While Donald Trump is preoccupied by allegations of past affairs and "fake news" of Russian indictments, a crisis with potentially grave real world consequences has been building in the ashes of ISIS's nominal defeat in Syria -- with no sign of U.S. leadership in sight.
Following the breakdown of Syrian peace talks in Geneva, Russian, Iranian, Syrian, and American forces have been at each other's throats in the rebel-held Damascus suburb of eastern Ghouta, the northern city of Idlib, and points east. The massacre of civilians in Ghouta, led by Syrian forces with Russian air support, has sparked international outrage. Near the town of Deir al Zour, on the edge of territory held by Syrian Democratic Forces, an attack earlier this month on an American outpost by Russian mercenaries bankrolled by a Putin oligarch triggered a U.S. counterattack that left dozens of Russians dead or wounded. The Trump White House has had no comment on the Russian attack or its aftermath.
Sowing further confusion, with Moscow's apparent blessing, Turkish forces weeks ago invaded Syria near the northeastern town of Afrin in a quixotic drive to protect their border from alleged Kurdish "terrorists" aligned with U.S. military advisers mopping up after ISIS. This has raised the prospect of a military clash between nearby American troops and Turkish forces, the two largest militaries in NATO.
Worse, Assad's commanders have responded to the Afrin incursion, reportedly with the assent of Russian and Iranian Revolutionary Guard commanders, by sending a convoy of Iranian-trained militias to protect the Kurds from the Turkish invaders, at once usurping the Washington's role protecting nearby Syrian Kurdish enclaves and undercutting U.S. military credibility.
In addition, Israel two weeks ago shot down an Iranian drone, backing up recent threats to attack Iranian forces in Syria, which it regards as venturing too close to northern Israel for comfort. Syrian anti-aircraft batteries retaliated by downing an Israeli F-16, the first time in a generation Israel's Air Force has lost a jet fighter in combat.
In Washington, President Trump has said nothing. The White House now faces the possibility of a shooting war in Syria with a NATO ally. As was the case in post-ISIS Iraq, Trump and his military brass have been outmaneuvered on the ground in Syria by Iranian and Syrian commanders, who are providing protection for U.S. Kurdish allies that U.S. military leaders are reluctant to provide. Israel's saber-rattling against Iranian-supported forces in Syria has increased the possibility of an outbreak of hostilities between Israel and Iran that could lure Trump's generals into the fight.
The Wall St. Journal called this a "gathering storm" for which "the U.S. has no strategy." The "real" news here? The president is AWOL, and the stakes for the U.S. and the region are growing daily.
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