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U.S. Military to Move ‘Very Quickly’ in Arming Syrian Kurds Despite Turkish Opposition
freebeacon.com ^ | Natalie Johnson

Posted on 05/11/2017 6:58:54 AM PDT by RoosterRedux

The U.S. military will move forward "very quickly" with plans to distribute weapons and ammunition to Kurdish YPG fighters battling the Islamic State in Syria despite opposition from NATO ally Turkey, a Pentagon spokesman said Wednesday.

"We've got a certain amount of supply in the country already that was used to equip the Syrian Arab Coalition and some of that may be distributed very quickly," Air Force Col. John Dorrian, a spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.-led campaign against ISIS, told Pentagon reporters.

Dorrian said he did not have an exact timeline detailing when the Kurdish fighters would receive the weapons, but said any equipment provided by the United States would be "metered out" and aligned with specific tasks involved in the operation to retake Raqqa, the de facto capital of ISIS's self-proclaimed caliphate.

The weapons going to the YPG will include machine guns, mortars, small arms, and ammunition, Dorrian said.

President Donald Trump approved arming the Syrian Kurdish militia this week to support the U.S.-led offensive in Raqqa.

The decision received immediate pushback from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who regards the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, which is considered a terrorist group by both Ankara and Washington. Erdogan accused the Trump administration on Wednesday of siding with terrorists.

(Excerpt) Read more at freebeacon.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: mattis; trump

1 posted on 05/11/2017 6:58:54 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
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To: hoosiermama; onyx; Jane Long; V K Lee; RitaOK; Black Agnes; PennsylvaniaMom; Fai Mao; Fiddlstix; ...

Ping.


2 posted on 05/11/2017 7:00:26 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
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To: RoosterRedux
This is what I don't understand. The Kurds were always the good guys in Iraq. And Turkey screwed us during the Gulf War.

Not sure where we're at. Turkey and Russia are not friends.

And I'm sure as hell skeptical about our intelligence.

3 posted on 05/11/2017 7:04:33 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: RoosterRedux

Finaly Turkey is no friend of ours. Never was and never will thy are great at killing off races of people like the Armenians, Kurds etc. When we asked for useage of there roads they said screw you but for 50 years we supplied them with free aircraft, ships , and munitions.....Screw them they are no allie...


4 posted on 05/11/2017 7:04:33 AM PDT by straps (Go Trump)
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To: Sacajaweau
"This is what I don't understand. The Kurds were always the good guys in Iraq. And Turkey screwed us during the Gulf War."

The majority of Turks are muslim......right..(?) So, it goes without saying...they screw everyone and everything....

5 posted on 05/11/2017 7:11:57 AM PDT by unread (Joe McCarthy was right.......)
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To: RoosterRedux

Make sure we give those lady snipers enough ammunition, to do their intended tasks.


6 posted on 05/11/2017 7:19:29 AM PDT by Terry L Smith
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To: Terry L Smith

Train them on one of those Greek islands and send them back armed.


7 posted on 05/11/2017 7:20:13 AM PDT by DIRTYSECRET (urope. Why do they put up with this.)
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To: straps

I grew up with some kids from Cyprus that hated the Turks real bad.

They would curse them just about every day and this was in NYC in the 1980’s


8 posted on 05/11/2017 7:23:27 AM PDT by Rome2000 (SMASH THE CPUSA-SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS-CLOSE ALL MOSQUES)
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To: RoosterRedux

They need anti tank weapons and maybe some stingers.


9 posted on 05/11/2017 7:27:22 AM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
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To: RoosterRedux

We need to give them equipment to shoot down Turkish aircraft.


10 posted on 05/11/2017 7:27:47 AM PDT by FreeAtlanta (what a mess we got ourselves into)
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To: RoosterRedux

Good. Give the Kurds Javelins, up to date TOW 2s, and provide air cover.


11 posted on 05/11/2017 7:28:45 AM PDT by DCBryan1 (No realli, moose bytes can be quite nasti!)
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To: RoosterRedux

The Kurds need us. I am glad we are finally helping them.


12 posted on 05/11/2017 7:40:37 AM PDT by Slyfox (Where's Reagan when we need him? Look in the mirror - the spirit of The Gipper lives within you.)
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To: RoosterRedux

Betcha we started getting arms to the Kurds weeks ago.


13 posted on 05/11/2017 7:41:37 AM PDT by ryderann
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To: RoosterRedux

Here we go again. The PKK is a communist organization and is one of the leaders in the drug traffic trade.

Some of these groups are supporters of Assad.

They better make sure who the hell is what.


14 posted on 05/11/2017 8:16:40 AM PDT by crz
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To: RoosterRedux

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-the-PKK-PYD-YPG-KRG-KDP-and-the-Peshmerga


15 posted on 05/11/2017 8:22:11 AM PDT by crz
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To: ryderann

We should have started arming them 30 years ago. I lived in Izmir in the ‘70s. The Turks were never our friends. When the General Staff was purged a few years ago, there went the last vestige of hope for a democracy, as from the time of Ataturk the secular state rested on the generals.


16 posted on 05/11/2017 8:30:12 AM PDT by CMSMC
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To: All

Go forth, armed YPG Kurds!


17 posted on 05/11/2017 8:30:29 AM PDT by veracious (UN = OIC = Islam ; Democrats may change USAgov completely, just amend USConstitution)
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Turks are islamofascists, the Kurds are about the only force that has had any success against isis and the other jihadi groups. Arm them and support a Kurd state formed from parts of Turkey, Iraq, and Iran. The Turks are/have been major allies to isis.


18 posted on 05/11/2017 8:50:26 AM PDT by TnTnTn
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