/trumps-syria-move-blindsides-national-security-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump’s Syria Move Blindsides National Security Leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"
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“Everyone was absolutely flabbergasted by this. I tell you that as a fact,” retired Adm. James Stavridis said Monday on MSNBC, describing what he saw as the view from the Pentagon. “Nobody saw it coming, and that is a real problem when you’re trying to conduct not only foreign policy … but also military operations. That kind of whipsawing effect is extremely detrimental, not only in this tactical situation, but strategically as our planners try and prepare in other theaters, from North Korea to Afghanistan.”<\/p>\n

A senior administration official dismissed that characterization, insisting that senior national security officials were consulted.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat surprises me because this is something that was discussed among senior leadership here, at the State Department and the Pentagon, so I don\u2019t know how anybody could\u2019ve been blindsided,” the official told reporters on a conference call.<\/p>\n

The official also stressed that the “the president made it very clear that this is not an action the United States endorses or would in any way be involved with” and said he decided to pull back between 50 to 100 American forces to other bases in Syria when Erdo\u011fan made it clear Turkey was going to go forward with the operation.<\/p>\n

The official also maintained that the United States is sensitive to concerns that Turkey will go too far in cracking down on what it considers a terrorist threat. “You\u2019re presuming that Turkey is going to commit genocide against the Kurds,” the senior administration official said. “I don\u2019t have any information that would suggest that.\u201d<\/p>\n

But a person familiar with the U.S. government\u2019s policy deliberations on the issue said Trump is operating against the advice of his national security leaders \u2014 noting that Sunday night’s announcement came just three days after Defense Secretary Mark Esper spoke by phone with Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar.<\/p>\n

\u201cPOTUS went rogue,” the person said. “It\u2019s not too surprising for those of us who\u2019ve been following him, but it was a surprise and went against what Esper was talking to Akar about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week, the Pentagon and Special Representative for Syria Engagement James Jeffrey, the State Department\u2019s point man for the country, believed they had a system in place \u2014 a safe zone and program of joint patrols known as the \u201csecurity mechanism\u201d \u2060\u2014 to prevent the Turks\u2019 long-threatened incursion against the Syrian Democratic Forces. Turkey views the U.S.-backed paramilitary group as a terrorist organization, since many of its members are part of Kurdish guerrilla groups that have fought the Turkish government.<\/p>\n

On the phone call, Esper told reporters Friday, he and Akar agreed that the safe zone system was the best approach to securing the Turkish-Syrian border. \u201cI made very clear to him, and he agreed as well, that we need to make the security mechanism work,\u201d Esper said. \u201cWe have air patrols going on, we had another ground patrol just happen. \u2026 I just told him, let’s keep working at it. That’s the best path forward for all of us, so that’s what I’m focused on right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

As of Saturday, Pentagon officials were still taking Esper’s safe-zone comments as their guidance. \u201cIndicators of Turkish military movements were pretty sparse \u2014 although folks were getting a little antsy about it,” a Defense official said. “Obviously, things have changed over the past 24 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n