Commander in chief Donald Trump has America’s military brass reaching for the biggest jar of Excedrin the generals can find. After the president’s tweets and taunts of the past few days, who could blame them? Two fluid situations that still were unfolding Wednesday:
On the border with Mexico, Trump would deploy the National Guard to intensify his crackdown on illegal immigration. That’s the job of the U.S. Border Patrol, which says illegal immigrant crossings are at their lowest since 1971. But Trump’s not fazed. “Until we can have a wall and proper security, we are going to be guarding our border with the military,” he declared this week. On Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said the administration will ask governors in border states to deploy National Guard units as backup for Border Patrol agents.
In Syria, meanwhile, Trump wants to withdraw American troops. That would leave a volatile mix in and around that hothouse country: regular military and irregular combatants from Russia, Iran and Turkey; forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad; moderate rebels; and the remnants of Islamic State that also menace war-weary Syrians. But Trump’s had enough, and earlier this week announced he wants “to get out. I want to bring our troops back home.”
The problem with those two strategies is they don’t reflect on-the-ground realities on the Mexican border or in Syria.
The U.S. has about 2,000 troops in Syria. Their job is to advise and help Syrian Kurd and Arab forces battle what’s left of the Islamic State forces, and to direct air strikes against the group. Though Islamic State has been defeated in most of the territory it held, including its de facto capital, Raqqa, remnants of the group remain near Syria’s border with Iraq.
Keeping an American troop presence in Syria also gums up plans of Russia and Iran to expand their influence in the Middle East. And it keeps Turkey from squashing U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish fighters who helped free Raqqa.
The Washington Post reported that Trump has told his military leaders to ready the troop withdrawal, though he hasn’t set a timetable. The New York Times, however, reported that the White House has tried to walk back the president’s words. “The United States and our partners remain committed to eliminating the small ISIS presence in Syria that our forces have not already eradicated,” said White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. That suggested U.S. troops would remain in Syria.
As for the Mexican border, Trump might be overselling the actual role the National Guard would play. Yes, such troops could help Border Patrol agents with surveillance and some other tasks; Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama both deployed National Guard troops in support roles. But Nielsen’s initial inability to discuss troop numbers in such a border deployment, let alone its price tag, suggested an initiative that’s being hastily thrown together.
Border security is, and always will be, a top priority. So is bringing American troops home from Syria — when their mission is complete. Obama has been criticized for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq prematurely, one reason Islamic State got a foothold there.
Any military deployment should be crafted more carefully than tweets, and fully explained to citizens who contribute the manpower and the money. In these two cases, Trump has met neither burden.
— Chicago Tribune