Posted on 03/07/2018 8:12:38 AM PST by mac_truck
BEIRUT — U.S.-allied forces in eastern Syria said Tuesday that they are withdrawing from the front lines of the war against the Islamic State in order to battle the United States’ NATO ally Turkey elsewhere in the country, jeopardizing the fight against the militants.
Citing disappointment with the United States, the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said they were pulling fighters off the front lines in the province of Deir al-Zour, where Islamic State fighters have been putting up a fierce fight in a pocket of territory on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River. The holdouts there are thought to include some of the most senior leaders of the organization who escaped the cities of Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria last year, U.S. officials say.
The move follows an effort by the Trump administration to assuage Turkish ire over the U.S. military’s close relationship with Syrian Kurdish forces. Those forces have been instrumental in the capture of vast swaths of territory from the Islamic State over the past three years, including the militants’ self-styled capital, Raqqa.
According to a statement by the SDF, which has received arms and training from the United States, the fighters will relocate to the Kurdish-controlled enclave of Afrin in northwestern Syria to help fend off a six-week-old Turkish offensive that has reportedly killed hundreds of civilians, displaced more than 10,000 people and contributed to one of the worst crises in U.S.-Turkish relations in decades.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Good for them! The only thing I can think of as per the US is that they think if an overthrow is that even worse than the current isscam nut an even worse one will take over!
Those are trivialities. Of course the Kurds rebellion against Syria was squelched by Syria and it’s allies.
The Kurds are no longer rebelling but coming to terms.
Also there are millions of Kurd hostages in Iran. They’re treated pretty well, though are second-class citizens. That would change if hostilities broke out.
This is a common means of “alliance” in the Mid East.
Russia and Iran have competing aims in Syria. Basically both want to be “China’s guy” there.
Iran has to consolidate it’s expanded influence. It’s currently just a drain on them.
And a free Kurdistan will help us maintain the post-ISIS situation on a more permanent basis.
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