Letters to the Editor: No one would ‘help us with Normandy’ after Trump abandoned the Kurds

To the editor: Of all the reprehensible acts Donald Trump has committed as president, his decision to abandon our battlefield allies in northern Syria and leave them to be attacked by Turkish forces dwarfs them all. Is this an expression of our American values? Do we enlist allies to fight and die for our cause, only to reward them by abandoning them to be slaughtered?

When asked about this decision, President Trump babbled some incoherent excuse that the Kurds “didn’t help us with Normandy.” Leaving aside the almost comical ignorance of that statement, my only comment is that if (God forbid) we faced another situation approaching the gravity of Normandy, we won’t see the Kurds or anyone else fighting by our side.

The world has now seen the selfish manner in which we treat our “allies.” It took decades for the U.S. to develop the goodwill among nations that made us an example of moral leadership and a reliable ally in dire times. It’s taken Trump less than three years to destroy it, and I don’t know how we easily (if at it) it can be restored.

Matthew Singerman, Newbury Park

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To the editor: Every time I think that Trump cannot possibly get worse, he does. Abandoning our Kurdish allies in northern Syria is an atrocious act.

For him to say that “in no way have we abandoned the Kurds” is yet another lie to add to his list of several thousand since he took office.

The deaths of civilians during the Turkish incursion is on him, but since he has shown to have not one empathetic bone in his body, he does not care. He has slapped our friends in the face numerous times, and this time our Kurdish allies are dying because of him.

I find it unfathomable that some Americans still support this president.

Lindsay Soderlund, Glendale

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To the editor: What are allies for anyway?

The president has decided to let the Kurds hang out and dry. This is after they have helped us defeat Islamic State and keep Syrian forces at bay.

Let this be a lesson to his base: Once the president no longer finds a need for his allies, he discards them as if they were worthless. This is a harbinger of things to come.

Jon Vogel, Los Angeles

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To the editor: One of the few policy areas on which I generally agree with Trump is that the United States should not be involved in regional foreign wars. Since Vietnam, the results have been disastrous.

That said, Trump’s abrupt decision to withdraw U.S. support from the Kurds in northern Syria sends a chilling message to the rest of the world: The U.S. cannot be trusted to honor our alliances.

What is equally as troubling is that Trump’s action once again shows his strange affinity for autocrats, as the two world leaders who benefit the most from this decision are Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Gary Vogt, Menifee

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To the editor: Trump justifies his abandonment of the Kurds by stating that they did not fight alondside U.S. forces at Normandy during World War II.

Does this mean that Great Britain is our enemy because of the War of 1812, to say nothing about the Revolutionary War?

Stan Rebold, Anaheim