IN a move so shocking, so out of character with American ideals, and so ignorant of historical consequences that even some of his staunchest political defenders condemned it, US President Donald Trump on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) summarily ordered the withdrawal of US troops from northern Syria, effectively abandoning America’s Kurdish allies in the face of an imminent invasion by Turkish forces.
The move came after a phone call between Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in which the Turkish leader informed Trump of his intention to send his forces into northern Syria against the Kurds. Turkey has had a long conflict with the Kurdish people, a part of whose homeland lies in southeastern Turkey, and considers the Kurdish fighters a terrorist group.
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