“We have battled ICE” , tweeted Donald Trump on Wednesday and stated that the united STATES would pull its troops out of Syria. Only ten minutes earlier was, it has been reported that IS fighters had conducted a terroraksjon by the syrian city of Raqqa.
1. in may 2003, declared then-president George W. Bush american victory in Iraq on the deck of the aircraft carrier “Abraham Lincoln”. We saw how it went.
Now is not this commentator some supporter of the Us military engagement in the middle East, but a bit of decency should well be able to go an?
Since 2015 the united STATES has been allied with syria’s democratic forces (SDF), where the kurdish YPG militia constitute the largest part. SDF has received weapons, money and militæropplæring from the americans in the war against the IS, but it has not been an equal partnership. For it is the kurdish soldiers who mostly have had to go in the front line, where very many have been killed.
Without the YPG-the soldiers had never IS been driven on the defensive in Syria, it knows the americans. The syrian kurds also know that they could not expect the americans to the eternal time, but they had probably hoped that the withdrawal should have happened at a more convenient time.
It is only a few days ago Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he will take a final military settlement with the YPG in Northern Syria, a group of turks consider to be terrorists. Donald Trump announces the Us withdrawal right now, is therefore hardly a coincidence. The two presidents also had a phone call earlier in the week, where they after Erdogans statement shall have agreed to coordinate their efforts in Syria.
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But why all of a sudden Donald Trump is so interested in improving the relationship with Turkey, a NATO country the united STATES has been on edge for a long time, both because of the Syria war and because the turks are against Saudi Arabia, the United states ‘ most important arab allies in the middle East? The murder of the saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October can be one reason. It comes to calm down the criticism of Trump as the defender of Saudi Arabia’s real ruler, crown prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). At the same time, it is problematic for the united STATES that Turkey in the past has increased its cooperation with Russia, not least on the våpensektoren, where the turks have agreed to buy luftvernraketter of type S-400 to use in the border areas against Syria.
on Wednesday announced the united STATES that Turkey get buy 80 rockets of this type of Patriot to curb the desire of Russian weapons. The same day stated pressetalsperson Sarah Sanders in The white house that Trump will have a closer look at Turkey’s requirements for the disclosure of the religious leader Fetullah Gülen, who lives in exile in the united STATES. President Erdogan believes that Gülen was behind the failed putsch in Turkey in 2016.
When realpolitikken recommend in the middle East, not the kurds a chance. What they should have though, for they have been deceived by the united STATES in the past. During the american invasion of Iraq in 1991 urged president George Bush the kurds in Northern Iraq to revolt against Saddam Hussein. They did, but when Saddam went to the counter, pretended to the americans them in the lurch.
In northeastern Syria have YPGs political moderorganisasjon PYD created the autonomous region of Rojava. Originally had the YPG control only over the area which was east of the river Euphrates, but when the kurds also took Afrin district further west, as the turks red. YPG was thrown out.
But in the chaos that still reigns in Syria, Erdogan clear even more up, not at least he will clean all the border areas against Syria for YPG soldiers. And here we see probably one more reason that Trump now pull american troops out; if they had stayed in Northern Iraq, they could come in direct military conflict with the Turkish soldiers.
2000 u.s. special soldiers are scheduled to pull out, and the process will probably take between two and three months. An unknown number of americans to be left as a part of America’s war against terror.
Now leaving the Trump Syria to Russia, Turkey and Iran, especially israelis like bad. For the new united nations special envoy for Syria, Geir O. Pedersen, american withdrawal maybe be an advantage.
And what’s with ICE? The us department of defense the Pentagon said in august that it still was 14 500 the IS fighters in Syria, while others estimate the number to be between 20 000 and 30 000. Many are located in border areas against Iraq.
IS crying hardly over the us withdrawal.
