US troops start pullout in Syria as Turkey prepares operation

[JJ_BPK]

Splain this to me, Lucy??

This does not sound like a good deal for our allies, the Kurds??

US troops start pullout in Syria as Turkey prepares operation

American troops 'will no longer be in the immediate area' casting uncertainty on the fate of their Kurdish allies.

US troops began withdrawing from northeast Syria ahead of a Turkish invasion that Kurdish fighters say will overturn the victory over the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) armed group.

Washington's forces "will not support or be involved in the [Turkish] operation" and "will no longer be in the immediate area", White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement.

It was not clear whether that meant the United States would withdraw its 1,000 or so troops completely from northern Syria.

"Turkey will soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation into northern Syria," said the statement.

A US official told Reuters news agency US forces had on Monday evacuated two observation posts at Tel Abyad and Ras al Ain in northeast Syria, along the Turkish border. Other US troops in the region were still in position for now, the official said.

The withdrawal marks a major shift in US policy and effectively abandons a US ally in the battle against ISIL, which took over swathes of Syria before being defeated a year ago.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/...034354242.html

“Once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” Sherlock Holmes

[Pete]

Both Turkey and the US are NATO "Allies".

Who does the rest of NATO side with if we get in a dust up?

[JJ_BPK]

Originally Posted by Pete

Both Turkey and the US are NATO "Allies".

Who does the rest of NATO side with if we get in a dust up?

A conundrum of biblical proportions

and then add in the Christian Yazidi Genocide

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genoci...azidis_by_ISIL

[spottedmedic111]

I'm afraid this is an example of a relationship (e.g. Kurds) our military has nurtured and continues to value that is not shared by the public (translated into political will), mostly because they're not well informed. Politicians who don't heed military advice may gain in the short term, but perhaps regret it later.

[bubba]

The Kurds are our partner force, not our allies. The Turks, whether we like it or not, are our NATO Allies. On top of all of that, those ISIS prisoners are a problem best left to be dealt with by an entity in that region who knows what and how to do what needs done.

[EricV]

Problem from day one as I see it, is that supporting the Kurds meant indirectly supporting/making a Kurd nation. Wouldn't that require parts of Iran, Iraq, and Turkey?? Lotsa bad feeling doing that. It would be land locked.

[Pete]

Originally Posted by EricV

Problem from day one as I see it, is that supporting the Kurds meant indirectly supporting/making a Kurd nation. Wouldn't that require parts of Iran, Iraq, and Turkey?? Lotsa bad feeling doing that. It would be land locked.

Yes - but even if it was only formed from one of the countries none of the others would agree. It would give the Kurds a secure place to launch activities from into the other regions.

[PedOncoDoc]

Originally Posted by Pete

Yes - but even if it was only formed from one of the countries none of the others would agree. It would give the Kurds a secure place to launch activities from into the other regions.

Would it also force Iran and Iraq to divide their attentions between the new nation and Israel? If this were to occur, what would be the likelihood of an alliance between the Kurdish nation and Israel?

[EricV]

Originally Posted by Pete

Yes - but even if it was only formed from one of the countries none of the others would agree. It would give the Kurds a secure place to launch activities from into the other regions.

Concur. Getting involved in the Balkans might be simpler. Feel for the Kurds though.

[WarriorDiplomat]

Originally Posted by EricV

Concur. Getting involved in the Balkans might be simpler. Feel for the Kurds though.

We can blame the Kurds not having a recognized homeland on the League of Nations and the arbitrary new nations they divided up without an in depth understanding of the groups within the borders who were ignored....Africa has the same issues with their ethic groups who are transient and ungovernable...only those placed in power and the rest of the worlds governments recognize the borders but all the minority groups are left to fend for themselves the Assyrians the Chaldeans the Kurds the Toauregs etc.....are all left flapping. The thing frustrating about our involvement with the Kurds is our government used them and we the U.S. soldiers were the ones telling them we had their back selling it like Amway ignoring the reality of we were going to leave them behind and our promises that emboldened them to action were empty. I understand the Kurds in Iraq are living in their homelands which expands into Iran, Turkey, Azerbeijan? etc....but they are hardheaded when it comes to even discussing moving to either country where the Kurds number 30-40 million where they have safety in numbers unlike Iraq where there are only 5 million or so. We better understand the emptiness of our governments promises but the people we promise live and die by it.

As far as taking land and giving it to the Kurds Iraq is he only nation weak enough and new enough to do it in but today Iraq is a proxy Iranian government

[bubba]

This is a re-post of mine I left on a friend’s FB account.


I’m so sick and f’n tired of hearing “those poor Kurds”..... They are COMMUNISTS and are NOT our allies. As much as I don’t like a lot of what the Turks are doing / have done, they ARE our Allies. On top of all of that, in one fail swoop, POTUS just helped cut the land bridge with LH and Iran, forced the Turks to deal with the ISIL issue they helped to create in Syria, and forced Russia to think through their involvement in the region due to the real threat of a NATO Allied country of Turkey (a known wild card) acting in the region. So yeah, Win, Win, Win. And ohh yeah, I‘m really tired of seeing my Brothers get maimed and killed in a messy and often times pointless endeavor.

Bottom-line: Never fall in love with your Indig, they are not the mission, but simply a tool to accomplish it. Any GB who doesn’t understand that we are making Tactical decisions to influence the Operational Environment in support of the Strategic Goals set by National Policy needs to go back to the line unit from which he came and pull gate guard.

[EricV]

Another thought. How well has the suppression of the Kurds inside Turkey gone?? Does letting the turks into Syria just bleed out the Turks??

[bushmaster11]

In the course of history, The US has been a staunch ally.As an older SF, I remember Viet Nam and our montagnard partners. We, the entire 5th Group benefited from the total support from each tribe. We knew it was wrong and tried to make it right in our own way. The Kurds are no different. They are a minority who just want to be left alone. We armed them, trained them and led them then our government betrayed them. Like 45 years ago, we bailed on them. No, the SF community did not bail, but the United States did led by a corrupt leader with power to spare. How can a Secretary of State, a West Point graduate break their code - "I will not lie, cheat or steal, nor tolerate those who do"

[Basenshukai]

“America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests”

Henry Kissinger

[Old Dog New Trick]

Bubba is 100% correct on this. While it does suck for the Kurds ‘again’ it sucks less than the contemptuous media and “current and former” military leaders condemning the President who ‘IS NOT MAKING THIS DECISION ON HIS OWN’ and has been briefed by current and present experts who don’t rely on “feelings” to make foreign policy decisions from people like John Bolten.