By creating the conditions for & further bolstering a PKK-held autonomous zone on the Turkey-Syria border, Obama Admin deliberately armed a ticking time bomb. War, terror, and mayhem was inevitable. Many bad guys on both sides. Trump WH put in an impossible position *by design*.
As some of my friends in the foreign policy space have already noted, this Obama policy was purposed with empowering Tehran and extending its reach further into the region. Of course, it was enacted under the guise of going after ISIS, but that was not the end game.
DOD has essentially confirmed Obama WH flat out lied about foundations of the SDF and YPG. Given that the PKK is a US designated terror group, we had policymakers and defense officials put in unethical position of shielding PKK-tied groups to get around our own anti-terror laws.
Again, there was no good way to exit this shit show. Turkey kept saying they were going to invade & POTUS had to decide whether they were serious.
@EsperDoD believed invasion imminent. WH pulled troops away from the unsustainable situation, which was always a ticking time bomb.
Not even the most ridiculous interpretation of the AUMF could apply to US troops arming+defending Kurds in a shooting war against a treaty ally. If Congress wants to send troops in to Syria to referee a PKK-Erdogan-Assad-ISIS-RU-Iran shooting war, they should put it in writing.