House Passes Bill to Punish Turkey for Syria Invasion

The bill is a culmination of weeks of anger over Turkey’s invasion of northeastern Syrian territory, and the expulsion of Kurdish forces, and would impose sanctions on Turkey until they withdraw from Syrian Kurdish territory. Interestingly enough, it does not appear that Turkey’s other invasion of Syria, in the northwest, is intended to be impacted.

Both parties near-unanimity on the bill comes with them both spinning it differently, with Democrats presenting this as a continuation of the rebuke of Trump’s redeployment of troops away from the Turkish border, and Republicans saying it meant supporting Trump in moving against Turkey if he wants, while allowing him to offer Turkey a waiver if he wants to argue Turkey’s invasion is in US interests.

Whether this bill ultimately means anything remains to be seen, as while some in the Senate are introducing companion resolutions, there is as yet no sign that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) intends to bring any of them up for a vote.