Oct. 12, 2019
The situation I address here is awash in complexities and troubling aspects.
This past Sunday, October 6, President Trump, after a phone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, announced a very sudden decision to pull US troops out of northern Syria. This was in the face of Turkish threats to invade the semi-autonomous area held by the Kurds, called Rojava (in green on the map below). The Turks have been seeking a “safe zone” that would prevent infiltration of Syrian Kurds into Turkey (see this on map as well).