In a move that is likely to rile up NATO member Turkey, the US has made a huge delivery of equipment to the Syrian Kurdish YPG, a group Turkey considers terrorists, and have long threatened to invade.
200 trucks crossed into Syria’s Deir Ezzor from neighboring Iraq. This
is not a military shipment. Rather, it is building material and
construction equipment intended to allow for reconstruction after the
defeat of ISIS.
That’s the US version at least, but the inclusion of substantial
excavation equipment is fueling concern, particularly in Turkey, that
this is going to be used for mass tunnel digging across Syria, in
anticipation of the Turkish invasion.
That’s probably a reasonable concern. Turkey’s been threatening such
invasions of years, and the Kurds have been promising to resist. It’s
almost certain that any huge construction programs will come with
projects intended to defend the area from an attack.
US Delivering Excavation Equipment to Syria’s Kurdish YPG
200 truckloads of material sent to Deir Ezzor from Iraq
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.
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