>> "washington journal" continues. host: aaron mehta mehta is it --aaron mehta is at our desk. first, things are obviously moving fast when it comes to syria and the rack this morning. -- and iraq >> aaron mehta mehta is it aaron mehta is at our desk. first, things are obviously moving fast when it comes to syria and the rack this morning. and iraq this morning. can you get us up to speed? >> i will do my best, by the time i finish this segment something else may have changed. as of yesterday, u.s. troops were moving largely out of syria. a small group will stay in syria, despite trump's statement that all troops are

coming out. probably about 300 to 500 will be staying in a small garrison to stay and protect an oil field in the area. everyone else is getting out. i saw some pretty shocking videos of u.s. troops being pelted with rotten fruit and vegetables. >> one of those pictures made the front page of "the wall street journal" this morning. >> and this is an area for the u.s. is wildly popular. it's one of the things were you wonder if there will be lasting damage with our partners in the region. today the plan had been to move troops into iraq and do i anti-isis operations there as needed. they said that they welcome their friends and we are happy to be the way station, but they can't stay here. that seems to throw yet another wrench into the pentagon's plans for how to handle the situation. >> when the secretary of state was talking about anti-isis operations, how did you see that being conducted? what was the green light for troops to

come back into syria and across the border? >> that is one of the big questions the pentagon is still sorting out right now. officials have told us that they plan to continue to do reconnaissance operations, essentially flying drones over northern syria syria, may be keeping an eye on the isis camps that are still active and being protected by the forces there. maybe make sure that we keep an eye on these things. the thought that it has followed on that they have not confirmed but sources have hinted at is that it may include the right to do airstrikes off of drones. potentially also raids in the area, as we have seen other parts of the world deal with terrorism. it seems like the idea of u.s. forces on the ground and having an actual force to hold territory against isis coming back is done now.

>> if it turns out that we can't do that from western iraq, where else could we do that mission from? >> there are a couple of options. ironically, one of them is turkey. there's a turkish air force base the u.s. operates out of. jordan is one that was mentioned. you know, potentially saudi arabia would welcome more u.s. forces. they clearly want more forces to be there and feel comfortable with that. there are a lot of u.s. bases in the area. things like small airstrikes, drone strikes, there are options. but the issue the pentagon has been talking about for years now has come to the floor. that if we leave right now, we won't be able to hold the territory and if you don't hold the territory, isis may build back up, take control in build something different. hold the

>> don't we currently have thousands of troops stationed in iraq? do they have to go? >> no, just the troops in syria. >> what are those troops doing? >> training members of the military there, they are primarily focused on making sure that in iraq remains stable. >> talking this morning to aaron mehta, of "defense news." a good person to talk to about our military forces. we have a line for active and retired members of the military set aside. (202) 748-0003 is that number. otherwise, phone lines as usual, (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 four republicans. what are you looking for from today's

meeting between vladimir putin and president erdogan? >> people have forgotten this, turkey shot down a russian jet in 2015. people forget, it felt like something was about to kick off. putin was comfortable with that. he said that we apologize, he understands where people are can get confused. turkey has now received an s-400 russian built air defense system, which is very concerning to nato. they kicked turkey out of the s-35 fighter program. the u.s. said that you can't have an air defense system gathering all sorts of information off the radar's and sensors plug into the jet for the nato future. it sent turkey leaning more towards vladimir putin.

>> why couldn't the u.s. not provide a system like that? >> the u.s. did offer the patriot system, but they didn't like the strings that came along with arms sales. in terms of whether they could do their own stuff with it. u.s. arms sales come with more strings then russian or chinese sales do. usually that works out for the u.s. because u.s. has better equipment. but as chinese and russian equipment improves, it's a concern for the pentagon. >> what other constrictions under a russian system? >> not many, mostly just hiring a russian installation system. today at 3 p.m. is when the cease-fire is supposed to end. if anything were to happen before the cease-fire, some would say that it never really went into effect. but there

will be a lot of moving parts today. >> paul, evansville, you are up first. independent line, go ahead. >> good morning to you both. when the president spoke about getting people out of here there, he talked about 50 people. there were only 50 people. and then they turned it over to turkey in these other countries. do we think that the united states should save every country? you know, they are mad about trump raising the price. we were paying to be in these countries to protect these people. >> in terms of the 50 people, that refers to the 50 special operators who are very close to turkey from the operation began

last week and one of the first things the u.s. did was to pull those people out. they were concerned that in the first wave of attacks there was potential they could be at risk. since then the u.s. has coordinated closely with turkey. according to the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff joint chiefs, they give coordinates on where the troops are. there was an incident where turkey fired over several u.s. troops and shells came close. there was some consternation about that. the u.s. quickly responded. they said hey, cut it out. turkey didn't stop firing. we saw a message from the pentagon saying that the u.s. is allowed to defend itself. turkey is a long-standing nato ally. one of the closest military partners for the u.s.. they operate with nato, they have done nato operations around the world. the idea that they would have to open fire to defend themselves against a nato ally

is mind-boggling. >> are these all special operations forces? >> primarily. >> rocky is on the line for retired active members of the military. go ahead. >> good morning, thank you for taking my call. i was wondering how long it takes to train forces. we have been there 18 years. been in afghanistan 19 years. these are the same generals running the show that ran vietnam. a bunch of losers drawing that paycheck and doing nothing for this country. how long do we need to be there? >> aaron mehta?

>> in syria we have been on their been there from a couple of years, but it's a good point. are we going to be there forever providing security because when we try to build up security forces, they haven't worked? the goal is to build them up and get out. we saw it with the rise of isis. an amazing situation where the iraqi military met up with a bunch of isis guys and essentially got routed. following the dry out that obama had pushed through, they responded by surging troops back into iraq. people say this time the military is better, more cohesive, trained better. there is concern that if the u.s. left again, stability would melt away. >> do you want to talk about troop drawdown in afghanistan and where we are on that? >> this is an interesting one. president trump mentioned a couple of times during the campaign, as president, why he doesn't under how he doesn't understand why we can't get out

of there. at the time secretary mattis wanted a troop increase in august 2017. again, it would be a surge and then we would get out. there have been reports recently, i believe cnbc news reported yesterday, the anti-gun is re-upping on plans for an afghanistan withdrawal. the reality is that the president is dictating with little influence from the pentagon in terms of military policy and getting out of somewhere. the pentagon was caught flat-footed. they are trying not to because quite as flat-footed in the future. >> dave, ohio, good morning. >> top of the morning to you, sir. i have three inconvenient facts the state. first of all, this is the second time in my lifetime that we have abandoned

an ally. the first wasn't my war, vietnam. the second is the kurds. we are condoning the second time turkey is going to commit genocide. the first one was during the world war with the armenians. now they are going to do it with the kurds. the third inconvenient fact is that it seems that this decision has been a very, how can i state it, a very--- >> you still with us? guess we won't hear his third point, but i think we got the idea. >> i'm going to go ahead and guess that your point was going to be it was uncoordinated. i think that is a fair assessment, you won't get much argument from the state department and others. everyone is trying to

figure out how to execute it. in terms of allies, i go back to the photo director the photo in the paper today. kurds, in a region that welcomed the u.s. they arrived years ago, throwing fruit and garbage, holding up signs that say we love the american people but president trump has betrayed us. that's not a trust that you will be able to get back easily in the future if policy changes. that is going to be an issue in the future if we go back to them. >> let's talk about saudi arabia for a minute. as you explained the troop deployment there, answer this question from holly in arkansas. >> i don't think there is a lot of opposition in the pentagon to troop appointments and saudi arabia. deployments in saudi arabia. whether or not you think the u.s. should be defending an oil field or not is a political question as

opposed to a strategic one. strategically we saw that it was an important part of the global a company. american companies took a hit when saudi oil companies was attacked. there is a case to be made that the u.s. presence in the region helps. that said, there were a lot of questions about the type of attacks that were launched. the systems that the u.s. are putting in there, we want defend against that. it does not protect weapons used against them. is this really more just for show than anything else? >> gaithersburg, maryland. good morning. >> good morning. i'm the same generation as our president. i sure would like to hear what he said on that call to erdogan. this man does not do anything unless it has something to do with himself. also, everything i have heard about the kurds, from iraq to syria, at 1.i have

said that i will go fight with them. they have really, they sound like really good people. i know that supposedly they are terrorists or something, but i don't believe that. also, how many troops, i read something on msn.com, we have 400,000 troops the in different areas, all over. so, why in the world would this man withdraw a few troops, a small amount of troops from an area where they were really making a difference and working in intense danger. i don't understand. >> want to start with worldwide troop deployment? >> it has been a big issue for

the pentagon. the pentagon has put a lot of effort on trying to increase the amount of time troops spend in the u.s. they feel that there has been a lot of burnout, retention has been an issue. in terms of the kurds, for the u.s. the kurds have during different conflicts in the region been a reliable ally, well-trained force, useful ally. at the same time, the turks have a legitimate gripe with groups of the kurds. there is a group, the pkk, that has been doing terror attacks in the country, largely from kurdish areas. turkey is again a country that feels under attack terrorist group and they want to go in. the u.s. has always said that there is a faction that is a terrorist group but there is a faction that we support. turkey has the

same factions, but they just switch the hats. it's a complicated situation. in america we can to think of occurred of the kurds as the good guys in the region. everything is more complicated then we think. >> what's the difference between an ally and a partner question mark guest: partner? allies, we have a legal obligation to defend them, for them to attend defend us. our allies, there are no legal obligations. the question had a quite the caller had a question about troops being deployed around the world. this is from today's "new york times." troops abroad, some 78,000 of those, the largest number in south korea. at this point it is just hundreds in syria.

again, that story is in today's "new york times." winnifred, wyoming. republican, good morning. >> good morning. >> go ahead, you're on with aaron mehta. >> i am not a politician, really. i have a lot of knowledge of what's going on in syria. i have complete trust in our president. if he doesn't know about something, he would counsel with the generals and the people over there that do know. and even though he is a businessman, we need a businessman in this country. look at how we are in debt. we need to think figure out a way to get out of debt. i feel that president trump has the people's interest at heart and i feel like with the republicans, if they are turning against him, shame on

them. they ought to be behind president trump. >> her point, who the president is talking to, who is his counsel on this question mark troop deployment, with what's happening in iraq, happening underneath a relatively new joint chief of staffchair mark milly. how is the newness of the position impacting what they're doing. doing? >> it's interesting, there's a man the cayman over the summer, chairman in waiting since last year, he was announced much earlier than usual as the nominee. it's interesting. this is the first crisis he has had to deal with and what we are seeing is a bit of a playing catch-up situation. it has been clear from the pentagon that this is something that they found out about at the same time everyone else did. we have

seen certain things. now that there are two dozen troops now instead of two dozen troops there are 500 troops. staying in syria, could the number increase? within a couple of thousand, people come and go. i would say that the timing is interesting. the general assembly was over before they did the operation. the former chairman of the joint chiefs was really seen as a good representative of the u.s. and was trusted after the 2016 attempt in turkey. he had tocoup attempt. dunford left and may have had more of an influence. i'm not saying that turkey would not have done what they had done, they would have likely done it anyways. but the reaction and information flow might have been subtly

different. >> washington, good morning. >> good morning. i just want to, i'm absolutely dumbfounded by the fact that we are constantly in the middle east. the gentleman who called earlier about the the allow more. the vietnam war. when will we stop putting our children in debt and start taking care of the homeless and mentally ill in america. democrats the whole time, they say they don't want war. obama is going to end the wars, and lobbyists. look at what we got. end lobbyists. look at what we got. democrats are acting like republicans and this president is making everybody crazy. everyone wants to keep us in a war. the deep state is real, it's their, there is an industrial complex

in the military and they love doing that. it is there, there is an industrial complex in the military and i love doing this. regime change, my grandfather was there. why does it keep happening? mexico is a war zone. we don't care. all the democrats do is tell us about how horrible our president is because he doesn't want our citizens in harms way. >> fresno, california, good morning. >> i would like to know the status of the nuclear materials that as i understand are being stored in turkey. >> thank you for the question.

as part of the american responsibility with nato, we are known as they are known as the nuclear gravity bomb. there are a couple of different countries capable of equipping those. roughly 50 of them are at the air force base in turkey. the turkish base and the u.s has a good chunk database has a turkish base has a good chunk of it. it made sense, it was strategically smart to have them there. allies could fly in and be prepared. as the relationship with turkey has degraded a bit, the coup attempt in turkey in 2016 was activated by the turkish air force and as a result, there was a big wiping out of the turkish air force leadership core.

>> what do you mean wiping out? were they killed? >> killed, imprisoned, disappeared, quite a few try to find refuge elsewhere. during the attempt, they cut off power to the u.s. section of the airbase. there was this thought that there were roughly 50 nukes there and people said is their protection? what will happen? it really kicked off the big push. the big push to get these things out of turkey. interestingly enough, the u.s. always says we don't talk about this, even though it is kind of an open secret. president trump confirmed for the first time that there are in fact nuclear weapons at the air force base. members of congress, they feel that things are safe at the moment. inside the pentagon they are keeping an eye on these things and i guarantee that they have plans right now, they are coming up with the extradition plan. >> mary ellen, sarasota, go ahead.

>> i support president trump pulling out of the region. for 19 years we have tried nationbuilding, tried to be partners. it is time for us to leave them to settle their own homelands. i feel that the kurds, they are partners, they were fighting on their own home ground. just as an american, if someone invaded my country, i would fight to the death on my own homeland. i think we have a civilian in charge of the military. that is how we run this country. i do support the president. i don't care what the generals say. or the warmongering democrats and republicans that want to keep us in eternal war. let saudi arabia and iran handle their own business. everyone else is collateral damage.

>> mary ellen with her thoughts. aaron mehta, i will give you the final, i will give you the final minute and let us know what you will be covering today after this news coming out of iraq. >> the big question is what the plans are for the u.s. troops, where they going, how do they transition? if they are not allowed to stay. there is an agreement that could allow them to stay. i believe it was 3 p.m. eastern, is there suddenly a massive push forward from turkey? are they going to potentially get close to the american forces inside syria? will the ground forces come in? this is, president erdogan, this has just a bolstered his poll numbers. he is seen as going after the terrorists that have been attacking. there's no

reason to think you will be restrained in what comes next. >> you can see aaron mehta possible work on their website. appreciate you stopping by.

the united states committee is an order and we have an interesting hearing today with all of our interest and participation here today and i'd like to say good afternoon to all of those of our guests that are gonna be very enlightening in the discussion from earlier today and the situation we have it's quite fluid that will help us get up to date which is difficult as fast as t