WASHINGTON — For the last few years, the United States could neatly sum its objective in Syria in a single, uncontroversial bullet point: fighting the Islamic State group. As IS recedes as an immediate threat, the legs of that argument are falling away, fueling growing Turkish outrage that even the Trump administration acknowledges has some merit. The Islamic State’s retreat also has forced the U.S. to stretch thinner its legal rationale for operating in Syria. Turkey considers Syrian Kurdish forces to be intrinsically linked to the PKK, an insurgency the Turks have battled for decades. So the Trump administration has tried to split the difference, acknowledging Turkey’s security concerns while urging “restraint.” That balance hasn’t quelled the situation.

Source: National Post January 23, 2018 23:15 UTC