The Pnyx: On wars

Michael McShane
News Editor

President Donald Trump found an interesting way of getting the U.S. out of those pesky endless wars.

How have we not thought of this, in all our long history of being a world superpower and wielding one of the most impressive and modernized military forces, to get out of the War on Terrorism all we had to do was pack up and leave.

Allies, what allies? Who needs them? A terrorist group allowed to break out of prison and begin plotting against those who put them in said prison, it won’t affect us! The Kurds are at the mercy of the Turkish government, not our problem!

That, at least, is what President Trump think of the situation. What I think, is that this whole withdrawal idea was a humongous mistake. I’m as tired as everyone else knowing we still have soldiers on the ground in the Middle East risking their lives every day. I want to see them home just as much as everyone else.

I can’t, in good conscious, believe that we should forsake our allies and the effort it took both American forces and Kurdish forces in fighting against ISIS.

Remember when ISIS was huge. The horrific videos of them executing prisoners, the bombings, the mass shootings. All of it done by ISIS and now the leash is off. Trump said when he was questioned on whether ISIS would target the U.S. after the prison break, and he responded that Europe would be the ones dealing with the aftermath.

What a great way to show your appreciation for your allies! No, this withdrawal will have long-lasting damage to not only the region but to our foreign policy as a nation. As much as we want to see our soldiers come home, this was the wrong place and the wrong time to do it.

It would be a long shot if it happened, but Trump needs to reverse his decision to pull troops out of Syria and help the Kurds that have lost men and women in the war effort to combat ISIS. We’ve already seen what Turkey is planning for the Kurds and it isn’t right for us to turn tail and abandon them.