Sunday, October 20, 2019

Did President Trump Sell Out The Kurds By Pulling Out Of Syria?

Kurdish-led militiamen ride atop military vehicles as they celebrate victory over Islamic State in Raqqa, Syria, October 17, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro/File Photo

Kenneth R. Timmerman, NYPost: Trump didn’t sell out the Kurds by pulling out of Syria

The national media blasted President Trump’s withdrawal of 50 US military advisors from the Syrian border with Turkey as a “sellout,” a “betrayal” and a “huge strategic blunder.”

Let’s be clear: None of them truly care about the Kurds. Otherwise, they would have been sending correspondents and camera crews to Rojava, as the Kurds call northern Syria, on a regular basis.

Let’s also be clear about the goals of Turkish president Tayyip Recep Erdogan. While he attempted to stylize his military invasion of Rojava as a counterterrorism operation, few international observers bought into it. Why? Because there have been no terror attacks against Turkey from Syrian territory since the Syrian Kurds established their self-governing entity in 2012. None.

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WNU Editor: Turkish President Erdogan's threat to invade northern Syria and destroy Kurdish autonomy in that part of Syria was very real. His forces and his Syrian fighters were already deployed, and he gave a deadline on when he was going to do it. Given a choice between waging a war against a NATO ally with limited resources or to retreat and use the threat of sanctions to deter Turkey from destroying the Kurds, President Trump choose the one that would have the maximum impact with the least lost of life. This is not selling out the Kurds. As of today the ceasefire is still holding, but tensions are high. President Erdogan will be seeing Russian President Putin on Tuesday to discuss Syria. I understand that Putin is telling Erdogan to hold back, and to not escalate the crisis. We shall know after that meeting if this is will happen.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Abandoned by U.S. in Syria, Kurds Find New Ally in American Foe

Under fire by Turkish forces, the militia that battled ISIS threw in its lot with Syria’s Russian-backed government.

Anonymous said...

Surprising, considering you yourself is an immigrant.

Bob Huntley said...

Had he threatened to provide military assistance to Assad if Turkey invaded perhaps they would have backed off. What Trump did was basically authorize a NATO ally to invade another country. In addition Trump showed he, and America, had as much respect for allies as he/it has for America's various agreements, which is to say none. Not the first time by the way that America left allies to swim or sink.