US Commanders: Let Kurds Keep US-Supplied Weapons

US had previously promised arms for Kurds were just temporary

After years of shipping weapons into Syria, the US promised Turkey in 2017 that all of the weapons provided to Kurdish groups were merely temporary, and that the US would take everything back at the end of the ISIS fight. This was important to Turkey, who feared the arms being used against them in a future war.

That time is fast approaching, with President Trump declaring the war won, and Turkey about to start a major war with the Kurdish YPG. The US may never reclaim those arms, however, if commanders have their way.

US officials are now reporting that commanders are recommending that the Kurds just be allowed to keep all of the weapons provided by the US. No decisions are made, but the proposal has been submitted to President Trump.

The commanders are basing this suggestion on the idea that the ISIS war “isn’t over,” but that is in direct contradiction to the White House position that the war is over. And either way, the Turkish war is about to start, which is sure to make them unhappy that the Kurds still have all those US arms.

As was predicted when they first suggested the US would take the weapons back, Pentagon officials are also saying that while they have records of what weapons they gave the YPG, it “would be nearly impossible” to locate them all now.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.