Turkey to send troops into northern Syria as US pulls out of area, White House says

CNN ^

[bigdaddy45]

(CNN) — In a remarkable announcement late Sunday night, the White House said that United States forces in northern Syria would move aside in advance of a planned Turkish military offensive.

The move marks a major shift in US foreign policy and effectively gives Turkey the green light to attack US-backed Kurdish forces. The group, long considered as among Washington's most reliable partners in Syria, has played a key strategic role in the campaign against Isis in the region.

Following a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the White House said that Turkey would soon begin a military offensive and US forces would not be involved in the operation.

"Turkey will soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation into Northern Syria," a statement said. "The United States Armed Forces will not support or be involved in the operation, and United States forces, having defeated the ISIS territorial 'Caliphate,' will no longer be in the immediate area.

[bigdaddy45]

Looks like that Kurds are on their own.....

[Candor7]

Looks like that Kurds are on their own.....>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Maybe.

I hope the Kurds hand the Turkish army and their air force a solid shit kicking.

But I suspect that Christians in Action might be in the air as we speak.

Since 1952 Turkey has been a NATO ally, perhaps something that no longer should be since they have become Muslim fundamentalist, with strong Sharia law, tantamount to a theocracy.

[be-baw]

We’ll see. Fox News is reporting that Turkey will take custody of the prisoners we’re holding. That would be a good thing. Not sure if this includes the Euro Muslims that Trump has been trying to ship back.

[pepsionice]

Once possession of the Euro ISIS guys is done...Turkey has a card at the table and the EU (especially Germany)...has to play. Failure to play the Turkey poker-game? They will take the ISIS thugs to the coast....launch them on a raft, and land them in Greece.

It might take six weeks for the Greeks to realize who they have and the mess that the EU has to clean up, but I think that Turkey can ask for just about anything from the EU (to hold the ISIS guys), and they will get that ‘wish’.

[Eleutheria5]

If his statements re KSA are any indication of his policy, he’s leaving the Kurds the means to defend themselves, which they are more than capable of doing against Turkish ground forces. Turkish air power, maybe not.

[Rashputin]

The US has screwed over the Kurds a half dozen time just since in the past fifty years but the Kurds keep falling for the BS every time.

[Candor7]

Turkish air power, maybe not.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

maybe not.

But if the Kurds have our latest MPADS ordinance, and the software to go with it, the Turkish airforce may find their task impossible.

[Rashputin]

Why bother with the hassle and melodrama of putting anyone ashore in rubber boats when Bill Clinton established a Muzzie nation in the Balkans they can simply buy a ticket in Istanbul for less than $200 bucks and fly to Pristina??

[momincombatboots]

The article made it sound like we were leaving and turkish forces are taking our place.
We should never have been tgere soending taxpayer dollars and American troops over europes gas pipelines war with russia.
I think ukraine has created an interesting dynamic. They are pipeline neighbors.
Pelosi and bidens kids made their money off our poor judgement.. time to abandon our allies and go home.
Seriously, we should have never been their, so i hope it works out for the good guys.

[Eleutheria5]

Also, occupying greater Kurdistan may turn out to be a sticky proposition for the Turks. Guerilla warfare is the universal language. As Steinbeck put it, the flies may find they have conquered the flypaper.

The “white man’s burden” now is helping the brown, yellow and black men to defend themselves from other brown, yellow and black men. Perhaps western values will rub off on them on the process, and perhaps not.

[silverleaf]

I trust the WH knows what it is doing and this is not the “ abandonment of noble allies” the media and neocons are playing it to be.

Not all Kurds are equal. Various militia have different agendas. Some are basically communist, some are just fine with their own goal of ethnic cleansing and terror as a political weapon.

[af_vet_1981]

The Kurds do not have a state to call Kurdistan so it behooves them to live peaceably in whatever states they live in. There is almost no support among Americans to make war against Turkey to establish the State of Kurdistan. Turkey borders Syria and has a primary interest in its stability, especially given the millions of refugees.

[BuffaloJack]

I wouldn’t be at all disappointed if Turkey just snuffed all the ISIS vermin.

[MrEdd]

Either Turkey should have been kicked out of NATO in nineteen seventy three or we should have left.

[Psalm 73]

Trump wants to get us out of Syria.
Although I feel bad for the Kurds, it's really not in the best interests of America to keep troops in Syria.
Trump wants to bring them home (like he promised), Mattis wanted to keep them there forever.

[BlackVeil]

I feel the same. In fact, I wonder why those ISIS prisoners are still alive. I would not usually be like this - human rights are important - but not all important. Good people die every day, and they are not good people. If only some trenches had been dug, then they could be lined up and executed.

I suspect that Turkey has been supporting ISIS all along, and these prisoners will soon be free, active and evil.

[Destroyer Sailor]

Have not they always been on their own. The United States i has been helping them but it cannot change the political reality of the Middle East. The United States cannot remain indefinitely.

[kabar]

How long should we protect Kurds? How involved do we want to be in a longstanding conflict between the Kurds and the Turks? The Kurds have been fighting what amounts to a civil war against Turkey. The PKK has killed Turkish diplomats and citizens.

The Kurds were fighting ISIS to further their own interests. We aided them because we shared a common interest. When can we declare victory and go home? Right now we are in Syria against the wishes of the host government.

[af_vet_rr]

The US has screwed over the Kurds a half dozen time just since in the past fifty years but the Kurds keep falling for the BS every time.

It is pretty pathetic how often we seem to sell out our Kurdish allies. This is just a disgusting move, and we are green-lighting the Turks to go in and wipe out the Kurds. The idiots saying "we are leaving the Kurds the means to defend themselves against the Turks" are just trying to make themselves feel better. Last I check, the Kurds didn't have an Air Force.

I really don't know why the Kurds have trusted us after all these years.

And we have idiots in the GOP that look favorably upon Erdogan.

As if I needed another reason to shun for the GOP for what it's become. I'm sure Linda Graham will be out there telling us how this is a win for the Kurds, and how Graham loves and supports the Kurds and recognizes the help they've provided us.

[Kahuna]

It’s time to bring our forces home from the entire Middle East and Europe since we are basically oil independent. We can use our carriers to patrol the hot spots, however I would station much of our army on our borders for added security. AMERICA FIRST.