Marciano490
Do we have any sense what Trump and/or the US gets in return for that? Isn’t Russia allied with Turkey so far as Syria is concerned?
Beomoose
You mean other than when they’ve been actively shooting at one another? Syria’s civil war is messy, while Russia, Assad’s government, and Erdogan may all share an enemy in ISIS (at least when convenient for them) and in the SDF/Kurds, describing them as allies is rather inaccurate.
SoFloSoxFan
Last month:
2012:
Average Reds
This is a grotesque development that, in and of itself, should have caused many Republicans to condemn the Trump Administration if they weren’t so focused on defending Trump at any cost.
An outrage on many levels.
dhappy42
But predictable and understandable. No Trump hotels or golf courses in Kurdistan.
Morgan’s Magic Snowplow
Trump is weak and completely obsessed with his re-election. It’s a great time for foreign countries to push the envelope. We’ve seen it with Iran firing on Saudi oil infrastructure, North Korea testing sub based missiles, and now Turkey pushing to take the bite out of Syria it has long wanted.
With 13 months until the election, I’m worried that this is only the beginning.
Average Reds
I think you are absolutely correct about Trump being a pushover and about this being only the beginning. I also think that the dynamic you are talking about (Trump focused solely on how events impact his re-election prospects) works in reverse.
Trump is going to make bad deals from a position of weakness. Until he doesn’t. Meaning, at some point, Trump will be presented with a scenario that he thinks will benefit him if he uses military force. And so he will.
The instability of the next 13 months will be off the charts.
TallerThanPedroia
And we’re not just giving up on defending the Kurds, we recently talked them into abandoning some of their own defenses near the border with Turkey, supposedly to make Turkey less likely to invade. Now they’ll roll in more easily.
Also, for fuck’s sake, this asshole:
On Saturday, Erdogan said the invasion, dubbed Operation Peace Fountain, could begin “as soon as today or maybe tomorrow.”
Gunfighter 09
Back home, even typical Trump sycophants like Lindsay Graham are coming out publicly on this one:
Morgan’s Magic Snowplow
Sometimes Trump really outdoes himself. As jaded and inured to his behavior as I’ve become, this is one of those double take tweets where you just marvel at the fact that this unhinged lunatic is the most powerful man in the world.
geoduck no quahog
He is insane. I’m not being hyperbolic. Here’s the full tweet:
As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!). They must, with Europe and others, watch over the captured ISIS fighters and families. The U.S. has done far more than anyone could have ever expected, including the capture of 100% of the ISIS Caliphate. It is time now for others in the region, some of great wealth, to protect their own territory. THE USA IS GREAT!
Putin and Rouhani are laughing all the way to armegeddon.
[REDACTED COMMENTS: PLACEHOLDER]
Bozo Texino
So what’s Turkey going to dig up on Biden?
[REDACTED COMMENTS: PLACEHOLDER]
norm from cheers
The answer is it’s Putin’s Birthday. Esper, the Acting Defense Secretary, probably didn’t hear about the pull out until the PR was released. Trump’s pullout, if it holds up, will be the subject of how not to do military policy at West Point for next hundred years or more.
Edit to add Turkey ain’t wasting time.
#BREAKING: Reports: Turkish warplanes have bombed the Semelka Border Crossing at the Syria-Iraq border
ZMart100
It didn’t take Turkey very long to get started. This is the Syria-Iraq border, but only about 1 1/2 miles from Turkey.
Marciano490
Didn’t Trump say we were leaving Syria very abruptly awhile back, then back out?
Rojava to Rock 
Thanks for your work.
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