Trump's security chief shaped by tough posting near Syria

HR McMaster has shown himself to be an accomplished military strategist and an adept White House infighterThe toughest posting for an American officer in the early years of the Iraq conflict was Tal Afar, a small scrubland town close to the Syrian border dominated by a castle and held by Islamist extremists. Lieutenant-General HR McMaster, Donald Trump’s national security adviser, who was pivotal in the decision to attack a Syrian airbase on Friday, was deployed to Tal Afar in spring 2005