The Jerusalem Post
October 24, 2019
https://www.meforum.org/59660/turkey-backed-jihadists-in-syria
By Michael Ledeen & David Wurmser, Washington Examiner: "We are at war, under siege from a global alliance that runs from Pyongyang to Havana and Caracas. At the moment we are losing, having failed to bring down the leaders of our main adversaries: Kim Jong Un in North Korea, Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, and Ali Khamenei in Tehran, despite monster demonstrations in the latter two countries.
(The Atlantic ) We warned two weeks ago about the danger of abandoning America’s Kurdish-led partner force in Syria, even as thousands of suspected ISIS fighters remain in detention and ISIS attacks steadily increase.
The Iraqi military said in a statement today that the nearly 1,000 US troops that have withdrawn from northeast Syria do not have permission to stay in the country and can only use Iraqi territory for transit. “All US forces that withdrew from Syria received approval to enter the Kurdistan Region so that they may be transported outside Iraq,” the statement said. “There is no permission granted for these forces to stay inside Iraq.” The statement flatly contradicts the Pentagon, which previously said it would keep some of the troops in western Iraq to support the campaign against the Islamic State and “help defend Iraq.”
Meanwhile President Donald Trump said Monday that he was leaving behind a "small number of troops" at the Syrian border with Jordan to help "secure the oil" in other parts of the country. The decision was made at the request of Jordan and Israel, Trump said. This follows withering bipartisan criticism that the abrupt US withdrawal from northeast Syria is a boon for the Islamic State and other US foes including Iran and Russia.
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reuters.com
Turkish truce ends in Syria
Turkey is closely monitoring Kurdish militants' withdrawal from the border in northeast Syria as the US-brokered 120-hour pause in the Turkish offensive ends at 10 p.m. local time today. The People's Protection Units (YPG) have reportedly abandoned the city centers of Ras al-Ain and Tell Abyad. About 125 trucks carrying YPG militants have already left the area, sources from Turkey's Defense Ministry told the Daily Sabah on Monday, although some militants have reportedly donned civilian clothing and stayed behind in rural areas in the 75 miles between the two cities.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to discuss the truce with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi later today as Russia hosts the leaders of Turkey and Iran for trilateral talks on the future of Syria. “In this trip, Mr. Putin and I will tackle the period and will hopefully take the necessary steps,” Erdogan said at a forum in Istanbul on Monday. Putin and Erdogan's talks will focus on "normalizing the situation" in northeast Syria, according to the Kremlin.
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dailysabah.com
Netanyahu fails to create new government
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Monday evening that he had failed to compose a governing coalition. Two days before Wednesday's deadline, he handed back his mandate to President Reuven Rivlin, who is now expected to give Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz 28 days to try to form a coalition that can win a Knesset majority. If Gantz fails, Rivlin could task the Knesset to propose its own majority-backed candidate. New elections — the third within the span of one year — are also an option.
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jpost.com
Lebanon adopts sweeping reforms amid protests
Lebanon’s Cabinet on Monday approved sweeping economic reforms and passed a state budget for 2020 budget as hundreds of thousands of people continued to protest the economic crisis plaguing the country for a fifth day in a row. Prime Minister Saad Hariri proposed the plan, which calls for cutting the salaries of lawmakers and ministers in half but doesn't include any new taxes. Instead, Hariri announced that the flush banking sector would help reduce the country's soaring deficit while poor families would get millions in subsidies and housing loans. The Cabinet also voted to abolish several state institutions, including the Ministry of Information. But protests that broke out last week across the country amid growing anger over decades of corruption and the government’s mismanagement of the economic crisis are expected to continue today as people have lost trust in the government.
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dailystar.com.lb