The Trump-Blessed War in Northeastern Syria Is Already a Full-Blown Disaster

syria Updated 3:27 P.M.
The Trump-Blessed War in Northeastern Syria Is Already a Full-Blown Disaster
By Chas Danner


Less than a week after President Trump gave Turkey the green light to attack the U.S.-allied, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in northeastern Syria, the conflict in the border region has already become a full-blown disaster and seems likely to get far worse.

As the fighting has intensified, nearly 800 suspected ISIS members have now escaped from SDF custody following a Turkish airstrike, and there have been other attempted escapes at other facilities, including a prison, which has been the site of at least two ISIS car-bomb attacks since the fighting began. An ISIS flag has also reportedly been raised in a region between a Kurdish-controlled town and the Turkish border. Furthermore, there have been confirmed incidents of sectarian atrocities perpetrated by Turkish-backed Syrian Arab militants, as well as indications that Turkey has already expanded their offensive beyond the limited scope it promised ahead of the invasion. Meanwhile, the civilian death toll is rising, as more than 130,000 people have now been displaced in what may soon become a humanitarian disaster for half a million.

On top of all that, U.S. troops appear to have been deliberately targeted by Turkish forces in an attempt to force them to withdraw — which they now are. U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced on Sunday that the Pentagon is evacuating 1,000 American troops from the region after President Trump ordered a “deliberate withdrawal” on Saturday night. Esper, who just days ago promised that the U.S. would not abandon the region and its SDF allies, called the escalating violence a “terrible situation.”

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