American Cowards

Sunday was not a day of rest. It was a day of national shame.

As most unfortunate things these days, it started with a tweet.

Daryl Morey, the Houston Rockets general manager, sent a simple, seven-word tweet: “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.”

Although he did not need to, Morey quickly apologized and deleted the post. But the damage – exaggerated yet revealing – was done. All hell broke loose.

Running Scared

Fearing a backlash, the National Basketball Association quickly tucked its tail. Under the bus went Mr. Morey.

First, it responded by saying that Morey’s view had “deeply offended many of our friends and fans in China.” Then it released a statement on Chinese social media claiming, using weasel language, that Morey's mild post "has undoubtedly seriously hurt the feelings of Chinese basketball fans.”

The Chinese responded in a way many American companies would recognize.

Chinese basketball league canceled "exchanges" with the Rockets. The internet giant Tencent announced it would no longer broadcast Rockets games.

Give me a break.

Many people stand on principle and protect their people.

Just not America's National Basketball Association.

Cowards.

Then just before midnight on Sunday, the Trump administration announced that is was abandoning Kurdish forces in Syria.

The White House's mealy-mouthed statement, at once braggadocios and whiny, could not obscure a brutal truth. America is abandoning the very people it pushed in front of a rampaging ISIS death cult.

All to befriend an autocrat?

To understand the gravity of this abandonment, we must first understand a brief history.

As ISIS was setting the Middle East ablaze — murdering en-masse, enslaving and raping women, beheading journalists — America led a global effort to stop it. Many countries contributed to the cause.

But Kurdish troops were the ones to take the fight to ISIS. For five years, they have been on the front lines fighting and dying  — 11,000+ killed — in a vicious battle with ISIS.

Our partnership was strong enough that, just this weekend, in exchange for American security guarantees, Kurdish troops literally abandoned outposts used to deter a Turkish invasion. Just this weekend!

Cowardice knows no bounds, though, so many people will die; Syria will burn; ISIS will reorganize; and in the words of one experienced diplomat, Trump will have given a "gift to Russia, Iran, and ISIS."

Kurdish fighters placed their faith in America. Our political leaders abandoned them.

Cowards.