Turkey Sandwich

Trump may have finally done it.  Even as he is stonewalling the House impeachment inquiry with full Republican support, he somehow managed to come up with a policy that even Republicans can't stomach.

In an effort to get along with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, above (his last name is pronounced "er-du-won") Trump, in a move that I'm sure he would have pursued even if he didn't have financial interest in a real-estate project in Istanbul, decided to withdraw U.S. troops from northern Syria, who were working with the Kurds in the area to contain Islamic State fighters so Erdoğan, so the story goes, could deal with Kurdish terrorist forces wrecking havoc in Turkey - except that Erdoğan considers all Kurds to be terrorists.   Turkish forces are on standby to enter northern Syria and annihilate Kurds we promised to protect in our fight against the Islamic State, which could enjoy a resurgence as a result of Trump's policy change.  Oh yeah, and Iran will have more influence in Syria as well and get its path to the Mediterranean, which Mitt Romney and Jonathan Alter warned about.      

Republicans, like Democrats and Western governments, are solidly against this.  Even Pat Robertson is against this policy, saying it will harm Syrian Christians and affect the security of Israel (although he seems to have no regard for Muslims in the area).  When you depend on votes from evangelicals and you lose Pat Robertson, you're in trouble.

Trump's move to placate Erdoğan could (will?) send the entire Middle East in turmoil.  The upside?  Higher oil prices, which means that you'll be seeing less of these on the highway . . .

. . . and more of them at the bottom of the ocean for use as part of artificial reefs.

I try to see the bright side in everything.  Really.