President Trump’s plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria have been disrupted by his national security adviser John Bolton. After consulting with senior Israeli officials, Bolton announced Sunday that 2,200 U.S. troops will remain in the war zone for longer than the president announced on December 19.
“The timetable flows from the policy decisions that we need to implement,” Bolton said from Israel.
Trump responded by saying the withdrawal will proceed, adding “I never said we’re doing it that quickly.”
Whether U.S. policy in Syria is “irrational” (Turkey), or “defeated’ (Iran), or proceeding at “a proper pace” (Trump), no one can be sure. As the president repeated his claims that Syria and Iran could crush ISIS without the United States, his national security advisor advanced a very different policy, via his Twitter feed.
Bolton’s strategy for redirecting Trump’s policy order emerged in the course of five easy tweets over the past week.
Step 1) Go to Israel to “discuss” (not implement) the withdrawal, while repeating U.S. policy goals. On January 3 Bolton tweeted.
Step 2) Consult about “shared priorities” with Israeli officials who do not share Trump’s priority, which is to “stay the hell out” of Syria’s civil war.
Step 3) In consultation with Israel officials, redefine Trump’s withdrawal order as a “coordinated U.S. drawdown.”
Step 4) Give Israel a big policy concession on the Golan Heights, but don’t advertise it. Let Netanyahu do the tweeting.
Step 5) Portray the U.S.-Israeli alliance as a defense of “our common civilization.”
Step 6) Thank Israel for resisting the withdrawal plan and promise to elevate U.S.-Israeli policy over presidential decision-making.
When the New York Times reported Bolton’s policy coup, Trump insisted the U.S. is still leaving albeit “at a proper pace.”
Whether Bolton and Israel can prevail over Trump’s impulse to extricate the U.S. from Middle East wars is one of the two biggest open questions of Trump’s first term. (The other is whether he will be impeached.)
The president’s whims are at war with Bolton’s agenda, raising the question, who is in charge of U.S. policy on war and peace in the Middle East?
