Erdogan’s attempts to rebuild the Ottoman Empire by invading Syria have not been going so well.

The Kurds were obviously not a match for Turkey’s military machine, lubricated by all the top American technology that the NATO member was able to secure, but now the Islamist butchers are up against the Russians and their allies who also want control of Syria.

The last time Russia went up against Turkey, Putin backed off.

This time though, Russia has nothing to lose by letting Turkey discover its own Vietnam in Syria.

So Erdogan, Turkey’s brutal Islamist tyrant is, predictably, trying to drag Europe and the US in this via NATO.

His best weapon is the refugee crisis and he’s once again announcing that Turkey will reopen the migrant spigot into Europe. 

That’s less of a threat to America, but a potent one to Germany, France, and the UK.

But, NATO or not, Erdogan must not be allowed to use the US to carve out an empire in Syria. If he wants to rebuild the Caliphate, he should use the treasure of Turkey’s failing economy to do it.

Unfortunately, Erdogan has spent a lot of money on lobbyists, and they’ve developed a good deal of influence by buying some unlikely folks. Their influence should be called out, condemned, and resisted. The failure to do so in the past has been unfortunate.

If Russia and Turkey fight each other in Syria, it’s a win-win, with two sets of America’s enemies, and their proxies, Sunni and Shiite Jihadists, fighting each other, with possibly involvement by Iran.

We should sit back, watch, get popcorn, and make it clear that there is no role for America in this fight. No matter who says otherwise.