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Once again: The public comments of different politicians as well as the editorials of the major newspapers in the US can be seen as an indication of the views of the US capitalist class. From the liberals in the Democratic Party to Lindsay Graham and Mitch McConnell to the Pentagon and former top diplomats (e.g. Brent McGurk), Trump's move is unanimously condemned. His previous announcement of a withdrawal did not lead to that step, but it did lead to the "withdrawal" if the last two of his generals in his administration. The neocons? John Bolton opposes his step. The issue is similar to the Ukraine crisis. Let's remember that some months ago, when Trump held up the US aid to Ukraine, Republican senators/supporters of Trump such as Ron Johnson went to Trump and started to question him about that, whereupon Trump released the aid money. In that case, too, Trump was using foreign policy/foreign aid to benefit his own individual political interests vs. furthering the interests of US imperialism. I did find one opinion piece ( https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-syria-kurdish-fighters-prepare-to-battle-turkey-and-residents-fret-11570559654?mod=cx_picks&cx_navSource=cx_picks&cx_tag=contextual&cx_artPos=6#cxrecs_s) in the WSJ that came close to supporting Trump's decision. This column advocates closer ties with Erdogan and implies that US imperialism should dump the YPG, although it doesn't come right out and say it. It is co-authored by somebody from the Hudson Institute, which is the "think" tank founded by Herman Kahn, who was a real outlier by any measure during the Cold War. So I hardly think that it's even accurate to say that the US capitalist class is divided over the issue. What the above cited WSJ column does show, however, is how completely unreliable US imperialism is. It shows that at any time, US imperialism (just like any other capitalist state) will dump an ally if it concludes that it's to its interests. The fact is, though, that US imperialism does not believe that it's to their interests to dump the YPG at this time. I think they are right. (Which doesn't mean that I support whatever is in the interests of US imperialism; it just means that I'm trying to see what's in their interests in order to understand the balance of forces.) John Reimann -- *“In politics, abstract terms conceal treachery.” *from "The Black Jacobins" by C. L. R. James Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com also on Facebook _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
