Friday, December 28, 2018

Noam Chomsky: US Troops Should Stay in Syria

Noam Chomsky
In an email exchange with Prof. Noam Chomsky, he provided the following responses to my questions.

His responses are in blue:
Dear Prof. Chomsky,

There is an article floating around discussing your view on the Kurds and your view that the U.S. should maintain a presence in Syria to protect the Kurds. See:
http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/13cf816e-8e40-41c8-bb76-d453a3261d8b But the interview occurred before President Trump's order to withdraw troops from Syria.

Has this caused you to change your opinion in any way about a U.S. presence in the country?

On the contrary.  It remains true that the only plausible deterrent to Turkey’s extending its ongoing massacre of Kurds to Rojava is a small US troop presence limited to that area.

Also, do you have a general overall opinion of Trump's foreign policy as indicated by his overall actions and comments?

I don’t think Trump has any reasoned policy.  He’s mostly concerned with himself and his domestic base.  The result is scattershot – some awful, some OK.

Best regards,

Bob Wenzel
RW note:

Although I have argued that it would be okay for US troops to provide cover, as the US troops leave, to Kurds as they move to more fortified positions, (that is, little more than driving alongside them as they retreat). Prof. Chomsky obviously sees a greater and more permanent role for US troops in Syria. 

3 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. So strange to see these supposed anti-interventionists supporting additional US involvement in Syria. This type of logic would mean US troops should stay everywhere that they already are.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Um... Doesn't the U.N. have a group that does this?

    ReplyDelete