Trump Asked Saudi King For $4 Billion So US Troops Can Leave Syria

The Washington Post has revealed that President Trump attempted to extricate US troops from Syria by asking ally Saudi Arabia to foot the bill for postwar reconstruction and "stabilization" projects in the area of northeast Syria currently occupied by US coalition forces, to the tune of $4 billion. The deal would involve US allies like Saudi Arabia moving into a lead position regarding coalition policy in Syria, while hastening a US exit.

Though the coalition continues to claim that its occupation of Syrian soil is toward anti-terror and humanitarian efforts, including the reestablishment of civilian infrastructure in a region previously controlled by ISIS, America's top general, CENTCOM chief Gen. Joseph Votel, admitted in congressional testimony this week that the Syrian government along with its Russian and Iranian allies have effectively won the war.

General Votel's very frank admissions on Syria stunned hawks like Senator Graham, who were looking for more muscular policy goals. The Washington Post summarized this part of the exchange as follows

[A]sked on Tuesday in a Congressional hearing if Bashar al-Assad had “won”, Gen. Joseph Votel, head of US Central Command, replied, “I do not think that is too strong of a statement. I think [Russia and Iran] have provided him with the wherewithal to be ascendant at this point.”

Senator Lindsey Graham asked Votel, “And it is not your mission in Syria to deal with the Iranian-Assad-Russia problem?” Graham asked Votel. “That’s not in your ‘things to do,’ right?”

The general replied, “That’s correct, senator.”

Votel declined to say whether he believed the US military should pursue that broader objective. And asked whether it was still policy that Assad must leave power, Votel said: “I don’t know that that’s our particular policy at this particular point. Our focus remains on the defeat of ISIS.”

However, US policy does remain fundamentally aimed at preventing Assad and his allies from reasserting control over oil and resource rich northeast Syria, and this is where Trump reportedly envisions the Saudis as having a greater role to play, taking the pressure off US forces.

According to the Washington Post the deal was articulated by Trump directly to Saudi Arabia's King Salman in a December phone call. The Post reports:

In a December phone call with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, President Trump had an idea he thought could hasten a U.S. exit from Syria: Ask the king for $4 billion. By the end of the call, according to U.S. officials, the president believed he had a deal.

The White House wants money from the kingdom and other nations to help rebuild and stabilize the parts of Syria that the U.S. military and its local allies have liberated from the Islamic State. The postwar goal is to prevent Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian and Iranian partners from claiming the areas, or the Islamic State from regrouping, while U.S. forces finish mopping up the militants.

But missed (or more likely deliberately ignored) by the Post reporters is the central irony that Saudi Arabia could possibly "stabilize" anything in Syria at all. As the New York Times concluded in a lengthy investigation over the kingdom's role in fueling the rise of ISIS and directing the broader jihadist insurgency in Syria, the Saudis are "both the arsonists and the firefighters" in Syria and throughout the region.

Revelation of the $4 billion proposed deal comes as Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman is set to arrive in Washington on Monday for high level talks with US officials, including a Tuesday meeting with President Trump. The Saudi Embassy in Washington refused to comment on the offer, and neither side has yet confirmed or denied that a deal was reached or is in the works.

Last month the US announced a mere $200 million pledge toward reconstruction efforts in Syria - a paltry sum (considering total rebuilding costs have been widely estimated at $200-350 billion) perhaps intended to highlight the need of other countries to share in the burden. The Washington Post continues:

For Trump - who has long railed against insufficient burden-sharing by allies under the U.S. security umbrella - getting others to foot the bill for expensive postwar efforts is important. A $4 billion Saudi contribution would go a long way toward U.S. goals in Syria that the Saudis say they share, particularly that of limiting Assad’s power and rolling back Iran’s influence. By comparison, the United States last month announced a $200 million donation to the stabilization effort.

The more simple translation of Trump's message to the Saudis seems to be something like this: "Our occupation of Syria is costly. If you don't want Assad and Iran to regain the whole country, then you're invited to take over the occupation yourselves." 

Judging by Trump's recent maneuvers with the Saudis and CENTCOM chief Votel's congressional testimony, it appears we are in for more long, painful mission creep and perpetuation of the illegal occupation of Syria with no end in sight. 

Comments

07564111 Four Star Sat, 03/17/2018 - 22:07 Permalink

The deal would involve US allies like Saudi Arabia moving into a lead position regarding coalition policy in Syria, while hastening a US exit.

HaHaHaHaHa,,,that's never going to happen.

House of Saud also run with tail between legs when they think of Russia and Iran. House of Saud is the same as the cowards in Tel Aviv..without the threat of the JUSA 'big stick' they got nothing.

Votel is a gutless POS, he knows that any attack on Syria now leads to WW3, but, He wants to live to get that pension.

 

In reply to by Four Star

ZeroSpam lloll Sat, 03/17/2018 - 23:24 Permalink

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In reply to by lloll

Pandelis oncemore1 Sun, 03/18/2018 - 02:13 Permalink

postwar syria ... lol ... i will believe it when i see kushner leave the white house .... until then it will never happen ...

kushner is where he is (even without a security clearance) to make sure there is no removal of US troops from syria, to make sure that the whole world is drugged into Armageddon.  you do not need to read or analyse all these shows, reports, documents we are bombarded with on a daily basis for the last 10-15 years ... all you got to check is if kushner is still there then you know the future... that is all.

 

the middle east wars of the last 15 years and more to come where everyone will be involved one way or the other are:

not about removal of Assad (the guy studied in london, owns a house, dont think he had been to russia until this war started),

not about OIL (US did not get any of Iraqi oil),

not about Saddam getting rid of US dollar (the guy was a US asset, why would he want to commit suicide? for the euro? yeah right). 

not about MIC (give me a break they dont run the country, except for that Eisenhower quote),

certainly not about PIPELINES (otherwise, there would be no country, since PIPELINES have to pass through somewhere)

not about Erdogan and kurds (give me a break, he just woke up and wants to built a caliphate ... yeah right)

not about this "newly" "yet to be discovered" oil reserves in Cyprus (coincidental exploration timing when everything is exploding)

these wars are to organize the EXODUS of Syrian people (to be followed by Lebanese, Gaza, and part of Egypt at some point), and unfortunately against christianity everywhere.

on North Korea, here is what a smart englishman pointed out back in 1950s when the new US general who replaced Mcarthur retreated to let commies control the north ... (((they))) are creating the North Korea so to create a conflict in the future.  When that happens watch what happens in the Middle East.  That is all folks ... watch the other hand of the magician.

 

kushner is a telling sign because he is the ultimate insider (not of the bs government clearance but the (((lineage))) ... most likely his marriage was well planned as trump was picked for the role.  he is part of the package trump got there.

In reply to by oncemore1

Is-Be Pandelis Sun, 03/18/2018 - 03:32 Permalink

Bloody monotheists and their "Armageddon"!

Wish fulfilment, the "return of the Messiah" trumpets blaring.

And you have the audacity to claim not to be a set of Death Cults?

The cross is the Roman equivalent of the hangman's noose. Substitute the cross for a noose and all becomes clear.

Oh yes. Armageddon can be organized. Lots of luck with the trumpet thing.

In reply to by Pandelis

Took Red Pill eforce Sun, 03/18/2018 - 07:48 Permalink

'US policy does remain fundamentally aimed at preventing Assad and his allies from reasserting control over oil and resource rich northeast Syria'

But I thought US policy was a humanitarian effort to save the poor little children from chemical weapons? That's what they've been telling me on the evening news! You mean its really about oil and resources?

In reply to by eforce

Boubou Took Red Pill Sun, 03/18/2018 - 09:36 Permalink

That's right. This is because Assad is a monster and Afghanistan was so women can wear whatever they like on their heads.

Libya was because a chaotic failed state is better than a Gaddafi state which was beginning to look like an inconvenience for US hegemony. Iraq was because WMD were thick on the ground and deployable in minutes,

Gee, I wonder why nobody believes anything anymore?

Now that truth is the enemy, a government ministry of truth will be needed to make sure we only see one side ever, and everything else will be fake news .

In reply to by Took Red Pill

Pandelis Is-Be Sun, 03/18/2018 - 05:10 Permalink

 

you are turning upside down what i said not sure why ...if armageddon bothers you, remove it from my message above.  It still stands on WHY all these wars which is important to know where we are going and WHY.

i am not a trump fan, but i dont think it matters anyway, it is a much bigger design and NONE can get into the white house if (((they))) did not want him there.  the note is about kushner (not a supportive one i might add for good reasons) ... anything to comment there?

there was another article about war between India and Pakistan which brings another war (((somebody))) is cooking up ... any ideas WHO? and pls don't quote economist or ft.

what it matters is who has been doing all these wars of the last 15 years and WHY ???

you might think these wars are somewhere over there, but if you dont see it already Brexit is going to cook you up in a year or so ... it is the same (((hand)))

 

In reply to by Is-Be

MoralsAreEssential Pandelis Sun, 03/18/2018 - 11:43 Permalink

I don't remember where I read it, but after Kushner lost his security clearance and Goldman left because Kushner was his info man for the Bankster Zionists, supposedly trump is "encouraging" Jarvanka to go back to NY.  Ivanka supposedly has enrolled the kids there for school there this year.  I really think Trump is NOT totally in Israhell's camp but of course has to play the cards out.  Also, Trump is supposedly aware that Kushner targeted Ivanka after she was profiled by Mossad.  Trump's Alpha male decisions recently begin a whole new game. 

In reply to by Pandelis

J S Bach uhland62 Sat, 03/17/2018 - 23:33 Permalink

"The Washington Post has revealed that President Trump attempted to extricate US troops from Syria by asking ally Saudi Arabia to foot the bill for postwar reconstruction and "stabilization" projects in the area of northeast Syria currently occupied by US coalition forces, to the tune of $4 billion."

I don't get this at all.  Agent Orange is Commander in Chief.  If he wants, he can instantly recall all American (Israel-ass-licking) troops from Syria anytime he wants.  The Syrians can "re-construct" their own land - albeit with great difficulty... but, still - they would rather do so without the malevolent "help" of Israel-backed USA.

In reply to by uhland62

Captain Nemo d… J S Bach Sun, 03/18/2018 - 09:23 Permalink

The simple cut-and-run from Afghanistan paved the way for trillions more to be spent later on based on subsequent events. This time someone will be there to keep an eye on things.

Not sure how it will help though and maybe after the trouble this strategy creates next time they will try to find someone reliable instead. Better still would be not have a war at all, but that is too much to hope for.

In reply to by J S Bach

PT uhland62 Sun, 03/18/2018 - 00:07 Permalink

Dig up the old Trump interviews.  He always said he was sick of the US protecting other countries and not being paid for their services.  "We protect them, they get rich ... they're laughing at us ..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEPs17_AkTI

But I would prefer it if he gave the $4bn to Syria so Syrian companies owned and operated by Syrian people could rebuild Syria...

In reply to by uhland62

Boubou PT Sun, 03/18/2018 - 09:41 Permalink

Baghdad proved US is very good at totally destroying a city, but totally sucks at putting things back together again.

The previous empire managed to keep subject countries orderly and law abiding by retaining the previous management as far as possible.

Then again, Uk wanted its colonies as trading partners whereas US just wants to make sure they are dysfunctional and so not a nuisance.

In reply to by PT

GreatUncle uhland62 Sun, 03/18/2018 - 10:13 Permalink

It costs nothing if you print it!

A mighty fine mechanism to get freshly printed into the global economy.

It costs nothing if you print it also applies to many global institutions like the UN that were paid off with all the freshly printed and puppet governments. What is more astounding over the last two years is all concepts of freedom, democracy and voting rights etc. everything was a fucking illusion if those elected were all appointed from political parties controlled by the globalists. At that point any vote for freedom, democracy, voting rights is to vote for a kick in the teeth if you are not from a favorable group.

In reply to by uhland62

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natxlaw 07564111 Sun, 03/18/2018 - 11:14 Permalink

But they might be willing to pony up 4 Billion dollars to buy time for us to hand things off to them.This would be a great move by Trump. Once the US soldiors are out of there, Syrian rebels sponsored by the government and Russia will scare cowardly into giving it back within 6 months. As long as we are there, US is obligated to respond to any attack on the area by Assad with the full force of the military. This way, we get out before the UN tells us to leave, and we get paid.

In reply to by 07564111

east of eden BlindMonkey Sun, 03/18/2018 - 07:06 Permalink

Well, if that is true, and the Russians decide to respond with the nuclear version of their Zircon missiles (payload 200 Kt), then it won't matter how high the B-2's fly. An air burst of an atomic weapon in the very thin atmosphere will send massive shock waves, and more importantly massive electromagnetic waves, in all directions. The combined speed of the air launched Zircons in the tracking phase is Mach 5 or 6 plus the speed of the jet that fires them (up to Mach 10), even into near space (maximum range 250 miles).

And it won't matter how many F-22's are accompanying them, because the proximity blast will/should cause them to become too unstable to fly. The one issue will be to get the pilot and aircraft of the launching vehicle far enough away, fast enough, that it won't be destroyed as well.

For that, they may very well use the new MIG-31(Mach 3.2, fastest interceptor in the world) as opposed to SU-35's or even the 57. The MIG can travel at 40 miles/second and it would take 20 to 30 seconds for the launched missile to be within detonation range, which would potentially give the launching plane 1,200 miles of egress before detonation.

Would't it be funny if they took those American assets 'out' directly over Israel, and at a lower altitude. Good Money morning to you bobo, sorry your electrical systems aren't working any more, and oh, by the way, those 'dirty arabs' that you hate so much? They are mobilized and moving into Northern Israel even as we speak.

It would appear, that as far as taking out airborne aggressors the biggest issue for the Russians would be 'where' to take those planes out. The ordinance on the B-2's have a huge range and the ME has limited sovereign space to operate in. It would be most likely that the B-2's would come up the SA/Iraqi corridor and fire their missiles somewhere over Jordan, so that taking out American assets over a Jordan could be the match that lights the fuse, although I am pretty sure that International Law would states that any aggression that occurs on the territory of, or in the air space of, a so called 'non-belligerent', i.e. Jordan or Israel, that allows an attack to be conducted from their sovereign territory, automatically becomes part of the aggression.

I suppose the alternative (thinking asymmetrically) might be that Russia puts up an air defence using only the S-400's and some aircraft, and then decapitates Kiev, putting an end to NATO's wet dreams.

There are not a lot of good options, plus, they have to contend with 2 carrier groups (I thought it was 3), one in the eastern Med and one in either the Red Sea or the Gulf of Oman.

I wonder how many billion dollar units the Russians can take out. Ouch.

In reply to by BlindMonkey