Posted on 01/20/2019 8:10:06 AM PST by Texas Fossil
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s refusal to meet with US National Security Advisor John Bolton has become the latest episode of what are now periodic US-Turkey tensions over the Syrian Kurds. Erdoğan declared that he would not “accept or swallow” Bolton’s earlier comments that Turkey should provide security guarantees for Syrian Kurds as a precondition for US troops’ withdrawal from northern Syria. This has obviously become unsure as the withdrawal of these troops has actually begun. The “non-paper” that Bolton delivered to the Turkish presidential office included the statement that “the United States opposes any mistreatment of opposition forces who fought with us against ISIS.” It was signed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford, and the United States Special Representative for Syria Engagement and the Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS James Jeffrey.
Bolton also told Erdoğan’s spokesperson that the New York Times op-ed penned by the Turkish president was “wrong and offensive.” In his piece, Erdoğan argued that Turkey is the best regional actor to form the local governing bodies in northern Syria, which will include Kurdish representatives who have no affiliation with the People’s Protection Units (YPG). Erdoğan’s later speech hinted at America’s deep state influence, which was most explicitly elaborated by the editorial of the Turkish government’s mouthpiece, Daily Sabah, entitled “A soft coup against Donald Trump.”
US-Turkey tensions over northern Syria are likely to endure unless two critical Turkish demands are met: (1) the United States gives a green light for a Turkish-controlled buffer zone in the eastern Euphrates, and (2) the Pentagon retrieves its arms and military equipment from the YPG....
(Excerpt) Read more at arabcenterdc.org ...
The Global Press is totally incapable of writing anything sensible about this.
This is worth reading.
The Pentagon is never going to get their equipment back; that’s a pipe dream at best.
Given the tangled web that has been woven, it is best to get our boys out and home and address the very serious problems that we face.
Israel can handle it.
This buffer zone being talked about....would be 300 km long, and I can’t imagine this being a practical thing that the Turks could manage without 10,000 troops on permanent duty there. As far as I see it....Syria isn’t existing anymore....it’s like three to five mini-states existing.
I’m no John Bolton but here’s my solution. Ask (or beg) the Syrian government or the Russians to take over that area. The Kurds have lived under Assad’s rule way before this ISIS conflict.
Let’s not let the MSM forget Obama and McCain got us into this mess.
They new from the beginning that they would never get the equipment back.
If they did, Turkey would roll over 1/2 of Syria. Human suffering would be incredible and Turkey would again try to commit Genocide. (not over stated)
The United States needs to GET out of Syria. We did not take the Kurds to raise. If they want to fight Turkey or Syria to extract sovereign territory for their own — that’s fine. Good luck. But I don’t want to spend a borrowed dime on that, much less an American Life. We have lost 5 US military lives in Syria. That is 5 too many. We had no business there and we have no business there.
I think it will exist.
Control of it? That is another issue.
Turkey has no place in Syria. Nor does Iran.
Russia? We shall see.
Obama and McCain? Yep.
The Russian interest is to ‘demonstrate’ weapons (a practical proving ground). If you look at cost...I doubt if the Russian expenditure is anything in comparison to what the US is spending for the same region.
If Syria had oil or natural gas, this would be a totally different game.
Kurds did not fight Syria.
They never sought to break up Syria.
Blame Obama for our involvement in Syria, and it was not with the Kurds. It was with the unicorn Jihadi’s. Terrorist criminals.
I do not want to argue with you about the “type” of US lives we lost. Some were military related but were civilian.
Any US lives lost are too many.
North East and Eastern Syria is a proven producing oil region.
Agree, the Russians spent less.
US expenditures in Syria is large, but much less than in Iraq.
ISIS is largely ended in Syria. The US and the world benefits from that.
Gee, looks like someone else had the same idea.
Dec. 28, 2018
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Feeling betrayed by the United States, its Kurdish allies in Syria asked the Syrian government on Friday to protect them from possible attack by Turkey.
The request surprised some American officials and could help open the way for the forces of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, backed by Russia and Iran, to start retaking the Kurdish-held part of the country near Turkey’s border...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/28/world/middleeast/syria-kurds-turkey-manbij.html
I disagree. The Kurds were heavily armed and involved in the wrongful attempted taking of Syrian Territory from Sovereign Syria and fought daily with the anti Syria rebels which have now been annihilated. As you know , those insurgents were supported by the Neo Con factions of the Us Government including John MCcain and Bolton. When I say supported— I am talking $billions in weapons and training that all went up in worthless smoke. Most of those provided weapons , if not all ended up in the hands on the of AlQaeda/Isis. We had no interest there then and we have no interest there now. There continues to be this pro “kurdish” social media ( much of which is organized and coordinated) but just be aware that many of us oppose it.
Syria has a lot of oil actually.
Very good article. Thanks.
Erdogan has supported Sunni jihadis, Iran runs its Anti-American Shi’ite militias.
Those are fundamental problems that should be targeted in in whatever strategy is adopted.
...In a notoriously complex region of shifting variables.
Absolutely.
Totally disagree with you on all points.
Kurds never supported the Sunni Jihadi’s.
They never engaged SAA except to return fire. In all cases I am aware of that there were exchanges with Syrian forces, it was initiqated by Iranian elements.
I know this turf. Nobody understands it better than those who are involved directly. I know some of them well.
“The Pentagon is never going to get their equipment back; that’s a pipe dream at best.”
I learned long ago in military logistics classes that retrieving hardware and shipping it back for reconditioning is cost-prohibitive and that is the reason why we leave things to the local governments as a military gift or destroy it.
It would probably cost just as much to remanufacture new and therefore the practice of salvaging battle-worn equipment has gone out of fashion.
I’ll bet you know them very well.
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