TEXT: "FILE - In this Aug. 28, 2019, file photo, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper speaks to reporters during a briefing at the Pentagon. Esper says the ""impulsive"" decision by Turkey to invade northern Syria will further destabilize a region already caught up in civil war. Esper says the invasion puts America's Syrian Kurdish partners ""in harm's way,"" but insists the Kurds are not being abandoned. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)"