The US responded to last week’s Turkish attacks on allied Kurdish forces in both Iraq and Syria by deploying a growing number of US troops in armored vehicles along the Syria-Turkey border, aiming to provide some sort of buffer and to prevent more Turkish attacks.
It doesn’t seem to be working, and if anything, tensions are now growing between the Turkish government and the US, with Turkish officials unhappy that the US is getting in their way, and seeing it as amounting to the US taking the side of the Kurds against them.
Turkish President Erdogan insisted he was “deeply saddened” to see the US flag flying alongside “terrorists” from the Kurdish YPG, saying he intends to demand President Trump stop supporting the Kurds in an upcoming White House visit, adding “this needs to be stopped right now.”
In the meantime, Erdogan insisted that the US presence isn’t going to stop Turkish attacks, and that Turkey retains the option of attacking Kurdish forces in either Iraq or Syria, or both, in the future irrespective of what the US thinks about it.
We SHOULD be taking the side of the Kurds against Turkey. Sultan Erdogan has gone off the deep end.
why? how does Turkey attacking the Kurds become a threat to the US?
Lordbaldric… You first. You and your family head on over. We’ll be right behind you. I for one don’t give a shit about any country in the middle east. Especially Israel. Lets go back to when our “defense department” was not transformed in to foreign legions pillaging for rich people. If you are not a troll then you are an idiot.
The best thing we can do for the Kurds is let them fight their own battles and pray they win. Erdogan doesn’t need help falling on his own sword. He’s already chosen the way of Custer. His last stand is inevitable.
Why is it that we see insipid headlines about how the Russians are ‘testing’ us if they fly within 200 miles of Alaska but no headlines about how the Turks are ‘testing’ us by actually firing on our positions?
It just goes to show how demented the Neocons actually think. Only guys on the bad guy list ‘test’ the U.S. (ditto if the Iranians dare patrol the Persian Gulf)
You didn’t see any headlines about Russia flying it’s bear bombers in America and Canada’s ADIZ on this site that’s for sure.So you can truly be informed Russia also was upset that Turkey attacked the Kurds and why aren’t y’all upset that Turkey violated a foreign nations soveirnty by flying into Syria and Iraq?O…I know why because it wasn’t the America that did it this time.Hypocrites on this site with there fake outrage when America does the same thing they’re cheering our adversaries for doing.USA
The US getting in the middle of this has to rank amount the stupidest things this country has ever done.
US may think it is same aa supporting Albanians in Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Greece. The problem is, Turkey is not Serbia, and it will not be pushed and ghreatened by secessionism on its borders -/ while their own Kurds are both armed and finsnced by the West for decades. Why are we getting into nation building is beyond stupid — it will sap us long term of all of our strength and influence in the Middle East. But this is old neocon game of staying in the Middle East, and stirring up problems into infinity. US is becoming a guarantor of ethnic cleansing of predominantly Arab regions along the border. Kurds are majority only in Kobani and Afrin areas. And Raqqa is an Arsb region not wanting to be “liberated” by Kurds. So unless ISIS just voluntarily move out in favor of Kurds — there is no way Kurds can fight ISIS on the ground. US has every interest to let Turkey take over ISIS aras, until elections can be held.
Problem is the Turks aren’t doing well in Syria. Frankly THEY should have been on the outskirts of Raqqa withing weeks of entering Syria. You would think if the Sunni rebel groups really don’t want to fall to the Kurds or the Assad regime, they would have ditched ISIS affiliation and jumped at the opportunity to become Turkish surrogates, practicall rolling out the red carpet for the Turks & their allies to advance into the area.
Am I missing something by being puzzled failure of Sunni militias to bow to the Turks in greater numbers, as well as the Turkish NATO-standard military not advancing much deeper and more rapidly into Islamist territory??
The Kurds are being manipulated by America. Assad was ready to grant them autonomy, but America is forcing them to line up with the regime change program. America has to leave Syria or the war will only escalate. The tensions between Assad and Erdogan are seeded by American think tanks.
The underlying problem is that the US has no other proxy in this proxy war besides the Kurds.
The US war project has no other choice, despite the inability of the Kurdish militia to provide the real army needed, and the problems of allying with them and the terrorists elements that really are attacking Turkey.
The US is making a horrid mess of this, in exactly the way Hillary and her neocon/hawks friends started it while she was Sec of State and promised to continue it as President.
Trump was beaten down by The Blob and has done what Obama did, given in to the warmongers.
Well there is still the CIA vetted rebels who partner with Al Qaeda.
This is the reason that the Pentagon is lying about the Russians arming the Taliban in Afghanistan, to take attention away from our malfeasance in Syria.