Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Relations Between The U.S. And The Kurds Were Deteriorating Long Before The U.S. Withdrawal From Northern Syria

Kurds Pelt U.S. Troops With Potatoes As The Pull Out Of Northern Syria

Amberin Zaman, Al-Monitor: Who betrayed Syria’s Kurds?

As Syrian Kurds hurled eggs, tomatoes and obscenities at US troops departing from northeastern Syria today, airing fury over their perceived betrayal by Donald Trump, their leaders scrambled to decipher mixed signals from administration officials over whether some US troops would remain in the region.

Mazlum Kobane, the commander in chief of the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), is lobbying hard to persuade the White House to deploy a residual force, as first reported by Al-Monitor. This would give the Kurds more leverage over the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, while allowing the US-led coalition to keep up the fight against Islamic State (IS) remnants, or so their reasoning goes. And Trump is reportedly weighing the option, according to The New York Times.

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Update: Exclusive: Inside the State Department's Meltdown with the Kurds (Matthew Petti, National Interest)

WNU Editor: The Kurds have always been a very independent people, and they have been in conflict with their neighbours forever. Their relations with the U.S. have also been turbulent, with both sides having different priorities and commitments with one recent exception .... the defeat of ISIS. ISIS is now a shell of its former self, and it is time for the U.S. to leave this region. Their mission has been completed. Unfortunately for the Kurds they underestimated President Trump's desire to get out of Northern Syria, and they certainly overestimated the influence that their allies in the U.S. Congress and media had in supporting them. Bottom line. They better search for new allies.

1 comment:

jimbrown said...

The various and many Kurdish groups have learned how to survive including lobbying and pr. In fact some may want the status quo to remain with no state like the Paletinians. It avoids accountability.

As for ISIS victories, I need to see the details.