The U.S. leader agreed on the need to ensure the safety of the Kurds, said the former U.S. Presidential Aide to National Security.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he is ready to “bloody well” hit Syria in early 2019 if Damascus does not immediately release the American detainees. This is stated in the book of memoirs of former U.S. presidential aide on national security John Bolton, “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir”, which goes on sale on Tuesday.
“Negotiations about our role in Syria were complicated by Trump’s constant desire to call [Syrian President Bashar] Assad on the issue of American hostages, although I and [Secretary of State Michael] Pompeo thought it undesirable. Fortunately, Syria saved Trump from himself by not even talking to Pompeo about it. Trump replied angrily: “Tell them that we will strike a hell of a blow if they don’t return the hostages. We want the hostages back in a week, or they’ll never forget our strike.” But at least Trump’s phone conversation with Assad has been dropped. As for the words about the strike on Syria, we did nothing”, – said the ex-assistant.
Bolton noted that at that time the details of the previously announced withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria were being discussed, which Trump demanded to do as soon as possible. At the same time, according to memoirs, the U.S. president demanded from the military “to destroy the ISIS within two weeks. Trump agreed with the need to ensure the safety of the Kurds, who as a result of the U.S. withdrawal fell under the Turkish threat, but demanded “not to get involved in a civil war. “We do not want to get involved in a civil war. They [Turks and Kurds] are natural enemies. Turks and Kurds have been at war for many years. We are not getting involved in a civil war, we are trying to get the IG,” Trump quoted former U.S. presidential aide for national security as saying.