What Syria Teaches Us About ‘America First’
Though he promised to defeat ISIS, he specifically eschewed any further “nation building.” That left it open to questions about how Islamist terrorists would be prevented from retaking power once he was done “kicking ISIS’ ass,” as he repeatedly claimed he would do. The “America First” tag seemed not so much an assertion of priorities as it was an appeal to those who saw the country as a perpetual victim of nefarious foreign influences.
.. As Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced last week, the United States will not be pulling its troops out of Syria. To the contrary, the administration is in this fight for the long haul, and though it will not be labeling any of its activities there as “nation building,” the implication is clear and directly contradicts the spirit of the Trump campaign’s version of America First.
.. Trump knows that ISIS arose out of the vacuum left by Obama’s precipitous retreat from Iraq, which threw away the victory won by Bush’s 2007 surge. If ISIS is to stay defeated and not be replaced by yet another, even more barbarous, Islamist group, it will require an American commitment to stay in the combat zone.
.. Far from being neo-isolationist, or anything else that ought to bring to mind the phrase “America First,” Trump’s presidency has turned out to be little different from what we might have expected from almost any of the other Republican candidates (besides Rand Paul)
.. But the actual policies pursued by the administration could be described as mainstream Republican in their reliance on the assertion of American power abroad. Rather than governing like a president who fears foreign involvement, this is an administration willing to fight in Syria and stay there even if it means antagonizing Russia.
.. Trump’s version of “America First” is turning out to be nothing more than a reassertion of mainstream Republican thinking about the need to assert U.S. power to defend our interests and values. Like his conservative governance on many domestic issues, Trump’s Syria policy is one more proof that if you can ignore the tweets, the gaffes, the thin skin, and the impulse to rage at his foes (which, admittedly, is often impossible because the president not only can’t help himself but is actively encouraged to behave in this manner by much of his base)