[Alberta's Child]

The Kurds have always been the good guys in our book. Turkey is messing with us.

Actually it's the other way around. The Kurds have been engaged in an ongoing insurgency in Turkey for decades.

This is a perfect example of the abject stupidity of the U.S. getting involved in these internal conflicts all over the globe. It also demonstrates the idiocy of a foreign policy built around a silly "global war on terror." Turkey is a NATO ally, and the U.S. is in a position of protecting an ethnic group that are considered terrorists by the government of that country.

The U.S. insisting on the protection of Kurds from Turkey's government is like Turkey insisting on the protection of MS-13 from the U.S. government.

[D Rider]

Turkey is a NATO ally, and the U.S. is in a position of protecting an ethnic group that are considered terrorists by the government of that country.

An Ally that openly sells sex slaves, women and little girls, taken in war in its capital. We should bomb the H out of them.

[aumrl]

Surprised.
A shallow post
and a poor analogy

[Old Teufel Hunden]

Alberta's Child You make some good points concerning Turkey. We had a long and good discussion about this whole Syria pullout. We didn't agree, but I think we can both come to the conclusion this will not be a simple thing to just withdraw troops from Syria. We can discuss how we got to this point in the first place, but it is not productive on how to move forward in this particular situation. As for our 'NATO partner' Turkey, well you know how I feel about that. They became a NATO ally in 1952 when they were a strong Democracy living Atta Turk's vision and were staunch anti communists. They are now a nominal dictatorship with a farce of elections and turning more Islamic all the time. Notice Spain did not get to join NATO until the 1980's, well after Francos death. I believe this is the first time that a NATO member country has gone from a Democracy into a dictatorship so they have set the precedent. We should respond in kind to pressure them to have free and fair elections or eject them from NATO.

As for this current dilemma, as I've said before. Upon hearing about the Saudis and UAE and possibly France stepping up to help protect the Kurds, I'm now ok with our pullout. As long as it's an orderly transition. I think we should even provide air support for a period of time after the pullout. With France in there (they ought to be since they created this whole mess to begin with at the end of WWI and Sykes/Picot agreement), Turkey will now be facing two NATO allies.

I don't think we should tell them publicly not to invade. I think privately we should say stay on your side of the border and encourage the Kurds in Turkey to migrate south. Eventually, Syria will be one country again and Assad can take care of them himself. After all, I think Turkey's ultimate goal all along was to get rid of Assad.