It seems more than coincidental to me that every action Trump has taken in the Middle East benefits Russia. When Trump pulled American troops out of northern Syria and green-lighted Turkish troops moving in, he created a vacuum that Russia immediately filled. We saw images of Russian troops hoisting their flag over military bases occupied by American troops days before. Trump's action also abandoned the Kurdish forces who had been our stalwart allies in fighting ISIS, and left them at the mercy of their Turkish enemy and Russia. Putin was certainly very pleased with this outcome.
In this recent action against Iran, Trump has once again hurt the interests of the U. S. and benefited Russia. There is apparently no clear justification for the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani,¹ and the killing is likely a violation of U.S. and international law. The fact that Soleimani was a "bad actor" is not the relevant point; he was an official of the Iranian government killed by the United States in Iraq.²
Prior to the Soleimani assassination, Iranians were protesting against their own government, and Iraqis were protesting against the influence of Iran in their country. Both of these were beneficial to the interests of the United States, and not good for Iran and it's Russian ally. The assassination changed all of that. Iranians immediately took to the streets to protest the United States, and Iraqis did the same. The Iraqi Parliament passed a resolution demanding that the U. S. remove all of it's troops from Iraq. Overnight, Trump turned actions that were beneficial to America into benefits for Russia. Putin Playbook, Middle East chapter; mission accomplished!
And then there is ISIS. When Trump betrayed the Kurds in northern Syria, one result was the release of many ISIS prisoners the Kurds had been guarding. Now in Iraq, U.S. troops have been ordered to stand down in the fight with Iraqi forces against ISIS. No matter how much Trump crows that he has defeated ISIS, the facts on the ground are that he has single-handedly set the stage for a resurgence of ISIS.
I'm normally not into conspiracy theories, but I do wonder what Putin has on The Donald.
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Notes:
1. A total of seven people were apparently killed in the drone-launched missile strike. According to the AP, among those was Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of Iran-backed militias in Iraq known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, and five others, including the PMF’s airport protocol officer, Mohammed Reda. Were any Iraqi citizens among those killed, and were they all "bad actors?"
2. For the purpose of example, think about the invasion of Iraq by the U. S. under the Cheney/Bush administration. The war with Iraq was initiated on false pretenses and the number of Iraqis killed, including large numbers of civilians, was in the tens of thousands. What would we think if Iraq today assassinated a top American General who had a leadership position in the invasion of Iraq and was therefore considered a "bad actor" by the Iraqis, and they did it in another country?
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