Turkey Riles U.S. Ally in Fight Against Jihadists

Kurdish fighters who are allied with Washington accused Turkey of shelling their positions in Syria, a sign of the difficulties Ankara and the U.S. face as they boost cooperation to fight Islamic State militants.

Monday’s accusation came from the Kurds’ People’s Defense Units, a Syrian group that has emerged as the most effective U.S. partner in the fight against the Islamist extremists. Its role has complicated matters for Turkey, which is worried about growing Kurdish influence along its border with Syria and an emboldened Kurdish minority seeking more autonomy at home.

Turkey said its forces were fired upon from unidentified sources across the Syrian border and that it responded with artillery. It said it was investigating claims that several Kurdish fighters were wounded but that the Syrian-Kurdish defense units, known as the YPG, “do not fall within the scope of Turkey’s war on terror.”

I received this email from someone on my list, who is often right and does have some interesting sources.

Update From the Land of Not Quite Right

One of the ‘interesting’ messages I receive from ‘sources’. HWS

After two combat flights out here there’s not much I can say about what’s happening but I came across this public article about our flight last night and thought I would take the rare opportunity to share.

Last night we flew a 16 hour mission to Iraq and Syria. On one side we bombed ISIS buildings in Syria and killed dozens of ISIS members. On the Iraqi side of the boarder we supported the Turks that were bombing Kurdish forces. The Kurds have been extremely helpful in fighting ISIS on the ground for us but are now being bombed by our Turkish ‘ally’ who is now allowing us to use their bases for future operations. Talk about a messed up situation…

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/07/25/turkey-iraq-syria/30658841/

In other news, I’ve experienced a new level of sweat that I never knew existed! It comes from sitting in a metal tube waiting to take off with no air conditioning and outside temps of 116. I’ve also been made the Commander’s Executive Officer which was a huge blow to my downtime but could look pretty good on a resume. The Commander seems like an OK guy so far so hopefully that’ll remain true.

Hope all is well back home!

Nathan

On the Iraqi side of the boarder we supported the Turks that were bombing Kurdish forces. The Kurds have been extremely helpful in fighting ISIS on the ground for us but are now being bombed by our Turkish ‘ally’ who is now allowing us to use their bases for future operations. Talk about a messed up situation

If I was in the military, I cannot in my conscience support the Turks bomb the Kurds. Court-martial me, so be it!

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