Civilization saved: Film at 11

Well, that settles THAT!

You can understand why the Fair 'n' Balanced Network had the champagne ready for a "Trump style" success:

President Trump declared Thursday "a great day for civilization" as Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced terms of a cease-fire agreement that would end violence between Turkey and Kurds in Syria, following a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.

The deal is for a 120-hour cease-fire, during which time the Kurdish-led forces could pull back from the roughly 20-mile-wide safe zone on the Turkish-Syrian border. All Turkish military operations under the recent offensive known as Operation Peace Spring will pause during that time, and the operation itself will come to an end entirely upon the completion of the Kurdish withdrawal, under the terms of the deal.

"This is a great day for civilization," Trump declared in a tweet following a press conference where Pence and Pompeo discussed the deal. "I am proud of the United States for sticking by me in following a necessary, but somewhat unconventional, path. People have been trying to make this 'Deal' for many years. Millions of lives will be saved. Congratulations to ALL!"

Always good to know that civilization has been pulled back from the brink, even though Fox's enthusiasm doesn't seem to be universally shared:

Hmm. If these two natural enemies can't agree, maybe we should ask an impartial referee. Associated Press, are you there?

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The U.S. and Turkey agreed Thursday to a five-day cease-fire in the Turks’ attacks on Kurdish fighters in northern Syria to allow the Kurds to withdraw to roughly 20 miles away from the Turkish border. The arrangement appeared to be a significant embrace of Turkey’s position in the weeklong conflict.

After more than four hours of negotiations with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said the purpose of his high-level mission was to end the bloodshed caused by Turkey’s invasion of Syria. He remained silent on whether the agreement amounted to a second abandonment of America’s former Kurdish allies in the fight against the Islamic State.

Must be some static on the line. How does it look elsewhere in the neighborhood, Ha'aretz?

Turkey agreed to suspend its military operations in northeast Syria on Thursday, after a meeting that lasted longer than five hours with top U.S. officials.

This came a day after President Donald Trump threatened Ankara with heavy sanctions over the operation, and, according to U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, with no concessions to Turkey.

Turkey said the U.S. had agreed to put it in charge of an elusive 'safe zone' in the war-torn region, and to the complete withdrawal and effective disarmament of its Kurdish opponent. 

What's that gurgling sound? Could it be -- the failing* New York Times?

 ANKARA, Turkey — Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday said Turkey had agreed to suspend its military operations in northeast Syria for five days while Syrian Kurdish fighters left the area, immediately raising questions about whether the agreement was a diplomatic breakthrough or a capitulation to the Turkish government.

Emerging from close to five hours of deliberations with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Mr. Pence said that the American delegation had achieved the cease-fire it had hoped to broker in the hastily organized trip to Ankara, the Turkish capital. Hailing the agreement as a diplomatic victory for President Trump, he called it a ‘‘solution we believe will save lives.”

The agreement “ends the violence — which is what President Trump sent us here to do,” Mr. Pence said at a news conference at the ambassador’s residence.

But Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, immediately countered that the agreement was not a cease-fire at all, but merely a “pause for our operation.” He added that “as a result of our president’s skillful leadership, we got what we wanted.”


Enough carping. I mean, look at the other stuff topping the Fox homepage:

Hillarygate, Bidengate, Stupidgate and CNNgate III -- maybe we should just let them have their fun.


* Up 32.5% in the past year at this writing, compared with 5.25% for the Dow industrials.