Off The Hookah With Phil And Cooper

This week, President Trump made a controversial decision to pull the US military out of northern Syria, allowing Turkey to proceed with a military operation against one of America’s staunchest allies in the region, the Syrian Kurds, the same coalition who did the lion’s share of destroying the Islamic State. Is there any rhyme or reason to Trump’s decision? What are Erdogan’s goals for northern Syria? And what has the reaction been from Washington? Dr. Bulent Aliriza, the Director of the Turkey Project at CSIS joins the podcast, as well as Al-Monitor’s Pentagon correspondent, Jack Detsch. Turkey launches Syria invasion hours after informing US of plans (Jack Detsch) Turkey launches attack on Syrian Kurdish forces as US steps aside (Amberin Zaman) Trump allies in Congress assail decision to let Turkey attack Syrian Kurds (Bryant Harris) Islamic State fight paused as Turkey invades northern Syria (Jack Detsch) Turkey's route into Syria full of pitfalls, uncertainties (Semih Idiz) Extra Listen