Washington Post Beirut Bureau Chief, Liz Sly, cheered for what appears to be insubordination towards the elected President of the United States by US officials in order to ensure that Donald Trump could not pull out the troops from Syria. Liz Sly celebrated the fact that US officials lied to the sitting US President and the American people about troop levels in the middle-eastern country.
The report cited by Liz Sly quotes retiring American diplomat and Syria envoy Jim Jeffrey as saying, “We were always playing shell games to not make clear to our leadership how many troops we had there.” The report states that the actual number of troops in Syria currently are a lot more than the 200 Donald Trump initially agreed to leave behind in 2019.
“What Syria withdrawal? There was never a Syria withdrawal,” Jim Jeffrey continued. “When the situation in northeast Syria had been fairly stable after we defeated ISIS, [Trump] was inclined to pull out. In each case, we then decided to come up with five better arguments for why we needed to stay. And we succeeded both times. That’s the story.”
The report states further, “Officially, Trump last year agreed to keep several hundred U.S. troops — somewhere between 200 and 400, according to varying reports at the time — stationed in northeast Syria to “secure” oil fields held by the United States’ Kurdish allies in the fight against ISIS. It is generally accepted that the actual number is now higher than that — anonymous officials put the number at about 900 today — but the precise figure is classified and remains unknown even, it appears, to members of Trump’s administration keen to end the so-called “forever wars.””
People on social media were outraged by the callous manner in which the Washington Post journalist approached the matter. There is general bipartisan consensus regarding a desire to end American involvement in foreign wars that never seem to end. The anger among the people was evident after they became aware that unelected officials sought to defy the elected Commander-in-Chief of the military.
This is why so many people loathe the media. Trump didn’t do this…he just revealed who they really are. https://t.co/X4JXBQVKrR
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) November 13, 2020
Fire them all.
— JJJ (@Johnny_Joey) November 13, 2020
Save us your explanation, this is anything but a policy win to laugh about. https://t.co/3waObzp7kT
They definitely only do this when Trump is president. It’s not like war has become a self-perpetuating machine outside of everyone’s control. Try not to think about it too much. https://t.co/EqOCJnwNPa
— scientism (@mr_scientism) November 13, 2020
This does seem to confirm every argument Trump made about a deep state sabotaging his agenda for globalist aims. I mean I’m no conspiracy theorist, it’s just what military-diplomatic leaders openly admitted they were doing. https://t.co/uXLiQXYCq7
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) November 13, 2020
US Representative Jim Banks called for US officials to be punished for lying to the elected president of the United States. “Intentionally misrepresenting a matter of national security to the commander-in-chief is a dereliction of duty and should be punished,” he said. “I can’t think of anything more dishonorable.”Some have called it ‘sedition’ and insubordination.
It’s called sedition if the law is enforced. https://t.co/kMLw5p9GWt
— Lara Logan (@laralogan) November 14, 2020
WAPO bureau chief laughing about criminal behavior by top officials putting American lives in danger while lying to POTUS.
— JJ PI (@PoliticalIntent) November 13, 2020
IDGAF about your political opinions.
Americans care far more about American soldiers in harms ways more than propagandists. WAPO needs to review @LizSly https://t.co/7yOUtdVYkF
It’s absolutely hilarious that our administrative state is going rogue and acting with rank insubordination, right? https://t.co/7MJw58JF8j
— Benjamin Weingarten (@bhweingarten) November 13, 2020
This is disgusting and arguably treasonous https://t.co/ROiI9fNYyh
— Amber Athey (@amber_athey) November 13, 2020
Netizens from across the political spectrum see this as further evidence of the ‘deep state’ which is totally unaccountable to the electorate. It is pertinent to note that Donald Trump has himself referred to the ‘military-industrial complex’ that wishes for wars to continue until perpetuity. In September, Donald Trump spoke out against leaders of the pentagon who “want to do nothing but fight wars so that all of those wonderful companies that make the bombs and make the planes and make everything else stay happy.”
Donald Trump has been very vocal about withdrawing troops from Syria and ending wars abroad. His Middle-East policy has been radically different from his predecessors and he has succeeded in securing historic peace deals between enemies in the region. Jim Jeffrey complimented his policies and said that they have brought stability to the region. He also expressed hope that Joe Biden, the presumptive president-elect, would stay the path laid down by Donald Trump.