A prominent Kurdish analyst from Turkey texted me on Dec. 19, asking my opinion on President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from Syria. He was, naturally, curious about what the decision would entail for the Kurds in Syria and implicitly for their kin in Turkey. “If that’s a quiz question demanding a very short answer, my response is the following,” I wrote. “Sell-out or betrayal. Choose any of them, because they are synonymous in this case.”

The wording of US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis' resignation letter confirmed my rather blunt take on the dramatic development. In carefully selected words, Mattis wrote, "My views on treating allies with respect and also being clear-eyed about both malign actors and strategic competitors are strongly held and informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues."

According to the New York Times, Mattis "viewed the withdrawal as abandoning Kurdish fighters and other American allies, and as ceding critical territory to Russia and Iran." His "core complaint was that Mr. Trump had lost sight of the importance of the competition for global power with Russia and China, who want 'a world consistent with their authoritarian model.'"

Further demonstrating Mattis' "core complaint," Russian President Vladimir Putin, the uncontested model of an autocrat, hailed Trump’s decision. According to Putin, US forces were not needed in Syria. Moreover, he said that US troops in Syria had no legal right to be there, as they were not invited by the Damascus regime, unlike Russian forces. He also said that US forces in Syria were not authorized by the UN Security Council.