Ret. Col. Macgregor: U.S. Doesn't Win Wars Anymore

FOX NEWS: Trump critics oppose troop withdrawal from Syria; reaction from Col. Douglas Macgregor reacts on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight.'





CARLSON: These people are too dumb to govern. But they're governing nonetheless. They will get their way potentially, despite the fact none of them is President. Only the President decides what our troops do. But they may win.



Recently, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina boasted that the President had been convinced to pause the withdrawal of American troops from Syria. No doubt, the next objective is making that pause permanent. What next?







Douglas Macgregor watches carefully. He's retired U.S. Army Colonel, Author of the terrific book, Margin of Victory. He joins us tonight. Colonel, thank you very much for coming on.



DOUGLAS MACGREGOR, RETIRED U.S. ARMY COLONEL, MARGIN OF VICTORY AUTHOR, CONSULTANT: Sure.



CARLSON: So, if you believe in civilian control of the military, it should be as simple as the President's saying, this is what we're going to do. But it doesn't seem to be that simple.



MACGREGOR: No. I think there's a problem. And we got to remember that most of your senior officers are products of the Clinton, Bush, Obama era.



So, they have a lot invested in this. And remember that the people who live in the seven zip codes in and around Washington D.C. have all become millionaires, as a result of their investment in these failed operations.



CARLSON: That's not a talking point. That's literally true.



MACGREGOR: Yes, of course.



So, you put the two together and you have a lot of resistance to ending something that's been profitable for them, it hasn't been profitable for the American people. It's been a disaster. Trillions of dollars in debt over the last 17 years, thousands of people killed and wounded, and for what? The answer is not much.



CARLSON: It just seems like if you're looking for a crisis, a constitutional crisis, or something that would undermine democracy, as we practice it for 240 years, it's the idea of unelected, the unelected subverting the power of the elected, right? I mean isn't that--



MACGREGOR: Well, you're--



CARLSON: --that isn't (ph) Democratic by definition.



MACGREGOR: The problem is though the unelected are being supported by many of the elected to obstruct this decision to leave, there's another reason for this, in addition to the problem with money.



Historically, when we leave, as we did when we left Vietnam--



CARLSON: Right.



MACGREGOR: --we're out permanently.



CARLSON: Yes.



MACGREGOR: People know once we leave Syria, once we get completely out of Iraq, once we get completely out of Afghanistan, it's over. And President Trump is going to do that. That's very clear. This pause is just that. It is a pause.



We had to get out of Northern Syria quickly. And the reason for that is simply there were tens of thousands of Turkish troops poised to attack the Kurds, the terrorists who have been attacking Turkey and Northern Syria.



We got the Syrian government to go in there. We got out. Now, we have created an enormous problem for Mr. Putin because Mr. Putin has cultivated the Turks. Mr. Putin has also cultivated his Iranian and Syrian allies. He's got to make a choice.



Does he allow the Turks into Syria? Then, he loses his position with the Syrians and Iranians. So, the notion that Mr. Putin has somehow another (ph) won something is absurd. This has been a very clever move on the part of the President.



CARLSON: So, if you see like six or seven senators and talking heads in a row repeating the same talking point like robots, this is a Christmas present for Putin--



MACGREGOR: Right.



CARLSON: --that's like prima facie evidence that they're dumb, right?



MACGREGOR: Well, you can say stupid but, obviously, they're briefed by only one side, and that side has no interest in the truth.



The truth is that by getting out of the way, we have eliminated the consensus it was holding these various diverse partners together. There is no reason why the Turks, the Russians, the Iranians should cooperate at all, and that's a good thing.



CARLSON: It is a good thing. Colonel, thank you very much.