After airstrike on Turkish forces by Russia or Syria, Trump forced to pick between Moscow or Ankara

[Dennis Donovan]

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/27/world/middleeast/trump-syria-russia-libya.html

By Lara Jakes and Michael Crowley

Published Feb. 27, 2020

Updated Feb. 28, 2020, 3:02 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON — President Trump has long sought to avoid confronting the leaders of Turkey and Russia — two foreign strongmen who are facing off in civil wars in Syria and Libya. But after an airstrike on Thursday that killed dozens of Turkish troops in northwest Syria, Mr. Trump may be forced to pick a side.

Nominal allies, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey have each thrown military forces and other support into two bloody conflicts that have spawned vast human suffering, have threatened to upend a fragile stability in the Middle East and may send hundreds of thousands of refugees streaming into Europe.

Despite international calls for more American involvement, Mr. Trump has stood aside from significant intervention in either conflict — a decision consistent with his pledge to wind down the “endless wars” of the past two decades.

But State Department officials have made clear they view Russia as stirring the unrest, especially in Syria. Turkish leaders, well aware that their nation is viewed with distrust by many in Congress and within the NATO alliance, are seeking to use both conflicts to show the United States that they should put aside a year of strained diplomacy and unite against a common adversary: Moscow.

</snip>

Publicly, they'll back Turkey but, behind the scenes, everything will be done with Putin in mind (or directly ordered from him).

[Iliyah]

1. Putin . . .

WH/jerkoff caused this.

Shithole/WH/Republicans didn't care about our allies, the Kurds and allowed Turkey to annihilate them.

[atreides1]

2. The second largest military in NATO...

Is a paper tiger!!!

I guess the Turks don't exactly meet up to the standards of a reconstituted Ottoman Empire that Erodgan wants to create, do they?

[braddy]

3. You should use the article headline, yours is incorrect.

"In Syria and Libya, Trump Is Torn Over 2 Wars, and 2 Strongmen"

After an airstrike on Turkish forces by Russia or its Syrian allies, President Trump may be forced to pick between Moscow and Ankara.

[Dennis Donovan]

4. How is it incorrect?

I used the sub-headline of the article and truncated it for space.

[braddy]

5. Who was he forced to pick and who forced him to choose that one?

[Dennis Donovan]

6. Really?

Yeah, I'm ok with my headline.

[braddy]

7. Yes really, the article says he may have to pick, not that he was already forced to. I would not

have clicked for the real headline.

[Dennis Donovan]

8. Not sure why you did to begin with

[Coventina]

9. In GD, you are allowed to title your thread whatever you want.

Using the exact headline is only a rule in LBN.

[Dennis Donovan]

10. Their gripe is that I left out a word - "may"

[braddy]

11. I merely meant that it was wrong to make a false claim as the headline, it is a headline to a story

that doesn't exist yet.

[Coventina]

12. You can argue the merits of the poster's argument,

but your response indicates you were chastising them on the title.

[braddy]

13. My arguments have all been about being mislead as to what the article was about by a fake title

that did not reflect the actual article. I don't mind someone shortening a title or so that is still accurate.

The said that a very important issue had been moved on and decided, but it hasn't been.

[Coventina]

14. Um, OK.....

I really don't understand what you're angry about, but I hope you feel better now.....