Kurds face stark options after US pullback Pepe Escobar

Backgrounder.

Asia Times
Kurds face stark options after US pullback

Pepe Escobar

Moon of Alabama — Sundry - Shutdown, Ukraine, Omidyar And Syria

News synopsis. Short.

Moon of Alabama
Sundry - Shutdown, Ukraine, Omidyar And Syria

b

Brad Blankenship — How private corporations will benefit from Kurdish independence

You probably want to take the time to read this.

Rex Tillerson and Exxon up to the neck in it.

Al-Masdar News
How private corporations will benefit from Kurdish independence
Brad Blankenship

Graham E. Fuller — The Future of the Kurds

Backgrounder.

Graham E. Fuller
The Future of the Kurds
Graham E. Fuller | adjunct professor of history at Simon Fraser University, formerly vice chairman of the National Intelligence Council at the CIA, and a former senior political scientist at RAND

Marko Marjanović — Tillerson Goes Public With US Plans For Syria Partition - Marko Marjanović

News from the snake pit. US gives up on "Assad must go," backs Kurds, and enrages Turkey.

Russia Insider
Tillerson Goes Public With US Plans For Syria Partition - Marko Marjanović
Marko Marjanović

Also

The Duran
John McCain blasts Trump White House for allowing Assad to stay in power
Alex Christoforou

Daniel Lazare — Obama’s Imperial Mideast Policy Unravels

President Obama’s Mideast policy is such a confusing mess that he is now supporting Turkey’s invasion of northern Syria although it’s primary target is not ISIS but another U.S. ally, the Kurds, explains Daniel Lazare.…

The more over-extended the U.S. empire grows, the less it is able to rein its client states in. It is not a recipe for a happy outcome.

Consortium News

Obama’s Imperial Mideast Policy Unravels
Daniel Lazare

SouthFront — SDF Spokesman Confirms The Group Does Nothing Without ‘Signals’ From The United States

Revealing testimony from the spokesperson for the Kurdish fighters (SDF/YPG) that the US is not only supporting the group but also controlling it.

“It’s forbidden to negotiate with the Russians because we seek for an alliance with the United States. It’s impossible to communicate with any other party and to not lose the credibility of the international coalition. Of course, we are free, but we can not attack if there is not signal from the Americans.”

“We will not unite with the Syrian army against ISIS because our forces operate only with the forces of the international coalition led by the United States. We are partners of the United States and the coalition. They make decisions. There can’t be a coordination between the Russians and us. Because first of all we have a strategic partnership with the international coalition led by the United States.”

SouthFront

SDF Spokesman Confirms The Group Does Nothing Without ‘Signals’ From The United States

lkb22

Moon of Alabama — Hasakah - Are U.S. Troops "Advising" Kurds To Attack The Syrian Army?

Isn't this a rhetorical question with the US insisting that Asad must go and after the former acting director of the CIA said that Russian and Iran need to lose more assets Syria through US covert operations?

Moon of Alabama
Hasakah - Are U.S. Troops "Advising" Kurds To Attack The Syrian Army?

Arras — Turkey is screwed. And it’s all US fault.

Backgrounder. What's really up with Turkey. It's the Kurds, stupid.

The Vineyard of the Saker
Turkey is screwed. And it’s all US fault.
Arras

J.Hawk —Erdogan: Turkey will not permit a “Kurdish belt”

Looks like some negotiating positions may be being drawn up.

South Front
Erdogan: Turkey will not permit a “Kurdish belt”
Original published by RIA, translation and analysis by J.Hawk

Moon of Alabama — "Are Green Berets Leading The YPG In North-West Syria?" - "Wrong Question ..."

The plot thickens. Not the YPG after all.

Moon of Alabama
"Are Green Berets Leading The YPG In North-West Syria?" - "Wrong Question ..."

Moon of Alabama — Are Green Berets Leading The YPG In Taking The Azaz Pocket?

Is the US military fighting the CIA?

Moon of Alabama
Are Green Berets Leading The YPG In Taking The Azaz Pocket?

Pepe Escobar — Why Turkey Stabbed Russia in the Back

The strategic importance of these Turkmen lands cannot be emphasized enough. It’s exactly in this area, reaching as much as 35 km inland, that Ankara wants to install its so-called “safe zone,” which will be in fact a no-fly zone, in Syrian territory, ostensibly to house Syrian refugees, and with everything paid by the EU, which has already unblocked 3 billion euros, starting Jan. 1, via the European Commission (EC).

The now insurmountable obstacle for Turkey to get its no-fly zone is, predictably, Russia….

The bottom line is that Turkey and Russia simply cannot be part of the same coalition fighting the Islamic State group because their objectives are diametrically opposed.…

telesur

Why Turkey Stabbed Russia in the Back
Pepe Escobar

Stanislav Ivanov — Aggravation of Internal Political Situation in Iraqi Kurdistan

Backgrounder on Kurdistan.

New Eastern Outlook
Aggravation of Internal Political Situation in Iraqi Kurdistan

Stanislav Ivanov, leading research fellow of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IWEIR) and the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, PhD