The United States should no longer be in Syria — despite an Iranian-linked attack last week that killed an American contractor — because "the geopolitical sands beneath our soldiers' feet" have shifted, retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt said Monday.
Appearing on Newsmax's "Wake Up America," Hold said it's time for the U.S. to reconsider its "geopolitical position" in the Middle East.
"We should not be there. The reason for the mission has shifted," Holt said. "ISIS was a big problem spawned out of our departure in Iraq. But we hammered ISIS."
Holt called out "pro-Syrian government militias" behind the attack.
"Think about that — the host nation has militias out there attacking us with the blessings of Iran, and it's getting more dangerous," he said.
"You don't have troops in harm's way when you don't know why they're there. And if it's just about mission support site Conoco … then we shouldn't be there at all. But also, any attack on us, it has to be responded with forcefully. … It's now time to reconsider our geopolitical position in the Middle East."
According to Holt, it's debatable if the U.S. should be defending a commercial company like Conoco, especially when the nation has its own oil and gas reserves.
"A commercial company, Conoco, has oil interests there. Is that a reason to put our forces in harm's way? We can debate that," Holt said. "But why would we dare do that when we have all the oil and gas we need right here in the United States?"
Holt said China — "on its path to get rid of the U.S. dollar" — is cheering "rapprochements between Iran and Saudi, Syria and Saudi, Syria and Turkey, all led by the Russians and China, while the State Department sits at home."
Holt also called it "concerning" that Russia is "pushing tactical nuclear weapons into Belarus."
"Those don't just threaten Ukraine, by the way," he said. "Those threaten the neighboring countries; they destabilize the situation worse. And again, we have to ask ourselves, What is our strategy in this region if you've got the Ukrainians screaming for logistics resupply, yet we're very upset with Russia, and we don't seem to be having a peace plan of our own?
"When America projects weakness, when it looks like our government won't do anything, when we see our troops getting into trouble in little pockets around the world, then other countries, free countries, have to reconsider their own defense needs?
"Japan has been doing this for some time because they're very disturbed and alarmed by U.S. politics just blowing in the wind with money, always as the precursor for our motivations rather than diplomacy."
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