Trump tries to spin his disastrous Syria retreat into a big success, says he showed 'vision' and 'courage'

• President Donald Trump on Wednesday portrayed his Syria retreat as a big win, despite the calamitous consequences of his decision-making.
• Trump's move to abandon Kurdish forces to a Turkish invasion has opened the door for an ISIS comeback, gifted a geopolitical victory to Russia, catalyzed a humanitarian crisis, and sparked bipartisan criticism in Washington.
• Trump on Wednesday said he showed "vision" and "courage" in Syria.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday sought to paint his disastrous Syria retreat as a success for the US - just one day after Turkey and Russia reached an agreement that effectively solidifies Moscow's dominance in the region.

Trump said Turkey told him there will be a "permanent" ceasefire in Syria. He added that the notion of permanence in the Middle East is "questionable," before going on to say that his administration is lifting recently imposed sanctions on Turkey.

The president in a tweet prior to his remarks hailed the creation of a "safe zone" at the Turkey-Syria border via a deal between Moscow and Ankara. The area was at relative peace before the Turkish invasion, and the characterization of it as a "safe zone" dismisses both Trump and Turkey's recent role in destabilizing it.

Trump in his Wednesday statement seemed to express skepticism of the phrase "safe zone," after presenting it positively in his earlier tweet. The president said: "A safe zone. That's an interesting term. But that's what we're creating. Hopefully it will be safe."

The president also confirmed some troops will remain in Syria, after previously claiming he was bringing troops home.

"Let someone else fight over this long bloodstained sand," Trump said, stating that he showed "wisdom" and "courage" by pulling US troops out of the way and opening the door for Turkey to invade.

Trump's decision to withdraw US troops from northeast Syria, which he made after a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier this month, has been calamitous. The move has been widely characterized as a betrayal of Kurdish forces who bore the brunt of the US-led campaign against ISIS - losing roughly 11,000 fighters in the process. Comparatively, the US has lost four soldiers in Syria since operations against ISIS began there.

Turkey invaded Syria just three days after the White House announced the withdrawal of US forces from the area. The Turkish incursion targeted the Kurdish forces.

Prior to Trump's Syria retreat, the US had made assurances to the Kurds that they would be protected if they dismantled defensive positions along the Syria-Turkey border. The Kurds followed through with this, but the US did not.

It's estimated as many as 300,000 have been displaced since Turkey invaded Syria, and there have also been reports of war crimes committed against the Kurds.

Meanwhile, the situation has opened the door for ISIS to make a comeback and serves as a major geopolitical victory for Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Erdogan made a deal on Tuesday for Russia and Syrian border guards to oversee the withdrawal of Kurdish forces from the Turkish border. Once the Kurdish forces are removed, Russia and Turkey will then jointly conduct military patrols along the border. The Turkey-Russia deal supersedes a so-called ceasefire agreement between the Trump administration and Erdogan that expired on Tuesday. Trump on Wednesday claimed the ceasefire had been a success, despite reports that it quickly fell apart.

These developments have solidified Russia's supremacy in the region and also serve as a victory for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a US adversary who has been accused of war crimes. The situation has also essentially forced Syrian Kurds to leave their homeland.

Trump has offered a meandering series of defenses over his controversial decision to abandon the Kurds, ranging from saying the Kurds did not help the US in World War II to misleadingly stating that he's ending "endless wars" by bring US troops home. In reality, US forces in Syria are being relocated to other parts of the region as Trump ramps up America's military footprint in the Middle East.