“The Turkish invasion of northern Syria, which Donald Trump green-lighted last week, has already turned into a humanitarian disaster for the Kurds, at least a hundred thousand of whom have been displaced. It is now mushrooming into a strategic disaster for the United States, which appears weak, powerless, and isolated. It also risks turning into a political disaster for Trump, whose bungling incompetence and boundless arrogance may finally be catching up with him.” (And that’s probably putting the best spin on the situation.) The New Yorker: Trump’s Syria Policy Is a Strategic and Political Disaster.

+ (Let me know if you’re sensing an overall theme here): Russia moves to fill void left by US in northern Syria.

+ Ready. Aim. Fire! … Don’t Shoot: After green-lighting the attack, Trump is sanctioning Turkey for the attack. Included in the sanction order: “Any persons contributing to Turkey’s destabilizing actions in northeast Syria.” In other words, Trump Announces Sanctions Against Turkey, Also Himself.

+ Don’t listen to the pundits. Listen to the soldiers. From David Ignatius in WaPo: “It’s probably impossible for Americans to fully grasp the sense of betrayal felt by the Syrian Kurds, who suffered 11,000 dead and 24,000 wounded in a war that we asked them to fight. But perhaps we can understand the shame and outrage of the Special Operations forces who fought alongside them … ‘It will go down in infamy … This will go down as a stain on the American reputation for decades.'” (True, but not just this.)

+ A good explainer (that a certain someone should have read about a week ago) from the NYT: Who Are the Kurds, and Why Is Turkey Attacking Them in Syria?