An undisclosed number of U.S. special operations troops have been given a new mission: Stand around looking imposing in order to keep one faction of Kurds backed by Turkey from fighting another group of Kurds backed by the U.S.

The Pentagon calls it a “reassurance and deterrence” mission, and it’s a result of the complicated mix of forces now operating in Northern Syria, and amid a dispute between the U.S. and Turkey over who is in control of the city of Manbij, liberated from Islamic State control last year.

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