Washington Swamp wants to leave Afghanistan, escalate Syria

President Donald Trump has been battling the Establishment in Washington, to "drain the swamp." In foreign policy, his record has been mixed.

The US staying in Syria after the destruction of ISIS has been, undoubtedly, orchestrated by the Washington Swamp - it is highly unlikely that the President supported the move. But, to Trump's credit, he has stopped the funding of Salafi terrorism in Syria and has instead pinned his hopes on the Syrian Kurds.

But the Swamp is still not satisfied. It would prefer to see Bashar Al-Assad removed and a "democratic government" put in its place, like those in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. That such a move would require war with Russia, Syria and Iran is of little concern to the Washington Establishment.

The reason we know that the Establishment would prefer Bashar Al-Assad removed from office is because many Establishment candidates in the 2016 election - Jeb Bush, Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio and Hillary Clinton - ran on a platform of a "no-fly-zone" in Syria which, according to most experts, includes regime change in Syria and war with Russia:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmE9Jj-rEVs

Not only so - but nearly all Establishment Media worldwide has been pushing the false narrative that Bashar Al-Assad's forces are mass-murderers, and the rebels who fight against them are largely freedom fighters. This narrative is so terribly false as it is dangerous, and has given the international community a false picture of what is happening on the ground.

However, though the Establishment wants to escalate war in Syria, it also wants to pull out of Afghanistan. US forces have been in Afghanistan for nearly 17 years and, unlike in Iraq, have never been pulled out of the country. While President, Barrack Obama tried to withdraw troops from Afghanistan - only for the Taliban to seize large amounts of territory and ramp up its insurgency. A complete pullout from Afghanistan would be a disaster for the US.

What escalating Syria and withdrawal from Afghanistan have in common is that both moves would benefit terrorism. Since the 1980's, Afghanistan has been the centre of the Al-Qaeda network and, despite pressure from the international community, the Taliban is still closely allied to Al-Qaeda. In Syria, the main military opposition to Bashar Al-Assad is Al-Qaeda fighters in Idlib.

Of the two conflicts, it is Syria rather than Afghanistan which the US should pull out of and it is Afghanistan which should be escalated. Thankfully, in Afghanistan, President Trump has escalated the conflict, but withdrawal from Syria is still unaccomplished.

But with Turkey given the green light by Russia to invade Kurdish Afrin, it is more likely than ever before that Turkey and the US will go to war in north-eastern Syria. And should that happen, it would be the US, not Turkey, that would be forced to withdraw from Syria.