October 12, 2019
Missing the Bigger Picture in Kurdish Syria
President
Trump’s decision to withdraw our few troops from the Syria-Turkey
border area earned him considerable criticism from allies. Senator
Lindsey Graham said the decision is “a catastrophe in the making.”
Representative Lin Cheney said it’s “a catastrophic mistake.” Former UN
Secretary Nikki Haley said, “We must always have the backs of our
allies.”
President Trump has answered these critics. The Kurds were engaged in a contractualrelationship
fighting the Islamic State (ISIS). They were well paid and equipped
for their fighting, much like any mercenary group. Further, they were
given three years to consolidate eastern Syria to feed their long-held
desire to form an independent Kurdistan with other Kurds in Turkey,
Iraq, and Iran. They failed.
The Kurds’ problem, and by association that of the U.S., is that regional powers like Turkey and to a lesser extent Iran and Syria have long held the Kurds in disdain. In fact, Turkey considers the Syrian Kurds to be allies of the Kurdistan Workers' Party or (PKK), which are Turkish Kurds and terrorists fighting for independence for the last 35 years.
Basically, the Kurds hijacked our fight with ISIS to feed their regional civil war toearn independence.
President Trump is aware of that agenda and is also trying to constrain American hawks who want to use our military willy-nilly across the world. Remember that Trump frequently said during his 2016 campaign that he wants to escape from endless wars and bring our fighters home . . . . .
President Trump has answered these critics. The Kurds were engaged in a contractual
The Kurds’ problem, and by association that of the U.S., is that regional powers like Turkey and to a lesser extent Iran and Syria have long held the Kurds in disdain. In fact, Turkey considers the Syrian Kurds to be allies of the Kurdistan Workers' Party or (PKK), which are Turkish Kurds and terrorists fighting for independence for the last 35 years.
Basically, the Kurds hijacked our fight with ISIS to feed their regional civil war to
President Trump is aware of that agenda and is also trying to constrain American hawks who want to use our military willy-nilly across the world. Remember that Trump frequently said during his 2016 campaign that he wants to escape from endless wars and bring our fighters home . . . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment