

US retreat from Syria likely prevented war with Iran Trump has learned the lessons of history and does not want to repeat it. Mark Langfan

OpEds Mark Langfan US forces prepare for joint Juniper Cobra exercises with IDF Mark Langfan The writer is Chairman of Americans for a Safe Israel (AFSI) and specializes in security issues, has created an original educational 3d Topographic Map System of Israel to facilitate clear understanding of the dangers facing Israel and its water supply. It has been studied by US lawmakers and can be seen at www.marklangfan.com. More from the author ► The writer is Chairman of Americans for a Safe Israel (AFSI) and specializes in security issues, has created an original educational 3d Topographic Map System of Israel to facilitate clear understanding of the dangers facing Israel and its water supply. It has been studied by US lawmakers and can be seen at www.marklangfan.com. "The Dutch Tulip Mania" of the 1630's was a period of mass hysteria believed to be the first recorded speculative bubble. In the Netherlands, people went absolutely crazy over tulips and paid exorbitant prices for them only to see those prices crash precipitously in February 1637. The 1630’s Dutch Tulip Mania is a good place to start a serious discussion about what one could call "The 2019 North Syria/Save the Kurds/Trump is a Monster" mania, or put more simply, President Trump’s northern Syria retreat in the face of Turkish belligerence. It seems that Trump has learned some of the lessons of the past. Before World War I, the Chief of the German High Command, Field Marshall Alfred von Schlieffen, saw the looming French/English/Russian Military Alliance as the setting for a disastrous two-front war with 1) France/Great Britain to the West and 2) Tsarist Russia to the East. To avoid this two-front guaranteed German military calamity, Field Marshall von Schlieffen devised the “Schlieffen Plan.” The Schlieffen Plan envisaged, in the early stages of any European/Russian war, a lightning attack through the Netherlands and the other low countries of Northern Europe and a sweeping move to the south to occupy France and Paris before Tsarist Russia could effectively mobilize and create the dreaded second front against Germany. Except that The Schlieffen Plan’s “sweep” failed in the early days of World War I, the two east-west fronts soon developed against Germany, and Germany eventually lost the war. It’s a simple military axiom: At all costs, avoid a two-front war. In their hysteria, the anti-Trump “defend the Kurds from a NATO ‘Ally’” crowd seems to have forgotten that in the Middle East, apart from the Turks and Kurds, there is a real possibility of war brewing between Iran, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States. America has tens of thousands of its soldiers in the Gulf area and in the Iranian line of fire. Given the volatile Iranian Front, President Trump made the necessary military decision, and avoided facing a Turkish Northern Front, all the while reinforcing forces against the likelihood of an Iranian attack in the Persian Gulf. President Trump’s executive command decision likely has saved thousands of American soldiers' lives. With all the Trump-bashing on “The View” talk show and in the halls of Congress, one would have thought the Kurds were an actual NATO ally. Let’s recall some of the facts that President Trump was aware of when he made his North Syria retreat decision: 1. America has been waging an extreme pressure campaign, and has brought Iran to financial ruin. 2.Iran is most likely the source of the missiles fired at multiple shipping targets in the Persian Gulf culminating in the September 14, 2019 massive attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities. 3. During September 2019, there were massive anti-Iran riots in Bagdad and throughout Iraq. Hundreds of Iraqi citizens have been shot dead by either Iraqi government forces or Iranian Quds forces, while Iran accuses Saudi Arabia and Israel of instigating the riots. 4. On October 7, 2019, President Trump announced a Northern Syrian retreat in the face of a Turkish attack. 5. Early Friday October 11, 2019 Middle Eastern time, an Iranian oil tanker was attacked with above-the-waterline missiles near the western Saudi Arabian coast in the Red Sea. 6. Immediately thereafter, mid-day Friday October11, 2019 Washington DC time, Secretary of Defense Esper announced an additional deployment of 1,800 US servicemen to Saudi Arabia on top of thousands of baseline forces plus the additional 14,000 US servicemen deployed to the Middle East since May 2019. While announcing the additional forces, SecDef Esper stated: “We thought it was important to send forces to deter and defend, and to send a message to the Iranians: Do not strike another sovereign state. Do not threaten American interests and American forces, or we will respond. Do not mistake our restraint for weakness.” This is all happening while the Iranians are continuing war-like threats over the attack on their oil tanker in the Red Sea. These are some of the open-source, undeniable facts. We don’t know what else President Trump is aware of from secret sources. Do any of “The View” panelists know any of the facts? They do not That, however, doesn’t stop The View, or members of Congress including Republican Majority Leader of the Senate, from going completely off-the-handle against Trump on the Syria retreat issue. Add the incendiary possibility that Turkey’s would-be Caliph Erdogan may be holding the 50 B-61 nuclear bombs at the Turkish NATO Incirlik Air base hostage, and may forcibly prevent President Trump from removing the bpmbs, equivalent to 600 Hiroshimas, from Turkish soil. Throw in the fact that the Democrats are trying to impeach Trump and weakening him in the eyes of foreign leaders. If anyone has Kurdish blood on their hands, it’s the Democrats,who are crippling President Trump intentionally and want to succeed no matter what happens to this country. People should remember that in the height of the Nixon Watergate Impeachment tumult during late 1973/early 1974 culminating in Nixon’s resignation in August 1974, the North Vietnamese reneged on the Nixon Paris Peace Accords, and Saigon fell soon thereafter, in April 1975. G-d only knows what will happen because of the Democrats' paralyzing of an American President while the world is in flames. A small Turkish-American clash in Northern Syria would have been the perfect timing and cover for an Iranian attack against American forces in the Persian Gulf. One attacks one’s enemy when they are distracted. A minor war with our so-called NATO Ally Turkey in Northern Syria causing several US casualties would have been exactly that. Imagine the Democrat furor that would have erupted if American soldiers had killed a Turkish soldier, seen by them as a member of a NATO ally's army. Heaven only knows what the hate-Trumpers would have said if the Turks had killed an American soldier in Northern Syria. As it was, the Turks fired very close to our troops. The prescient timing of Trump’s announcement of retreat from North Syria and possibly the force redeployment,alone may have derailed a planned Iranian attack. With the attacked Iran oil tanker, there is still an extremely high possibility of some type of military engagement with Iran. If you were the American President, and all intelligence reports led you to believe an attack from Iran against US forces in the Persian Gulf is a strong short-term possibility, wouldn't you avoid a preventable fight with American casualties against Turkey in North Syria to focus on a likely attack from Iran in the Persian Gulf? Iran could capture 5,000 American soldiers as hostages Anyone who says that they would would risk a two-front conflict with Turkey and Iran at the same time is certifiable. If the American public were polled on the reality question instead of the tear-jerker Kurdish question, I believe 90% of Americans would answer that it is better to cave to Turkey in the north in order to defend the eastern front against Iran. President Trump’s tough North Syria retreat decision may very well have saved American forces from being attacked, killed and taken hostage by the Iranians. President Trump should be lauded for his military instinct instead of being denounced by his hysterical opponents..



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