Letters: In support of withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria

I agree with Lane Filler’s column “Why Trump is right to pull troops from Syria” [Opinion, Dec. 28].

That country is so complex that we cannot take a position without siding with an enemy or opposing a friend. Syrian leader Bashar Assad won. His forces, as well as those of Russia and the United States, helped defeat the Islamic State, yet he was seen as our enemy.

Yes, the United States has had noble intentions all over the Middle East, but going back to the days of supporting the forerunners of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein in Iraq — and even our coup against Iran’s democratically elected leader in 1953, which led to the Iran hostage crisis — our interventions have produced results followed by repeated interventions with differing goals. The loss of life, the erosion of regional good will and the expense have not been worth it.

Harry Katz, Southold

President Donald Trump announced that he wants to pull U.S. troops out of Syria and bring home half of some 14,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan. He has met resistance from all fronts, including members of his own party, Democrats and some generals.

I only wish that President Lyndon Johnson, after only two years in office, had the foresight to bring our troops home from Vietnam. Imagine how many Americans would be alive today, whole today or never have gone missing in action? Thank you, President Trump for realizing what every member of the military understands. War is hell!

Bill Viggiano, Williston Park

Editor’s note: The writer served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War.

As a progressive activist and member of a local Democratic Party committee, I believe getting U.S. troops out of Syria is 100 percent right, even if President Donald Trump is behind it. Sure, announcing the withdrawal on Twitter without first telling our allies was incredibly foolish. And we can debate the best way to withdraw. But those things do not change the fact that the involvement of U.S. troops in Syria is illegal, immoral, counterproductive and should end immediately. We should get out of Iraq and Afghanistan, too. If you don’t see that after 17 years without meaningful success, you are blind to reality.

Sadly, many liberal Democrats and media commentators display a similar ailment that Republicans did during the Obama years, in which anything the president did was wrong, evil and had to be resisted. But many who claim to be on the left are aggressively attacking Trump’s decision. Vladimir Putin, Iran, Bashar Assad, the Islamic State, oh my! I dream of a day when we will be as oppositional and skeptical to the United States getting into a war as we are now at the prospect of getting out of one.

Ron Widelec, Commack

I agree with Lane Filler on withdrawing from Syria, but have different reasons. Filler writes, “Other nations will be what their people make them, not what the United States tries to impose.” This is only sometimes true. For example, Germany and Italy would likely not be the nations they are today had the United States not defeated their armies in World War II and then helped them rebuild. South Korea and Israel probably wouldn’t exist if the United States had not stepped in to protect them and help them become powerful democracies.

I support President Donald Trump because of the economic cost of keeping U.S. troops in Syria. As Filler stated, it cost $2 trillion in Afghanistan to accomplish little. This is not because our military is incapable, but because in areas such as Afghanistan there are too many different sides with influence and power. Why should we spend money to help people who don’t even know what they want for their own country? We should fix our own issues.

Chris Curtis, Mount Sinai

Floods or drought for the Northeast?

I enjoyed your Dec. 29 news story “Looking back on the year LI weathered.” I am, however, a little confused. The article quotes a Northeast Regional Climate Center climatologist as saying warmer and wetter conditions will become more prevalent in the Northeast. However, a 2016 report from a Northeast Climate Science Center workshop said of the Northeast, “It is predicted that drought conditions in the region will become more prevalent as climate change influences temperature and precipitation patterns throughout the region.”

So, do I buy an ark or start harvesting rainwater?

Steve Aydinian, East Quogue

What about the old games kids played?

Today’s children need fitness centers to get their exercise [“Flip for fitness,” exploreLI, Jan. 2]? Really? Whatever happened to riding your bike, playing kick-the-can, tag and ring-a-levio, roller skating and all of the other games we used to play?

Television? Decades ago, not many families could afford such a luxury. Few families had telephones, much less smartphones.

Today, kids sit in front of the TV while exchanging electronic messages. With “exercise” like that, I guess fitness centers are needed.

Thomas W. Smith, Riverhead