SYRIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TURKEY/WAR: “Syrian government troops moved into a series of towns and villages in northern Syria Monday [10-14-19], setting up a potential clash with Turkish-led forces in the area, as U.S. troops prepared to pull out. The Syrian army’s deployment near the Turkish border came hours after Syrian Kurdish forces previously allied with the U.S. said they had reached a deal with President Bashar Assad’s government to help fend off Turkey’s invasion, now in its sixth day. The announcement of a deal between Syria’s Kurds and its government is a major shift in alliances that came after President Donald Trump ordered all U.S. troops withdrawn from the northern border area amid the rapidly spreading chaos. The shift sets up a potential clash between Turkey and Syria and raises the specter of a resurgent Islamic State group as the U.S. relinquishes any remaining influence in northern Syria to Assad and his chief backer, Russia. The fighting also seems likely to endanger, if not altogether crush, the brief experiment in self-rule set up by Syria’s Kurds since the war began.”
–Associated Press, “Syrian army moves to confront Turkish forces as U.S. withdraws,” Politico, October 14, 2019 9:53 am