The Turkish military has reported an ongoing offensive of the key Syrian border town of Ras al-Ayn, claiming to have captured the town’s residential center. They dubbed this their biggest gain sine crossing into Syria on Wednesday.
After crossing into Syrian Kurdish territory, Turkey and its Syrian
rebel allies surrounded Ras al-Ayn and another nearby town, Tel Abyad.
The two towns are in the “safe zone” Turkey intends to occupy, and are
have Arab majority populations, which the rebels believe will offer them
a new stronghold to base operations out of.
This territory which is being invaded was part of ISIS-dominated Syria,
which the Kurdish forces took over in US-backed offensives over the past
two years. Turkey has long objected to increasing the size of
Kurdish-held territory in Syria, and had been threatening this invasion
for over a year.
Turkish officials maintain that the offensive is only going to stretch
the 30 km across the border that covers the safe zone. The US is urging
Turkey to stop, and threatening sanctions, but withdrew most troops from
the area, and is not directly threatening to stop Turkey.
“part of ISIS-dominated Syria, which the Kurdish forces took over in US-backed offensives over the past two years”
Not exactly, and the difference is important for Antiwar purposes.
The Kurds are a local defense militia, and of limited numbers in any one place, without logistic units or expertise. The US moves them in after a place is taken, to govern it, even if the governed people are not Kurds.
The US says the forces that actually take the places are “Kurdish led.” That is a lie. They are the jihadis we funded, armed, trained, and are led by the CIA out of Turkish bases. The US doesn’t let them occupy and run places they take, because they can’t be trusted. They are all al Qaeda factions of one sort or another, the differences only understood by jihadi insiders. The only Kurdish leadership is the figurehead we dress up to do press briefings at US HQ, just the same as it was in Vietnam with the Five O’Clock Follies. Some things don’t change.
The Turkish invasion is wrong. But Turkish aggression doesn’t excuse the YPG’s stupidity and callousness. The YPG is turning the Turkish invasion into a catastrophe by standing their ground and fighting a hopeless battle against the Turks on the Syrian border. The YPG’s “heroic” defense of the Turkish/Syrian border is reckless, stupid, unnecessary, cruel and testosterone driven macho crazy. There is no rational reason for this fight that is destroying the civilians and decimating the YPG. The YPG is no match for the Turkish Army and Air Force on the Turkish border. The YPG should disengage and save the civilians.
Unfortunately all sides in the Syrian conflict (the rebels, the Israelis, the government, the Turks, the Russians, the Americans, KSA, the UAE and the jihadists) have all shown a criminal disregard for civilians caught in the cross fires. Now the YPG seems to be fighting a hopeless battle against the Turks to create a humanitarian crisis that the YPG apparently hopes will cause the international community to intervene. In the Syrian civil war, civilians are props callously and cynically victimized by the armies of all sides, except possibly by the Iranians and Hezbollah.
The YPG should declare a unilateral cease fire and withdraw its forces 35 to 40 KM from the Turkish border. The YPG should call in the press and international observers to monitor the cease fire to insure that Turkey keeps its promise not to go more than 30 KM into Syria. If Turkey moves past the 30 KM zone, then the YPG has no choice but to fight. But as long as there is a chance of containing the Turkish operation peacefully, the YPG should disengage from its hopeless and bloody defense of Syria’s border and help get the civilians out of the Turkish occupation zone in front of the Turkish advance.
BTW, this tragic situation is the foreseeable result of the YPG’s terrible decision to ally itself with the USA and Israel and their phony proxy rebels against the legitimate government of Syria.
“…this tragic situation is the foreseeable result of the YPG’s terrible decision to ally itself with the USA and Israel and their phony proxy rebels against the legitimate government of Syria.”
Exactly.