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→Turkish incursion: +
President Trump's decision to withdraw from Syria in October 2019 was against the recommendations of top officials in DoD who have sought to keep a small troop presence in northeast Syria to continue operations against ISIS and act as a critical counterweight to Iran and Russia.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/07/us/politics/trump-turkey-syria.html |title=President Endorses Turkish Military Operation in Syria, Shifting U.S. Policy |last1=Schmitt |first1=Eric |last2=Haberman |first2=Maggie |date=October 7, 2019 |newspaper=The New York Times |last3=Wong |first3=Edward}}</ref> President Trump ignored their advice and endorsed the Turkish military operation into northern Syria, removing U.S. forces and paving the way for the assault on the Kurdish minority population.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/10/07/erdogan-defying-pentagon-trump-endorses-turkish-operation-in-syria/ |title=Defying Pentagon, Trump Endorses Turkish Operation in Syria |last=Seligman |first=Lara}}</ref> Mulroy said the U.S. military presence in northeast Syria and our partnership with the SDF had been major contributors to stability in that area.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-07/trump-gets-his-turkey-withdrawal-deal-with-bolton-mattis-gone |title=Trump Gets His Turkey Withdrawal Deal With Bolton, Mattis Gone |website=www.bloomberg.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Carey|first=Glen|date=October 10, 2019|title=U.S. and Turkey Between Them May Give Syria's Assad a Big Boost|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-10/u-s-and-turkey-between-them-may-give-syria-s-assad-a-big-boost|website=Bloomberg}}</ref>
President Trump's decision to withdraw from Syria in October 2019 was against the recommendations of top officials in DoD who have sought to keep a small troop presence in northeast Syria to continue operations against ISIS and act as a critical counterweight to Iran and Russia.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/07/us/politics/trump-turkey-syria.html |title=President Endorses Turkish Military Operation in Syria, Shifting U.S. Policy |last1=Schmitt |first1=Eric |last2=Haberman |first2=Maggie |date=October 7, 2019 |newspaper=The New York Times |last3=Wong |first3=Edward}}</ref> President Trump ignored their advice and endorsed the Turkish military operation into northern Syria, removing U.S. forces and paving the way for the assault on the Kurdish minority population.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/10/07/erdogan-defying-pentagon-trump-endorses-turkish-operation-in-syria/ |title=Defying Pentagon, Trump Endorses Turkish Operation in Syria |last=Seligman |first=Lara}}</ref> Mulroy said the U.S. military presence in northeast Syria and our partnership with the SDF had been major contributors to stability in that area.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-07/trump-gets-his-turkey-withdrawal-deal-with-bolton-mattis-gone |title=Trump Gets His Turkey Withdrawal Deal With Bolton, Mattis Gone |website=www.bloomberg.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Carey|first=Glen|date=October 10, 2019|title=U.S. and Turkey Between Them May Give Syria's Assad a Big Boost|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-10/u-s-and-turkey-between-them-may-give-syria-s-assad-a-big-boost|website=Bloomberg}}</ref>
Prior to the Turkish incursion, called Operation Peace Spring, Mulroy stated that if they did invade northeast Syria, the Kurdish element of the SDF will defend their people and Syrian's will endure even more suffering.<ref name="auto8" /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/10/turkey-incursion-northern-syria-islamic-state-us-officials.html |title=Turkish incursion threatens to unleash Islamic State in Syria, US officials warn |last=Detsch |first=Jack |date=October 7, 2019 |website=Al-Monitor}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Finnegan|first1=Conor|last2=Martinez|first2=Luis|last3=Raddatz|first3=Martha|date=October 7, 2019|title='They abandoned us': Commanding general of US-allied Kurdish forces in Syria|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/abandoned-us-commanding-general-syrian-democratic-forces/story?id=66117726|website=ABC News}}</ref> The New York Times said that DoD made "lemonade out of lemons" and pieced together their strategy after it had been undermined by a phone call between U.S. President Trump and Turkish President Erdogan in December 2018, only to have it done again by another phone call between U.S. President Trump and Turkish President Erdogan in October 2019. They continued that the DoD would try to piece it together again.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/07/world/middleeast/syria-turkey-kurds-military.html |title=Caught Between Trump, Turkey, and Kurds, Pentagon Struggles to Piece Together Syria Strategy |last1=Cooper |first1=Helene |last2=Schmitt |first2=Eric |date=October 7, 2019 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> Mulroy advocated for an international plan to deal with the problems of the ISIS prisoners and the IDP camps publicly just days before the green-lighted Turkish incursion.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/10/there-is-no-plan-b-for-isis-prisoners/600187/ |title=There Is No Plan B for ISIS Prisoners |website=The Atlantic|date=October 17, 2019}}</ref> In early October 2019, the DoD pushed to get approval to keep a small group of forces located in Syria to be able to maintain the relationship with the SDF and continue the D-ISIS and stabilization mission.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/ |title=Washington Post: Breaking News, World, US, DC News & Analysis |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Cooper|first1=Helene|last2=Schmitt|first2=Eric|date=2019-10-25|title=U.S. to Deploy Hundreds of Troops to Guard Oil Fields in Syria, Pentagon Officials Say|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/25/world/middleeast/esper-troops-syria.html|access-date=2020-08-10|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
==== Death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ====
==== Death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ====