The Blob Is Lying About Trump’s Sudden Syria Withdrawal

The president's shift in policy has been portrayed as a surprise—but America's foreign-policy machinery was quietly tasked with preparing for it months ago.

“From 2011 and for the seven years that followed, the experts have been telling us that Assad’s days were numbered, that he was finished, even when it became obvious that wasn’t going to happen; it was a fairytale,” Middle East analyst Geoffrey Aronson said. “The result is that we were reduced to playing the role of spoiler. Listen, there are lots of reasons to not like Trump, but this was the right policy move to make. Our agreement with the Kurds was always temporary, and they knew it. So now they will do what they’ve been quietly talking about for the last two years: They’ll seek an accommodation with Damascus.”

There’s no question that Trump’s withdrawal decision has roiled official Washington, spurring the resignations of Mattis and McGurk, but the end-of-the-world scenario painted by Trump’s chorus of critics—that the Mattis resignation would be followed by many others, for example—has not happened. The reason might well be that there are many more officials in the foreign-policy establishment who agree with what Trump has done—and that, perhaps, the job of “restraining some of Trump’s worst instincts” shouldn’t be left in the hands of America’s generals.

Kilic Kanat, the research director at the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research in Washington, agrees. “There’s no doubt that this is a fragile situation,” he said, “but the idea that the U.S. withdrawal will be followed by a Turkish invasion to slaughter the Kurds is laughable. The Turkish government is focused now on the U.S. withdrawal and making sure that it will clear Syrian territories bordering Turkey from ISIS and the [People’s Protection Units (YPG)]. There will be no tolerance for these groups freely navigating along its borders.”

First, FP is pure globalist crap. Second, this statement by Kilic Kanat shows how truly clueless that researcher is. Erdogan's Turkey would unleash the ISIS and al Qaeda remnants in a heartbeat and take all of Syria if the global community did not act swiftly to stop it. Which they would not. Nobody who had seriously looked at Erdogan's history and actions could come to that conclusion. (I have no clue who Mark Perry is.)

--------

The commanders of the Syrian Democratic Forces understand this, which is, in part, why they’ve been engaged in political negotiations with the Assad government for several months. The goal is to bring the SDF back under the control of Damascus—a prospect that Ankara would welcome. As former U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford recently noted,Trump’s announcement has actually smoothed “the way for a deal between the SDF and Damascus that would allow Syrian troops to return to eastern Syria in a manner that meets Turkish security concerns and gives no new space to the Islamic State.” More simply, the U.S. withdrawal of its forces from Syria will nudge the Kurdish-led SDF down the road to Damascus—which is where they were going anyway.

Who's Goal. It is sure not the path Syrian Kurds chose. And Turkish security concerns are only an excuse for more Neo Ottoman expansion. Even a blind fool could see it, if they were honest. US and Russian presence in Syria is the only reason that Turkey has not invaded and tried to take all of Syria, I'm sure Obama promised him he could have it.

My N. Syrian Kurd friends have already told me that they would rather all die than accept another Efrin (Afrin) invasion by Turkey. I don't believe that is an over statement. The N. Syrian Kurds are not like those in Iraq. I'm not sure how they compare to those in Iran, that picture is largely isolated from view. I have NO doubt that our Israeli allies fully understand the danger in all of this and are prepared to do whatever is necessary to protect themselves. And remember there were once 400,000 Kurdish Jews (Erdogan has called them "Mountain Jews") in the Middle East (Iraq, Iran & Syria), they were driven out and largely went to Israel. There are 2 Israeli (diplomats) who follow me on Twitter, it is very clear to me that they "get it" on this situation. I've had conversations with the one in the US on a couple of occasions, and one way DM conversations with the other for outside the US, explaining my interest in the Syrian Kurd issue and my perspective. Both still follow me so the channels are still open.

We are really getting into some high stakes negotiating and pressure gambits, as consolidation toward an end state of the war progresses.

Cleaner, more defensible and stable front lines are settling out. Chaotic regions are being consolidated. ISIS is pretty much cleared off the table. Idlib seems like the last major area to be pacified - if the main International powers (US, Russia, Turkey, Iran) can be kept from engaging each other (overtly or covertly).

In some ways, the political stakes are going up, as the potential to actually strike deals becomes more realistic, in the more controlled military environment. Without ISIS, it is now much more a group of rational adults involved.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.