We had to destroy Syria to save it from Assad

We didn't massacre Syrian troops, we just sent them a warning to prevent escalation.  

We don't intend to do nation-building in Syria, we're just going to identify where they need to rebuild.

We have no intention of staying in Syria, we're just going to stay until they're stabilized.

 
If you don't feel like vomiting now, you will after reading Defense One's And So It Begins: Trump, Syria, and The Lessons of Iraq featuring remarks such as these:

“Stabilization is not nation-building,” said Brett McGurk, special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, standing alongside Mattis and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford at the Pentagon. “Instead, stabilization is a low-cost, sustainable, citizen-driven effort to identify the key projects that are essential to returning people to their homes such as water pumps, electricity nodes, grain silos, and local security structures, local police.”

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