The man in charge of the world's most powerful military is a deranged lunatic

You truly hate to see it

President Trump.
(Image credit: Illustrated | GBlakeley/iStock, Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, videodet/iStock)

President Trump is facing down an impeachment inquiry, and his former subordinates are starting to disobey his efforts to keep them from testifying. After a lifetime of total impunity for alleged crimes, sexual assaults, and business failures, Trump is just possibly facing a serious consequence.

So naturally, he chose to upset his own caucus by randomly ordering a withdrawal of American forces from northern Syria and green-lighting an invasion by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan — thus throwing Kurdish militias who have been loyal allies of U.S. troops for years, and took thousands of casualties fighting ISIS on America's behalf, directly to the wolves. Thousands are fleeing, and hundreds have been killed. After the House of Representatives voted 354 to 60 to condemn the action, Vice President Pence announced Thursday he had negotiated a five-day ceasefire to allow Kurdish forces to withdraw — which was over a week too late and, as Rachel Maddow outlines, gave Erdogan exactly what he wanted.

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Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.