The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Friday their attack to capture Raqqa city from Islamic State would begin soon and the U.S.-led coalition would supply them with weapons including armored vehicles for the assault. - Reuters
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey lost his first major political battle with the Trump administration, which is arming the Syrian Kurds who the Turks consider enemies. The question now is what Mr. Erdogan, a headstrong leader, will do next. – New York Times
U.S. special operations advisers are moving quickly to get new arms and ammunition into the hands of the Kurdish YPG in Syria despite renewed demands from NATO ally Turkey to break the deal approved by President Donald Trump, a U.S. military spokesman said Wednesday. – Military.com
Anti-Islamic State fighters, backed by U.S. forces, have seized a strategic town in northern Syria and will soon move “within striking distance” of Raqqa, the terrorist group’s self-proclaimed capital, a U.S. military spokesman said Wednesday. – Stars and Stripes
U.S.-backed Syrian militias said they fully seized the town of Tabqa and Syria's largest dam from Islamic State on Wednesday, a major objective as they prepare to launch an assault on Raqqa, the jihadists' biggest urban stronghold. - Reuters
With the Trump administration's decision to supply Syria's Kurdish fighters with heavier weapons, U.S. troops inside Syria are in the crossfire between Turkey, a powerful NATO ally, and the Kurdish fighters that Ankara deems as terrorists. – Associated Press
Josh Rogin reports: President Trump’s Wednesday meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the White House was not primarily about sanctions or Crimea or even Russian interference in the 2016 election. According to Trump, the U.S. government now looks favorably on the Russian-Iranian-Turkish plan for Syria. – Washington Post
Frederic Hof writes: Ideally the good luck for which America was once known will return in the liberation of Raqqa. Ideally ISIS fighters will vanish before the SDF enters the city. If they do not, ideally the SDF militiamen––accompanied by American advisors––will mimic the performance of trained professionals. Tens of thousands of civilian lives hang in the balance. Had the Turkish-American alliance kicked-in with full force sometime over the past two-plus years, the defeat of ISIS could have been accomplished in a rapid, professionally satisfactory, and life-saving manner. Now one prays for good fortune – Atlantic Council
Hof also writes: This de-escalation initiative may indeed save lives and enable the real Syrian opposition to confront al-Qaeda and ISIS. But it will not succeed because of Russian, Iranian, or regime decency and good will. If the Trump administration perpetuates the AWOL in Syria policy of its predecessor, this initiative will fail and extremists––notably the Assad regime and its al-Qaeda and ISIS partners in crime––will be the winners. – Atlantic Council