Democracy Dies in Darkness

Trump may be against ‘forever wars,’ but he’s no dove

Analysis by
Columnist
October 11, 2019 at 12:59 a.m. EDT

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In the days since the White House essentially greenlit a Turkish invasion of northeastern Syria, President Trump has struggled to make a confusing set of decisions clear. On one hand, he decided that the American military would not stand in the way of a long-mooted Turkish incursion. On the other, Trump ventured that such an intervention against America’s Syrian Kurdish allies was a “bad idea” and threatened Ankara with economic disaster should its actions cross an as-of-yet imperceptible red line gestured at by the president.