Napoleon Complex: There’s a feast of spoils in northern Syria as the result of President Trump’s order for US troops to pull out and let multiple countries and factions fight it out.

  Syrian troops are rushing into the vacuum left by the Americans, re-taking territory President Bashar Hafez al-Assad has not controlled in years. Russia, Iran, and the Islamic State also stand to gain as the Kurds ally themselves with Syria to survive the departure of the ally that deserted them, the US.

  The collapse is the result of President Trump’s abrupt decision to get out. He dismissively tweeted yesterday, “I said to my Generals, why should we be fighting for Syria and Assad to protect the land of our enemy? Anyone who wants to assist Syria in protecting the Kurds is good with me, whether it is Russia, China, or Napoleon Bonaparte.”

  People are dying and as many as 100,000 are running away from the fighting. Even though he caused the mess, Trump is now ordering Turkey to stop its assault on the Kurds in Syria or suffer economic consequences. Trump announced he’s raising tariffs on Turkish steel and suspending negotiations on a $100 billion trade agreement.

  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who views the Kurdish forces as terrorists, insists that he must take a 20-mile buffer of territory for hundreds of miles inside the Syrian border for the sake of national security. He has declared that, “We are determined to take our operation to the end. We will finish what we started. A hoisted flag does not come down.”

  A NY Times editorial says, “America’s alliance with Kurdish forces is probably dead, and it’s hard to see what role the United States can play in Syria or in the fight against the Islamic State. They say if you break it, you own it. But maybe all the United States has done is break it.”

Seditious Conspiracy: House impeachment investigators yesterday spent hours interviewing Fiona Hill, the President’s former top adviser on Russia and Europe, asking questions about how Trump’s allies appeared to be running a private foreign policy to extract damaging information from Ukraine about former Vice President Joe Biden.

  Hill is the first White House official to testify. The White House made no move to block the testimony, despite vowing not to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry.

 The Washington Post reports that Hill told investigators that Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani ran a parallel foreign policy in Ukraine in order to personally benefit President Trump.

  The story in The NY Times says Hill testified that the now-resigned National Security Adviser John Bolton was so alarmed by what was going on that he ordered her to notify the chief lawyer for the National Security Council that Giuliani was working with acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney on a legally shaky rogue operation. Bolton is said to have described Giuliani as a “hand grenade.”

  Committee officials also scheduled an interview with Michael McKinley, a career State Department official who served as a senior adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo before he resigned last week.

  The Trump defense strategy is to claim the impeachment inquiry is a slow motion coup and a conspiracy to overthrow the will of the people who elected him — actually equating Trump with the government itself. Brad Parscale, Trump’s 2020 campaign manager, tweeted yesterday that,“Democrats have crossed over the line of partisan politics and have undertaken a seditious conspiracy to overthrow the people’s president. Nancy Pelosi should step down for betraying her oath of office and attempting to overthrow our great Republic.”

Black Lives: The Fort Worth police officer who shot a woman to death through a window in her own home was charged with murder yesterday shortly after resigning and refusing to cooperate with investigators.  Chief of police Ed Kraus said, “Had the officer not resigned, I would have fired him for violations for several policies, including our use of force policy, our de-escalation policy and unprofessional conduct.”

 The now former-cop, Aaron Dean, fired a split second after saying “Hands up!” without identifying himself. He killed 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson who had been up late playing video games with her eight-year-old nephew.

The Bulletin Board: At least 50 people are reported dead in Japan in the wake of Typhoon Hagibis, which hit over the weekend, dropping more than 35 inches of rain in some areas. — A dozen Democratic candidates for president debate tonight on CNN. — Vice President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, told ABC News he used poor judgement joining the board of a Ukrainian gas company but, “Did I do anything improper? No, not in any way. Not in any way whatsoever.” 

The Apology Broadcast Corporation: ABC News over the weekend aired dramatic footage purporting to show machine gun fire poured into a Kurdish position by Turkish soldiers. As tracer rounds and explosions lit the night, the video was accompanied by the turgid narration of senior foreign correspondent Ian Pannell saying, “This video, obtained by ABC News, appears to show the fury of the Turkish attack on the border town of Tal Abyad.”

  Great stuff. Incredible combat footage. Just one problem. The video was shot at a Kentucky gun range where you can fire machine guns. At a time when the veracity of everything journalists say is being challenged, this is most unfortunate. Without explaining how the mistake was made, a network spokesman said, “ABC regrets the error.” 

  More than you can possibly know.

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