U.S. Backpedals on New Kurdish Force as Turkey Prepares for War by Liz Sly – Washington Post
The Trump administration is backtracking on its description of a planned new security force in northeastern Syria amid escalating threats by Turkey to launch a cross-border assault against the Kurdish group involved.
The effort to soothe Turkey came as Turkey’s military chief of staff, Hulusi Akar, headed to Moscow to secure Russian consent for a military operation in Syria. Russia controls the skies over the area that Turkey is preparing to attack and could potentially down Turkish planes.
Syria, however, warned Thursday that it was prepared to shoot down Turkish planes if Turkish troops attack the Kurdish enclave of Afrin, on the Syrian border with Turkey,underscoring the risk of a wider regional conflict.
“The Syrian air defenses have restored their full force and they are ready to destroy Turkish aviation targets in Syrian Arab Republic skies,” Syria’s deputy foreign minister, Faisal Miqdad, said in a statement published by state media.
Any such war also risks embroiling the United States, which is closely allied to both the Syrian Kurds and Turkey and frequently finds itself caught between the two…