The U.S. military and the neoconservatives elements in Trump's administration wanted to hold onto the northeast of Syria for an unlimited time. They planned to establish a Kurdish entity and finance it with the Syrian oil fields they occupied. They had plans to arm and train some 40,000 Kurdish troops…
For Turkey the perspective of 40,000 armed and U.S. protected YPK Kurds on its border, while the YPG's sister organization PKK is fighting a separatist guerilla war against the Turkish army north of it, was a real and existential threat.
It seems that Erdogan made a deal with Trump, which is now turned into practical moves. Yesterday Turkey was suddenly offered to buy advanced Patriot missile defense systems. It had earlier decided to buy the Russian S-400 system. Now we learn the U.S. troops move out. What other surprises are in this deal? What does Trump get out of it? How does this change Turkey's relation with Russia?
And what about the U.S. occupied border station al-Tanf between Iraq and Syria. Will those troops leave too?...The likelihood of the US pulling out of Syria completely is extremely low. The US just ran into a Turkish red line over a projected Kurdistan and folded. But will the US neocons and military accept that? After all, the US military under DefSec Ash Cater quickly sabotaged the deal that Obama-Kerry made with Russia.
Will Putin see this as Erdogan double-crossing him?
Moon of Alabama
Report: U.S. To Leave Syria Immediately - Updated
Here comes the pushback
Reuters
Trump wrong to say Islamic State has been defeated in Syria: UK minister
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ReplyDeleteU.S. To Leave Syria Immediately
“The likelihood of the US pulling out of Syria completely is extremely low.”
Agreed. The U.S. has been “pulling out” of Iraq for 15 years, and Afghanistan for 17 years.
“The U.S. military and the neoconservatives elements in Trump's administration wanted to hold onto the northeast of Syria for an unlimited time. They planned to establish a Kurdish entity and finance it with the Syrian oil fields they occupied. They had plans to arm and train some 40,000 Kurdish troops.”
Yes. The new nation, carved out of Syria, is to be called “Rojava” (aka The Democratic Federation of Northern Syria). It will be a de facto Israel 2.0, since the Kurds are fanatical allies of Israel, and it will have most of Syria’s oil.
During the US-led proxy war on Syria, Assad granted autonomy to the Kurds so Assad would not have to fight them in addition to US-backed terrorist mercenaries (i.e. ISIS). This morphed into a problem for Assad.
The Pentagon wants to keep Israel 2.0 alive, but according to the NYT, Trump doesn’t care about it.
Still, Trump does what the Pentagon tells him to do. I smell another fake "pullout."
Turkey opposes “Rojava,” as does the Syrian government.