Turkey’s Defense Ministry is claiming that they have assurances from the United States that ongoing arms deliveries to the Kurdish YPG to fight against ISIS are only temporary, and that the US has promised they will take the weapons back from the Kurds as soon as the ISIS fight is over.
That guarantee appears more than a little far-fetched, as the US has long struggled to keep track of the arms they’ve provided to other factions in Iraq and Syria, often having no proper record-keeping and losing billions of dollars worth of arms in the process. Having a good enough inventory system to retake the arms after the war’s end would be a tall order, indeed.
Still, Turkish officials seem convinced, saying they’ve been promised that Defense Secretary James Mattis will give them a list every month of all weaponry given to the YPG, and that the first such list was already delivered to them.
Having a list of what was given to the YPG and knowing where those arms are now are two different things, of course, and the longer the fighting lasts, the less of that gear is likely to be accounted for and available to be reclaimed.
Turkey has envisioned a war against the YPG for some time now, and obviously worries that they’ll use all this new US weaponry against them. It is not common for the US to even consider reclaiming weapons they’ve distributed to other factions. The Kurds presumably aren’t going to be happy about the US disarming them immediately in advance of an offensive by Turkey when ISIS is defeated.
… Turkey’s not that dumb. They’re just setting up the pretext of failed expectations to stick the U.S. at some future date.
However, what’s on that list could conceivably deter Erdogan from attacking the U.S.’ most reliable proxy force in the region.
Deter the Turks from attacking the Kurds? Really?
Really.
Did you really think the U.S. has forgiven Erdogan for acting wildly in his own best interest at their expense? Or that the U.S.-GCC-rest of NATO cares for a Turk enclave in their Syrian Kurdish autonomous region?
Empowering the Kurds to bloody his nose in Syria is a no-brainer payback solution. I’m not saying the Kurds wouldn’t be attacked by Turkey in Turkey, but Syria is a different ball game and if Erdogan forgets that, he’ll lose more tanks.
Did as anybody read that hit piece about America arming terrorist by a supposed independent reporter on this biased anti-America site? They go deep looking for a article written by someone that works for a news organization no one’s ever heard of an I guess by this site’s standards of it’s an anti-America story it makes it.What a load of bs dis-information.Than this guy Jason Ditz or douche ces back with a anti-America story with almost the same story line just a different spin kinda like the dis-information campaign the Russians ran during the election.How bout y’all do some digging about how Russia’s arming the Taliban in Afghanistan that’s fighting against America.O….but that doesn’t fit you’re narrative here huh Mr.Ditz??? I’ll keep calling you out for your anything but,Anti-war biased reporting if this where truly an anti-war site you’d be reporting every atrocity carried out by everyone involved not just what you claim America is doing.Get it together Anti-war maybe you started out as legitimate but you’re reporting lately ooze’s with biased selectivism… Might as well be labeled propaganda for America’s enemies protected by a country where we’re truly free.Try doing what you’re doing in Iran or North Korea or Russia we all know what would happen to you there.USA
There’s certainly plenty of propaganda for America’s enemies here at Antiwar.com.
Starting with your comments.
Sure ignore the context attack the messenger.How about y’all do some real reporting here and report both sides of the story instead of spewing out propaganda and talking points on behalf of adversarial nations hostile to a free Democratic society like America.Funny thing is if y’all did this same thing in the countries y’all are lobbying for y’all be censored or jailed or worse.Get it together i know the truth hurts.USA
Exactly. Antiwar isn’t like the MSM which ginned up a bunch of bogus intelligence to get us to invade Iraq. And it isn’t a cheering section for war with Syria and Iran. If you want to read about evil Russia and Iran read the NYT or the WaPo or listen to CNN, NPR and all the other disinformation channels out there that support the rule of the Deep State and continued intervention and perpetual war around the world. 1984 has arrived; it’s just a little late..
Iraq was a mistake get over it.We’re talking 2017 now.I’m simply stating America isn’t the only country out there invading other people’s territories,it isn’t the only one dropping bombs on people,it isn’t the only country buzzing ships and aircraft.The definition of anti-war isn’t selective targeting it means everyone who’s killing needs to stop.Understand???How can you tell America to stop what it’s doing when you’re out there doing the same thing? In other words practice what you preach.USA
“Iraq was a mistake get over it.” Let’s see, we kill a couple hundred thousand people, create 4 million refugees, spend $2 trillion, lose 5000 of our own folks and the Islamic State grows out of the disaster there. Yeah, just a little error, nothing of any real importance. Nothing to see. Just move along. Just a mistake followed up by helping to destroy Libya and Syria and making a huge mess in Afghanistan; been there for 15 years with nothing to show for it except a lot of money wasted and plenty of dead people. Why do we think we can occupy Afghanistan where the Brits, Russians, Indians, etc., have failed? The definition of insanity is doing the same thing time after time and expecting different results.
Exactly why we can’t keep giving Russia a pass when they buzz our ships jets and are hacking into our elections and invading it’s smaller neighbors not honoring the commitments it made.I agree with you if we keep giving North Korea a pass on it’s nuclear weapons program after we negotiate a solution with them we must change course,you’re absolutely right I mean we can’t just keep doing the same thing with these people that be ” insanity “you’re words.USA
Was Poland a threat to Germany? Was Iraq a threat to the USA? The top Bush Administration leadership and US military leaders ought to be tried at The Hague for war crimes just like the Nazis were at Nuremberg. Aggressive war is the paramount international crime because it contains within it numerous other crimes like murder, destruction of property, etc.
Can we stay with what’s happening in this century I know you’re desperate for a legitimate response but,if I’m not mistaken we helped to defeat Nazi Germany and as for Iraq it was a mistake but,can you please look at what’s going on right now in the world? We’re not invading our neighbors,we’re not developing nukes and have a dictator that was born on a magical mystical mountain according to North Korea’s news outlets.I guess you’d believe that before you believed the Russians hacked into our elections.I don’t get you people maybe you should go to North Korea and see for yourself how lucky you are to live in America.USA
Can’t you do better than that?
One answer: Israel and the Neocons.
“Iraq was a mistake get over it.”
That would be much easier if the same morons and sociopaths who made and/or supported that mistake didn’t keep insisting that the next version of that mistake isn’t a mistake, and that anyone who was smart enough to recognize the last mistake as a mistake and thinks it shouldn’t be made again must hate America or something. USA
I’m not saying you hate America because you can’t get over the fact Iraq was a mistake and we should’ve left Saddam in power to keep Iran in check I agree.I’m saying you must hate America because the narrative on this site is a biased one that is giving the government’s like Russia and Iran and North Korea a pass even though they are doing the exact same things we do.Look it doesn’t matter if a bomb is dropped from a U.S F-16 or a Russian Su jet a bomb is a bomb and if this was truly an anti-war site you’d report on both sides of the story.I guess you people think Russia’s dropping candy from its jets on the people of Syria.Get it together this isn’t an anti-war site it’s an anti-America one.USA
You can keep trying to pretend that Antiwar.com has some kind of anti-US bias if you want to. So far as I can tell it, the only people buying that crap are yourself and one other troll here. It’s kind of hard to sell when no fewer than 18 stories on Antiwar.com’s front page are about belligerent actions by countries which are neither the US nor US allies.
Show me one just one story Jason Ditz has ever written about the bombs Russia is dropping on the Syrian people and the suffering it’s caused.How about a story about how the Russians are arming the Taliban aren’t they the equivalent of ISIS no you won’t do that because they don’t exist,you know why??? He doesn’t write those stories because it doesn’t fit the biased reporting by this anti-America site.I don’t have to pretend this site is anti-American anybody with a brain can read the headlines of this site and see for themselves.Now you go back to pretending this site is anti-war while you condemn America but,give everyone else that’s involved with killing people a pass.USA
From the front page as it exists this minute: Russia Warships and Sub Fire Cruise Missiles at Syria: Moscow
Every time you lie about what Antiwar.com does or does not cover, I’m going to point out that you’re lying and then I’m going to prove it. I probably don’t have to since anyone with a mouse can go look for themselves, but I’m going to anyway.
So continue to be a lying asshat in public if that’s what you want to do, but don’t expect to fool anyone.
Yup.
Please see these 2 studies on the web by COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. Turkey supports ISIS and the silence of the US on this shows that the US has done the same:
“Research Paper: Turkey-ISIS Oil Trade”
“Research Paper: ISIS-Turkey Links”
You are way off-base.
Turkey, for example, has explicitly aided ISIS and other jihadists, and the US has had hardly anything to say about it.
That is because the US supported it, and the US does give aid to jihadist terrorists.
See these 2 studies on the web by COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY:
“Research Paper: Turkey-ISIS Oil Trade”
“Research Paper: ISIS-Turkey Links”
Also please read this article:
“Angela Merkel’s government says it has proof that Turkey is supporting Islamic State AND Hamas”.
You’re right ISIS is Saddam’s old army the Sunni Muslims who lost power when he was ousted.Sadaam himsewas a Sunni ruling over a majority Shiite nation.When we allowed Iraq to have elections the Shiite majority won a no brainier since they were the majority of the country to begin with and the Sunni population was marginalized.Thats how ISIS formed it’s Sadaam’s old Baath Party.The USA allowed them to operate as a counter to Iran’s growing influence in the country and as a way to attack Assad’s Syria since they’re both Shiite countries.Turkey being Sunni as well helped the tribe to attack it’s bitter enemy Syria and the proxy war began.Its basically super power chess America and the Sunnis versus Russia and the Shiites.USA
And nobody believes that promise. Only fools would imagine it, and none of them are such fools. They have many faults, none of them trusting foolishness.
US wouldn’t take back the arms from Kurds.
Americans interest in middle East eternal conflicts and American higher interest keep the Turkeys internal and external problems manageable problem.
So Erdogan Presidency is the beginning of the Turkish way of strong democracy and Kurdish problems has to be terminated for good.
Strong Turkey with Strong Iran and strong Saudi colobarated together and keeping Shia / Sunni differences ” aggread to disagreed ” is the Muslims will and not getting united is resulting so many deads out of this disunity is having blood in their hands.