Posted on 03/30/2017 8:31:23 AM PDT by Texas Fossil
Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend
In a briefing via telephone from Baghdad, Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend answered questions regarding the current situation in Syria and Iraq.
Townsend first commented on the reported deaths of more than 200 civilians due to US-led coalition airstrikes in Syria and Iraq. “I’ll say this, if we did it, and I’d say there’s at least a fair chance that we did. It was an unintentional accident of war and we will transparently report it to you when we’re ready,” Townsend, commander of the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, told journalists.
He stressed the coalition had set the highest standards for protecting civilians and that “most of them are dying at the hands of ISIS and that’s the real horror, the real tragedy of Mosul.”
The Lieutenant General confirmed the seizure of the Tabqah airfield, on the south side of the Syrian city. He pointed out that the Tabqah dam is a vital resource for the people of Syria, not in any imminent danger and, to the knowledge of Townsend, not structurally damaged. “So, if something happens to the Tabqa Dam, it will be at the hands of ISIS not the Coalition,” he said.
One question from Joe Tabet of US-based Al Hurra concerned a recent statement by Salih Muslim, the co-chair of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), who expects Raqqa to join the autonomous region (Rojava) in Syria’s north once it is freed from the Islamic State (IS).
“What I think is that the people of northern Syria, all of them, Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen, others alike, are determining what their future’s going to be. And, so, I don’t really see a Kurdish federal state and I don’t see – I don’t know whether Raqqa’s going to be part of it or not. Our job is to rid northern Syria of ISIS and that’s what we’re doing.”
The Al Hurra journalist also asked Townsend if he could assure that the Kurds will have no presence in Raqqa after IS has been pushed out.
“So, Raqqa is largely, by overwhelming majority, an Arab city. And the Syrian Democratic Forces are recruiting the Syrian – they are enlargening the Syrian Arab Coalition, part of their formation, to liberate Raqqa. Will there be Kurds that will fight in Raqqa? Certainly there will be, because there are Kurds from Raqqa. Raqqa is not homogeneous. They are all the peoples who live in northern Syria who are also living in Raqqa,” Townsend said.
Kasim Ileri of Turkey’s state-run Anadolu News Agency followed up on Tabet’s question while arguing that Townsend’s answer “doesn’t seem to be compatible with what they are doing down there”.
“Sounds like you have a bit of a political agenda there. Your question doesn’t seem all that neutral to me. Sounds like you’re trying to troop lead me to a particular answer,” the Lieutenant General said.
“But I’ll tell you this, I have had private conversations with our Syrian Democratic Forces partners and they include Kurds, they include Arabs and they include Turkmen. They include Christians, they include Muslims, they include people who don’t have a particular religion.
“So I’ve talked to their commanders. In fact, their commander for the Raqqa operation is an Arab born and raised in Tabqa. So, here’s what I’m seeing. I’m seeing what is probably a pretty broad coalition of people and the Kurds may be providing the leadership, because they have – they have a capable leader who’s stepped up to this challenge. And they are providing some of the organisational skill, but I see a large contingent about 23 to 25,000 so far and growing, Arabs, who are marching to liberate their part of northern Syria. So, I don’t see a Kurdish state. I see a multi-cultural, multi-party, multi-ethnic, multi-sectarian Syrian region being liberated from ISIS. Over.”
Concise summary. Thank you General Townsend.
He basically admitted “we did it” ...
Chalk up another ooops
And the creation of another bunch of muslims with a blood vendetta against the US
Now we are heading into Yemen as Saudi mercenaries...
Despite Trump’s election (and probably good intentions) it seems we haven’t yet met a bloody intractable war we couldn’t enter in the name of democracy
Unless I mis-understood the Oppps was in Iraq. We’ve been there a while.
Yes, we should avoid unnecessary conflicts. But if we are in them. We must win as quick as possible.
And remember, Obama did start the mess in Syria. Obama, Hillary, Erdogan, SA etc. behind it.
So. End ISIS and help those there to find an agreement that will work for peace after the war. (I know that is a big order in the ME)
My personal opinion on the whole topic of "nation building" is that the U.S. in the late 18th century represented a very narrow sliver of opportunity for our Heavenly Father to establish a democratic republic; that opportunity was the result of the right people, with a suitable background and education, having been born at the right time.
Exporting democracy has worked only where either (a) the alternative was too scary for the locals to contemplate (Japan, ROK, and Germany post-WWII), or (b) instances in which the locals had already gone through the hell of communism (Poland, Hungary, etc. post-Soviet domination). There is a very solid reason why Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East - every other country is an example of "power makes right".
Nicely done, and in just three sentences. But if he had really wanted to finish him off, he might well have added three more:
By the way, did you see what was on the sidewalk outside when you came in? Look, here on the bottom of my shoe: Here it is! 
Seems to me any Muslim at any time can decide they have a "blood vendetta" against the US. In the worst case this bunch should be sufficiently motivated to join ISIS right away, so we can kill them more easily.
Despite Trump’s election (and probably good intentions) it seems we haven’t yet met a bloody intractable war we couldn’t enter in the name of democracy
I forgot that part of the rule book that forbids messy, intractable wars. The enemy always gets a vote, you know. What do you think the consequences would be if we just walked away? Not just in the ME, but everywhere? Do you think we can just "make nice" with foreigners and they'll leave us alone?
We wouldn't be fighting this war if the Kenyan hadn't thrown away what had been achieved by January 2009. Since the 1960's the most deadly enemy to the US is the leftist enemy within.
Yes, sir. Would give the appropriate directive to the reporter. He was nicer than that. But like Mattis, watch your back.
Yes he got his point across. No ambiguity.
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