The Boston Globe - 17.10.2019

A10 Editorial The Boston Globe THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2019

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By Kevin R. Flike

P

resident Trump’s abandonment

of our Kurdish partners says one

thing: America does not stand

with our allies. Furthermore, it

runs the risk of demoralizing our

own troops and raising doubts among critical

allies around the world.

Each day every year, Special Forces Green

Berets are embedded with partner forces in

over 80 countries around the world. The na-

ture of our mission as Green Berets is to

build relationships based on trust sufficient

to enter into battle alongside citizens of other

nations. While the missions may vary, what

remains consistent is that you will find a 12-

man team of Green Berets paired with part-

ner forces 10 to 20 times larger than their

number. By living, training, and conducting

missions with these partner forces, Green Be-

rets develop their host-nation militaries and

strengthen existing forces — ultimately pro-

tecting US interests around the globe while

minimizing our footprint. In order to achieve

this, a significant portion of our time as

Green Berets is spent building rapport. Effec-

tive training and missions depend on the

rapport we build with our host counterparts.

What does this rapport look like?

To me, it is the Afghan commando who

walked into the line of fire in order to pull me

to safety after I had been shot and immobi-

lized by a Taliban sniper’s bullet. Despite the

fact that only three months earlier then-Pres-

ident Obama had announced his plan to

withdraw US troops from Afghanistan, he

was there for me in my darkest hour. His was

the first face I saw after being shot: not a fel-

low Green Beret.

It is difficult to understand this bond if

you have not lived it. It is nothing to be taken

lightly. Those who have served alongside the

Kurds are making it widely known that

Trump’s withdrawal of US troops from Syria

will not soon be forgotten. As one retired US

military officer told Foreign Policy magazine,

“There will be a whole generation of US mili-

tary that will never forget this betrayal, nor

stop apologizing for it.”

As a nation, we have to question this for-

eign policy with urgency and outspokenness.

We must follow the lead of former secretary

of defense James Mattis, who implicitly,

through his resignation, asked all Americans

to challenge Trump’s treatment of our foreign

allies. Consider this: Trump first tweeted his

intentions to pull US troops out of Syria on

Dec. 19, 2018; Mattis resigned the following

day. His letter of resignation spends three of

its paragraphs directly addressing the impor-

tance of our allies and the maintenance of

those partnerships: “One core belief I have al-

ways held is that our strength as a nation is

inextricably linked to the strength of our

unique and comprehensive system of allianc-

es and partnerships...wecannot protect

our interests or serve that role effectively

without maintaining strong alliances and

showing respect to those allies.”

Mattis undoubtedly anticipated the conse-

quences of abandoning our Kurdish part-

ners. Trump’s actions have now undermined

the trust of our partner forces, endangering

US troops and our allies the world over. This

impetuous withdrawal has left the door open

for the Turkish invasion, advancement of

Russian and Iranian interests, and the resur-

gence of the Islamic State in the region.

The Green Beret mission is De Oppresso

Liber: to free the oppressed. We are failing

this mission.

But it is not the fault of our dedicated ser-

vice members; the blame lies with President

Trump and his policy makers. When I was a

student at the Harvard Kennedy School of

Government, I would say to my colleagues

going into policy work, “Policy has a start

point and an end point. It starts in Washing-

ton, D.C., and it ends with a 25 year-old staff

sergeant trapped on a mountaintop because

he has an enemy machine gun tracing his ev-

ery move.”

I was once that young kid staring death in

the face due to policies and decisions that

were made thousands of miles away. This

could be any of the US troops deployed in

combat zones today, and they will probably

be depending on partner forces, like the

Kurds, for survival.

As Trump makes policy decisions from the

safety and comfort of the White House, I im-

plore him to remember the tens of thousands

of US troops around the world who depend

on their partner forces. I am living proof: I

am alive because of the Afghan soldier who

risked his life for mine.

Kevin R. Flike, who retired from the US Army

Special Forces after being shot in

Afghanistan, works for a cybersecurity firm

in Boston and delivers motivational speeches.

Trump’s policy abandons Kurds

and endangers US troops

AAREF WATAD/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Turkish troops and Turkey-backed fighters drove through the village of Qirata, near the Turkish border, on Monday.

M

arie L. Yovanovitch and George P. Kent have
good jobs as senior American diplomats. Pre-
sumably, they don’t want to lose them. But
over the last week both put their livelihood at
risk rather than participate in White House efforts to conceal
the truth from Congress and the American people. Against
the wishes of the Trump administration, the two showed up
on Capitol Hill and talked to the House impeachment inquiry
about the president’s outrageous efforts to pressure Ukraine’s
governmenttohelphispoliticalcampaign.
Their acts of individual courage should inspire — or may-
be shame — other senior officials whose cooperation Con-
gress needs as the impeachment inquiry accelerates. They,
too, will have to decide whether to take part in the adminis-
tration’s attempts to stonewall Congress, or risk their job to
do the right thing. The administration’s vow not to cooperate
is not only reckless and unconstitutional, but also creates the
strong impression that the president — and any officials who
bow to his wishes — has something to hide.
So far, at least two other current officials appear ready to
stick their necks out: European Union Ambassador Gordon
Sondland and Laura Cooper, the deputy assistant secretary of

defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia. Whatever the two

tell Congress in their depositions, just the simple act of show-

ing up would be a rebuke to the president’s obstruction strat-

egy. In addition to the current diplomats, several former offi-

cials have also testified or are scheduled to appear. And an

unknown official triggered the inquiry in the first place, by

filing a whistle-blower complaint.

The details they’ve provided paint a damning picture of

presidential malfeasance. For much of this year, President

Trump and his attorney, Rudolph Giuliani, have pushed

Ukraine to launch an investigation into former vice president

Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, on spurious corruption

grounds. The clear purpose was to conjure up a fake scandal

that Trump could then use to hammer Biden if he becomes

the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee. Using the power

of the presidency to help himself is a clear abuse of power. At

the same time, the president was withholding desperately

needed military aid to Ukraine; if the investigation establish-

es a link between the demands for a Biden investigation and

the holdup of aid, it would make the scandal still worse.

Conducting foreign policy for personal benefit is exactly

the kind of abuse of power the Founders had in mind when

they created the impeachment power. It exists to protect the

country from corrupt rulers. If Congress fails to act on evi-

dence of Trump’s misconduct, it gives a green light for the

president again to subordinate foreign policy to his own

ends. That is, if he hasn’t done so already: The way the presi-

dent bartered foreign policy in Ukraine raises the question of

whether any of his other puzzling foreign policy decisions —

such as abruptly abandoning America’s Kurdish allies in Syr-

ia — have self-interested motivations.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Defense Secretary Mark

Esper are among the officials whose cooperation the House is

seeking. They should provide it, with or without Trump’s per-

mission.

Ultimately, fact-finding will have to yield to decisions. By

giving Congress impeachment power, the Constitution en-

trusts its members with the responsibility of protecting the

country from a rogue president. That task will fall to Demo-

crats and Republicans, many of whom fear the political con-

sequences of breaking with a man beloved by the GOP base.

Republican senators have good jobs. Presumably, they don’t

want to lose them. But real public servants and patriots take

risks on behalf of the country they’re sworn to serve.

Impeachment testimony is a rebuke to obstruction

Opinion

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