Ignatius: What Americans are fighting for in Manbij

If you wonder what the four Americans who were killed Wednesday in Manbij, Syria, were doing there, let me describe a few images from a visit to that city last February that illustrate their mission of helping stabilize this area after the Islamic State was expelled.

Think of a covered market thronged with shoppers: Until the Americans and their allies liberated Manbij in mid-2016, the only color most women dared wear in public was black; now, a rainbow of dresses is displayed on makeshift racks. While the jihadists ruled, people hid their valuable possessions; now, gold sparkles in the jewelers’ stalls.

The market is near the restaurant where the four Americans had stopped to have lunch when an explosion took their lives. If you ask what their sacrifice achieved, think of the vibrant street where they died, which was once a monotone of misery.

Or take a walk to a girls’ school nearby, and talk to the young women who couldn’t attend classes until the Islamic State’s power was destroyed by a Kurdish-led Syrian militia, backed by U.S. forces. The girls are wearing makeup and once-forbidden hints of color; one displays a pink hijab; another speaks of someday attending university in France.

As you consider these bright snapshots of a city that, with American help, emerged from darkness, you may understand why U.S. soldiers and civilians serving here have been so passionate about their jobs. They could see every day, in nearly every face, the difference they were making. It has been troubling that President Trump never seemed to appreciate how much America was accomplishing in northeast Syria, with so few resources, but maybe he’ll understand better now.

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