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Oh please, the ISIS excuse is something no one believes anymore; ISIS has been dead to the public conciousness for a while, only trotted out for 'we got a terrorist' PR stunts to help boost DC's image. The only reason we are still in Syria is to make sure Assad or his proxies doesn't get back...

I'm aware that there have been numerous 'ceasefires' in Syria over the years, negotiated by the US, Russia, and I think even the Saudi's. This one I think has more likelihood of remaining in force, for a few reasons: 1) Economic leverage against Turkey is a powerful tool for Trump, and one he...

So, looks like Trump's letter, and publicizing it, had the intended effect. I'll let the video speak for itself.

While I understand the doubt, given the number of falsified/manipulated documents 'leaked' by people opposed to Trump's position/policies, this is completely genuine.

So, Trump sent a letter to Erdogan, making things abundantly clear: This is how diplomacy should been done with the likes of Islamist dictators like Erdogan.

These posts sum up my feelings pretty well. If Russia can prevent the Kurds from being attacked by Turkey, good for them. And that they also helped enable a political solution between Assad and the Kurds is even better. I am not a person who sees every Russian gain as a 'loss' or 'embarassment'...

Those were done under different geopolitical circumstances and we also had to effectively bomb those countries to the ground beforehand. While there were secondary reasons for the invasion, let's not pretend it wasn't sold to the public via the WMD threat. And let's also not pretend that it was...

I had not heard that; where did you hear it from? Not that I doubt you. Moving those to Greece would make them much more secure and remove that bit of leverage from Turkey.

Fred the Great lived in pre-nuke times, and nukes massively changed the equations geo-politics relies on. There are 50 B-61 nukes at Incirlik; what do you think will happen to them and the American personnel at that base if we get into a shooting war with Turkey? Also, you seem to be ignoring...

Well, he refused to sell them F-35s and Turkey had/has sub-assembly production lines for certain parts of the plane that are now a wasted investment. Not sure what else, but it's not like Turkey's had a a great economy for a while.

Well, it seems one of the ways Trump is hindering Turkey is air space restrictions as of a few hours ago. So if the Turks want to have a go at the Kurds, they won't be able to rely on air power to do it. That significantly alters the equation in an fighting. It looks more and more like Trump...

I was addressing his belief that being adjacent to Israel would mitigate the lack of sea access, and had not seen your post when I made mine. The map you showed would be...more in line with traditionally Kurdish held areas, and I can understand the reasoning behind it. My idea was focused on...

That's about the best shot they'd have, but even then, being landlocked vastly increases costs for basic goods. It would probably actually be more useful to both Israel and a hypothetical Kurdistan to try to carve off a chunk of southern Lebanon to give Kurdistan a port on the Med, and make it...

One problem with any proposed Kurdish state, as far as I've seen it; no seaport access. Thus they would be dependent on, and at the mercy of, all their neighbors for imported goods. Even with their oil, this would be an untenable situation in the long run. Even carving out a slice of Turkey to...

There weren't nukes or MAD in Roman times. Turkey has already made overtures to Russia in the form of buying SAM systems, and is part of the One Belt, One Road plan for China. Going to war with them over the Kurds may not stay confined to the Syrian area if Turkey decides to seek someone else's...

And in case anyone thinks Trump will just let the Kurds hang: Turkey is on notice that if they cross certain lines, their economy will get devastated. This is far more effective at getting Turkey to hold back, and doesn't require American troops in Syria indefinitely.

What would you have us do, get into a shooting war with Turkey over the Kurds? As I said, I'm not happy about this, but there were not any good options here. Like, I'd dance a jig in the street if Erdogan and his ilk were taken out, and Turkey went back to be a secular bastion in the ME. But...

Well, this was pretty much inevitable. The simple fact is Turkey is in NATO, and the Kurds are not. I'm not really happy to hear this, but the simple fact is there were no good options here. The situation is not one of Trump's making, but he, like many Americans, is tired of endless fighting in...