Middle East troops

Most Americans, I believe, want President Donald Trump to keep his promise to bring U.S. troops home from the Middle East. They don’t, however, like the way he is going about it.

First, he said about 1,000 U.S. troops helping the Kurds in Syria would immediately come home. Then, apparently under pressure, he ordered 200 troops to stay in Syria to guard the oil fields. After that, Trump decided to send the troops in Syria to Iraq rather than immediately bring them home. Iraq lawmakers now say they don’t want more U.S. troops. Afterward, Trump said he will send 1,800 more troops to Saudi Arabia, presumably to back up the Saudis in their war with tiny Yemen.

When you send in 1,800 more troops and thus far are bringing none home, how does that decrease our involvement in the Middle East? Even Trump math might have trouble computing that action as a withdrawal.

Trump has also promised to bring home most of the thousands of our troops in Afghanistan, where many of them have been involved for nearly 19 years. A U.S. general was recently quoted as saying we are no closer to winning that war than when we first invaded that country.

Will we ever learn that most people in the Middle East obviously don’t want U.S. troops interfering in their civil wars which have been going on for hundreds of years?

As Trump would say, “We will see.” Nevertheless, let’s give our military special forces and Trump credit for ridding the world of the ISIS leader. VERNON McDANIEL

Ozark