In August 2014, the Tabqa military airfield came under attack by ISIS forces. The Syrian airforce struck back with numerous air strikes around Raqqa city and around al-Tabqa. Following heavy fighting, ISIS forces captured the airfield. Al-Tabqa was the last bastion for Syrian military forces in Raqqa province, which at the end of the battle came fully under the control of the ISIS.

On March 2017, the Battle of Al-Tabqa in northern Syria began. Forces comprised of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Kurdish militias, supported by the United States military launched an assault to regain control of Tabqa, the Tabqa Dam, and the airfield. By the middle of May, the operation succeeded and the Tabqa area was once again in the hands of the Syrian military.

In the prolonged fighting, the Tabqa airfield sustained very heavy damage. The Syrian airforce never used it again. The base was held by the Syrian army supported by a small contingent of US troops. The US troops withdrew earlier this month.

The Tabqa airfield was never a "US military base", and the Syrians did not surrender it to the Russians. 3 Russian helicopters landed there. Whoopy!

They're getting our hand-me-downs, so what? 😁

I sincerely doubt our people have left them any technology we don't want reverse engineered.

At the same time, we're pulling our troops out of a situation best served by those who actually have horses in the race.

In the Hypocrisy Department, even though it was a Democrat president (LBJ) who accelerated (and mired us for a decade) our involvement in Vietnam, and even though you folks want us to remain in Syria, it's always Democrats calling Republicans "war mongers."

Are you lefties bipolar, or what?

Talk about a mind wiping... when I read the piece I posted, I imagined the russkies gloting over getting American base.. Frosted me no end..

Then I read Bobbys post and though, oh darn, that is what I want,,,our troops back home.. no way to win in that darn sand box.. so I agree with Bobby..

But then I though, pulling out is hard to do with no down side.. so I wish we had never been drawn into the ME wars... convoluted as they are, we at times do not even know who is on our side..

But after a deep breath and a little more thinking.. it seems the only "winners" in this mess are all of those that we would never want to become "winners" in that region. and that makes the future seem much more dark and deadly..

So, the outcome to this point is that Russia, Iran, Syria and ISIS come out well ahead and with more strength then before this event..

While the kurds, hard fighting allies that they were may in fact be reduced to memory only.
and the US, has been shown that we can never be trusted to hold any agreement we may make..

So, nothing good comes of this that I can see.. sad but true..

Talk about a mind wiping... when I read the piece I posted, I imagined the russkies gloting over getting American base.. Frosted me no end..

Then I read Bobbys post and though, oh darn, that is what I want,,,our troops back home.. no way to win in that darn sand box.. so I agree with Bobby..

But then I though, pulling out is hard to do with no down side.. so I wish we had never been drawn into the ME wars... convoluted as they are, we at times do not even know who is on our side..

But after a deep breath and a little more thinking.. it seems the only "winners" in this mess are all of those that we would never want to become "winners" in that region. and that makes the future seem much more dark and deadly..

So, the outcome to this point is that Russia, Iran, Syria and ISIS come out well ahead and with more strength then before this event..

While the kurds, hard fighting allies that they were may in fact be reduced to memory only.
and the US, has been shown that we can never be trusted to hold any agreement we may make..

So, nothing good comes of this that I can see.. sad but true..

Talk about a mind wiping... when I read the piece I posted, I imagined the russkies gloting over getting American base.. Frosted me no end..

Then I read Bobbys post and though, oh darn, that is what I want,,,our troops back home.. no way to win in that darn sand box.. so I agree with Bobby..

But then I though, pulling out is hard to do with no down side.. so I wish we had never been drawn into the ME wars... convoluted as they are, we at times do not even know who is on our side..

But after a deep breath and a little more thinking.. it seems the only "winners" in this mess are all of those that we would never want to become "winners" in that region. and that makes the future seem much more dark and deadly..

So, the outcome to this point is that Russia, Iran, Syria and ISIS come out well ahead and with more strength then before this event..

While the kurds, hard fighting allies that they were may in fact be reduced to memory only.
and the US, has been shown that we can never be trusted to hold any agreement we may make..

So, nothing good comes of this that I can see.. sad but true..

Yes, it was/is. But, in large part, I agree with the remarks above from BadBobby.

I am reminded of shedding silent tears when I watched, on TV, our abandoning South Viet Nam and pushing helicopters off ships into the Gulf of Tonkin, rather than surrendering them upon our withdrawal. I served with young men who lost their lives in that futile war, and it broke my heart asking "why?" & "for what?"