This archive report was first published on 8 October 2019.
US President Donald Trump's surprise announcement on October 7, 2019, gave Turkey a green light to invade Syria, sparking panic among Washington's Kurdish allies.
Trump's decision was met with heavy criticism from top Republicans, who accused him of abandoning the Kurds, who were crucial in the years-long campaign to defeat Islamic State.
However, Trump appeared to backpedal, warning Ankara that he would 'obliterate' the country's economy if they went too far.
'I have told Turkey that if they do anything outside of what we would think is humane... they could suffer the wrath of an extremely decimated economy,' Trump said.
But Trump also said he wanted to end the US military presence in the region, stating, 'We want to bring our troops back home from these endless wars and we're like a police force. We're not fighting. We're policing.'
A senior administration official denied that Trump had given a 'green light' to an invasion, adding that 'there will be no US armed forces involvement.'
Even Trump's allies accused him of turning his back on the Kurds, who say they lost some 11,000 fighters taking the lead in the battle against the Islamic State.
Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell, one of the senior Republicans who criticized Trump, said, 'A precipitous withdrawal of US forces from Syria would only benefit Russia, Iran, and the Assad regime.'
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the operation could 'come any night without warning,' while Kurds in the area girded for fighting.
The Kurds lead the Syrian Democratic Forces, who were essential in the US-led coalition that defeated the Islamic State.
Turkey regards Kurdish forces within the SDF as a terror threat because it maintains ties to Kurdish militants inside Turkey, and has vowed to crush them.
