Posted on 05/12/2017 6:55:46 AM PDT by Texas Fossil
AMUDA, Syria — At long last, those of us struggling to maintain a fledgling democracy in Northern Syria have been buoyed by the announcement from the Trump administration that the American military will begin to directly arm the Kurdish men and women who make up the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces. Those forces have been America’s most valued and effective allies in the war against the Islamic State.
This is something we’ve asked for repeatedly during the nearly three years our militias have been fighting the Islamic State and winning, victories achieved despite tough odds and a lack of heavy weapons. We’ve steadily driven the jihadists back hundreds of miles to the brink of defeat at Raqqa. The Islamic State won’t give up its self-styled capital easily. This military aid will be crucial in finishing the job.
But as President Trump prepares to meet next week with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey — no friend to the Kurds in Syria or in his own country — we ask the American president and people to be mindful of the enormous sacrifice the Kurdish people have made in this fight, and the importance of the unique democratic system we have worked hard to build in the area of Northern Syria known as Rojava.
We’re fighting the Islamic State because it’s the right thing to do, but we’ve paid dearly for our victories. We have already lost many thousands of our young men and women in battle, and we know many hundreds more will die in Raqqa. Once we win that battle, will America cave in to Turkish pressure and abandon us, despite this sacrifice?
(Excerpt) Read more at mobile.nytimes.com ...
I still say we should have crushed Iraq, broke it up along ethnic lines and rewarded Turkey for its last minute perfidy in denying us the promised access to northern Iraq through Turkey with a brand spanking new Kurdistan on its border.
Perhaps we could do this to Syria at some point?
Turkey has corrupted and baited Iraq leadership into supporting him. Erdogan the Islamist has ambitions/plans that are good for no one but him.
The end of ISIS will not mean the neck cutters have quit or disappeared. They’ll just re-brand and re-locate.
1. Kurds are not fighting for Syria, but for a Kurdish state. Are we going to defend a Kurdish state when they (sort of) establish one?
2. ISIS is not just in Syria, so they are not “defeating ISIS”. ISIS is an ideology and it exists within ISLAM ... and always has.
3. There has been tribal and religious civil war in the region for over 1000 years. No reason to believe it will end with this little skirmish.
Syrian Kurds have never fired on anyone who did not fire on them first. The are simply trying to survive.
That includes Assad’s government. They both have effectively accepted one will not fire on the other, for now.
After the War (not civil war) is over that will have to be resolved. Syrian Kurds have never said they sought a separate nation from part of Syria. They know they cannot exist without larger support than the small region they inhabit.
Now Kurds in Iraq, are talking about a Referendum on separation. But relations between Iraq Kurds and Syrian Kurds could unfortunately be better. They are not the same.
Syrian Kurds practice and desire all of Syria to practice freedom of religion and a democratic Republic form of government. Assad has not accepted the latter.
The experience of ISIS domination has knocked down many internal barriers within the communities in Syria that have been liberated. None want to go back to ISIS or the Islamists.
That has created an opportunity that has never existed in Syria. I hope it is not forgotten.
I agree. The Kurds have been loyal Allies to the US. They deserve their own state. Turkey can go to H!
Your last sentence is hopeful, the precipice we find ourselves on in almost all areas of the global situations should have us all on our knees
YES!
Yes, exactly why a Kurdish state will be a good thing. We may actually be able to have an ally in the ME.
Snort.
Not bloody likely.
We have enlisted the Kurds to help us defeat the enemy more than once - with promises - and then abandoned them to the enemy when they were no longer useful.
I pray, for ONCE, we don’t do this.
See this thread:
US-Turkey relations at breaking point: Erdogan [Paging Mattis]
K24 News (Kurdistan) ^ | May 12, 2017 | Ari Khalidi
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3552372/posts
And Breitbart:
“Erdogan: Turkey’s ‘Patience Has Ended’ with U.S. Support for Syrian Kurds”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3552475/posts
source:
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2017/05/11/turkey-threatens-attack-syrian-kurds/
Thanks for additional links.
Yes, in Iraq.
No, we should never do it again.
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