While it is tempting to blame the US, particularly its colourful and controversial President, for the humanitarian train wreck that is currently being rolled out across large parts of Kurdish-controlled Syria the situation is more complex than that.
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It cannot be broken down into a straightforward "goodies" and "baddies" narrative in which the Kurds, because of their role in the defeat of Islamic state, are automatically entitled to western military support.
Trump, to be fair, was telling the truth when he tweeted that "Turkey has been planning to attack the Kurds for a long time. They have been fighting forever... I am trying to end the ENDLESS WARS".
A key component of his election campaign in 2016 was a commitment to de-escalate US involvement in foreign wars, especially that one, which means it is likely the latest troop drawdown will have strong domestic support.
Recent developments, which have included a strong condemnation of Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan's decision to launch the attack by European Union and other western leaders, raise the question of why the US is expected to stand alone as the only foreign military power guaranteeing the security of the embryonic Kurdish state that has been established in Syria.
Are those who have rushed to condemn America for the troop withdrawal, which has been anticipated for many years, willing to commit their own military forces to this fight?
The short answer to that is "probably not?"
The real issue, and one that seems to have been lost in the wash, is Turkey's transition since the turn of the century from a highly successful, multicultural and secular democracy to a more fundamentalist and aggressive stance that now threatens to further destabilise an already volatile region.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's threat to "open the gates" and send hundreds of thousands of refugees into Europe in retaliation for criticism of his actions is one of the most callous actions by a head of state since Saddam's use of "human shields" in the first Gulf War.
Erdogan, not Trump, is the real villain here. That is a point that seems to have been missed by some. It is the Turks (who have their own reasons for wanting to eradicate what they see as a Kurdish terrorist threat and have not welcomed the emergence of a well armed and organised de facto Kurdish state) who are the aggressors. They have crossed a national border in force and have already killed hundreds of people, including civilians and non combatants.
We should also not ignore the fact that by dragging it's feet for so long on bringing home the IS mothers and children from Syria the Australian government has now created in a situation in which it would be impossible to get them out.
They admitted as much when they said yesterday there were no plans to repatriate them in the wake of the Turkish invasion.
As we have said before, this act of moral cowardice will not play with the many Australians who believe children should not be sacrificed for the sins of their parents.
As we have previously stated if any or all of those children and their mothers come to harm those responsible for the inaction that led to that will be called to account at the ballot box.
