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For three years I have been forced to fear sharing my political ideals. This is made worse by living in a rural area where a large majority of the local economy consists of farms, small businesses, and small chains. I feel as if liberal ideas have been turned into "anti-trump" ideas, and it becomes less possible for my opinions to be shared and listened to, due to the bigotry directly laced into the unconditional backing of our current president, or of any leader in general. I have been shot down with nonsensical and counterproductive arguments that consist of: "if you don't like it, leave," "He's only done good for our country," and "people just think it's ok to disrespect our president nowadays."

I hear these arguments on a daily basis in person and online in both anonymous forums and major news networks, and it tires me. After every horrible occurrence brought on by our president that is proven through journalism, statistics, repeat witnesses, etc. the president is defended by his supporters through the simple and destructive argument of fake news.

I bring my strong political opinions up for the first time on this forum because an unguided, premature decision was made by the United States president two days ago following a phone call with Turkish leader Erdogan, and I have never felt truly disappointed in my country until today. Donald Trump approved of the pulling of U.S soldiers from Syria, where they were being stationed to assist our Kurdish allies in fighting terrorism in the Middle East. (whether this is a legitimate war or just a modern day crusade is for another thread) However, if you look deep enough into articles about Aleppo and other battles in Syria during 2016 and 2017, you'll see that our Kurdish allies were not only threatened by terrorist soldiers, but also by Turkish soldiers. This was and still is thought to be due to a deeply rooted issue in the Kurdish people lacking a homeland and presiding heavily in Turkey, despite the repeated and tired claims of mistaken hostiles.

This case has been constantly washed under the radar, and few people understand the importance and significance of our alliance with the Kurdish people. When the Turks denied the United States passage into Iraq for the Iraqi Invasion of 2003, Iraqi Kurds took the opportunity to help the United States overthrow Saddam. The Kurds also turned to American-led airstrikes to help repel the threat of ISIS in 2014. There have been constant signs of abuse of power in the leadership in Turkey, and Erdogan has shown repeating signs of becoming and being a dictator.

Trump's decision to support a dictator (once again) and betray our ally by pulling the trigger (literally) on them and pulling out their only hope of both protecting the Kurds and preventing Turkish assaults. This is not defendable in any regard, and it makes me truly sad to see that MY country's political system allowed for this disaster to happen.

I don't know if I want this to be a thread. I just really needed to put this somewhere. Thanks for reading if anyone did.

I saw. I have a lump in my throat thinking of it. I remember having this feeling of political hopelessness only during the Charlottesville protests/counter protests and Trump's response (rather, lack thereof) to it. Is unity possible when faced with a blinded opposition?

The Yanks couldn't have stayed to provide protection for the Kurds indefinitely. Ultimately they had to withdraw at some stage. The question was always merely what state the Kurds would be in when they left, which the Turks shall discover soon enough.

It's worth bearing in mind that the Kurds didn't fight IS as a favour to the Yanks. They fought IS because they were a nasty bunch of sods trying to kill them. The situation of the Kurds is probably significantly better because of America's existence and actions over the years than it otherwise would have been.

Which isn't to say this doesn't leave a bad taste in the mouth. Time will tell how bad it will prove to be. But this has happened many times before and will happen many times again. People get tired of war, and whether that means abandoning Polish allies to the Soviets in the 40s or the Kurds today, there is seldom much we can actually do about it.

What bothered me about it is that it was decided by a phone call. It was as if Erdogan asked for a favor and it was carried out because Trump was worried his dictator friend would be upset otherwise. This didn't feel diplomatic. It felt like a compulsive action for a friend.

@Octavious, the Syrian Kurd's position may be better, but that is precisely why Turkey is attacking them. They fear a Kurdish neighbour controlling the border, able to supply weapons, material support, or somewhere to hide Kurdish peoples party members in Turkey.

They would be happier with Islamic State on their border,however it treated people (or threatened their US 'allies').

Turkey has the second largest army in NATO and a huge land border with Syria, they could have helped end the Syrian civil war years ago, but they didn't want an Iranian ally next door. They definitely don't want any Kurdish militia.

Will anyone protect the Kurds? Has Turkey bitten off more than it can chew? (it is well known that people fight harder when they are fighting for the lives and their homes, this can not be said for the Turkish military men being sent in, nor for their Sunni-Arab militia allies.)