U.S. Has Video of Turkish-Allied Fighters Targeting Kurd Civilians

As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrives in the United States for a White House meeting with Donald Trump (part of a Trump effort to normalize Turkish ethnic cleansing on the Turkish-Syrian border)  U.S. military sources are letting it be known that the U.S. has video of some of that ethnic cleansing in action.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the United States has drone-based footage of Turkish-backed fighters targeting civilians during the sweep into northern Syria, both a war crime and evidence that the Turkish incursion was not, as the Turkish government has claimed, aimed solely at Kurdish militants. It is not the only video evidence of apparent war crimes—the Journal reports that the U.S. sent up a monitoring drone after multiple videos posted to social media showed roadside executions and the assassination of a Kurdish politician as U.S. troops were retreating from the area.

The public leak of the existence of those recordings might result in a few awkward moments between the visiting Erdogan and U.S. officials, if Donald Trump were not himself an authoritarian-minded sociopath. We also recently learned that Erdogan's Proud-Boy-esque security thugs not only assaulted public protesters during Erdogan's prior White House visit, but also injured two diplomatic agents, six Secret Service officers, and a police officer in their zeal for violence. Team Trump seems willing to overlook that, too, in its attempts to boost Erdogan's standing and put a veneer of dignity on the broken U.S.-Turkey relationship.