U.S. and Turkish soldiers conduct the first-ever combined joint patrol on Nov. 1, 2018, outside Manbij, Syria.
ABC News: US military to build observation outposts in northern Syria to reduce tensions with Turkey
The U.S. military has announced a new mission in northern Syria aimed at reducing tensions between Turkey and America's Kurdish partners.
Defense Secretary James Mattis told reporters on Wednesday that the U.S. will be building observation outposts in northern Syria along the Turkish border, because the U.S. wants to "call the Turks and warn them if we see something coming out of an area we're operating in."
That "something" is Kurdish fighters who belong to a force that Turkey considers to be an element of an insurgent group. But some of those Kurdish fighters also serve in what's known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, a critical partner for the U.S. in the fight against the Islamic State in Syria.
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Update: US to build outposts along Syria-Turkey border, Mattis says (The Hill)
WNU Editor: I do not know if this will reduce U.S. - Turkish tensions. The Turks will probably see these "outposts" as a U.S. measure to protect their Kurdish allies from Turkish military operations.
1 comment:
Outposts is probably their communications/marketing speak for "deconfliction zone". But by using the term outpost, which is a more possessive term, they take sides and make it clear that turkey better not think twice about "testing waters"
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