Not a friend. Not an ally. Turkey should be removed from NATO, and our international alliances reconfigured in light of the realities of the global jihad.

“Syrian Kurdish-led fighters take Hajin, last town held by ISIS,” by Bassem Mroue, Associated Press, December 14, 2018:

BEIRUT — U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led fighters captured the last town held by the Islamic State group on Friday, after three months of ferocious battles in the militants’ single remaining enclave in eastern Syria, activists and Kurdish officials said….

The Syrian Democratic Council, the political wing of the SDF, denounced Turkey’s threat of a military operation against the YPG and called on Syrians of all ethnic and religious groups to unite ahead of a possible Turkish attack.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan intensified his criticism of U.S. support for the Syrian Kurdish fighters, saying Friday that Turkey would clear the key northern town of Manbij. Over the summer, the two NATO allies had struck a “road map” to Manbij of the YPG, which Turkey considers a terror organization linked to an insurgency within its own borders.

The Turkish presidency released a statement Friday saying Erdogan spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump and they agreed on the “need for more effective coordination” in Syria. Erdogan reiterated “Turkey’s legitimate security concerns” regarding the YPG.

Erdogan argued the U.S. has not kept its promises to push the YPG east of the Euphrates River.

“If you don’t take them out, we will also enter Manbij,” he said. American troops are stationed in Manbij, which was cleared of ISIS in 2016, and Washington and Ankara recently started joint patrols around the town….