Why Abandon the Kurds Now?

It’s the question everyone has been asking all day. Maybe I’m simplifying a complex issue, but I think the answer is obvious.

Putin gave Trump several missions to successfully accomplish on his behalf, and Trump has failed miserably on all of them.

Putin wanted Trump to persuade the G-7 to invite Russia back to the table – he failed.
Putin wanted Trump to lift sanctions imposed on Russia for invading Ukraine – he failed.

Trump has been confident for three years that his re-election was assured, and he wouldn’t have to rely on Putin’s help in 2020 the way he did in 2016. However, once the polls started showing that several Democratic candidates were polling way ahead of Trump, panic set in.

How better to regain Putin’s trust (and much-needed assistance) than for Trump to demonstrate that he could still ‘come through’ before it’s too late?

What would better impress Putin than doing what he wants done in Syria, i.e. the withdrawal of US troops?

What could prompt congress to lift sanctions imposed on Russia, other than ‘evidence’ that it wasn’t Russia that attacked our elections in 2016, because it was Ukraine all along?

All of these actions are, IMHO, a desperate attempt by Trump to convince Putin that he can still be a valuable asset, if given four more years in the White House.

Because Trump’s conversations with Putin are shrouded in secrecy, we don’t know for sure what the two men have discussed. But I would bet that recent conversations have consisted of Trump whining and begging: ”Ya gotta help me out here, Vlad. You got me elected once – can’t you do it again?”

As current polls have amply demonstrated, Trump’s chances of re-election are dimming every day. He had to have known that following the abandonment of the Kurds, the outrage – even from his own party – would be swift and deadly.

It would seem apparent that despite facing impeachment, despite the mounting evidence of his corruption, despite his falling poll numbers, Trump decided to weigh the benefits of doing the bidding of his own country’s citizens against pleasing Putin – and chose to go with the man he believes can work his 2016 ‘magic’ – i.e. that of attacking our elections to his benefit – a second time.

IMHO, this is a clear signal that Trump is finally beginning to realize that his only chance of re-election lies with the man who “fixed” the last election, and not with the voters.