While US “relief funds” are frozen in Syria, the Pentagon continues to seek massive amounts of funding for its military operations in the country. This includes a request for $300 million in weapons to give to “partner forces” in Syria.
This amounts to enough arms for 65,000 fighters. This is expected to center on the Syrian Democratic Forces, which is to say, almost entirely the Kurdish YPG. The US has been arming the YPG for years now as part of its Syria operations.
This is being sought in spite of repeated US assurances to Turkey that their arming of the YPG was temporary. With ISIS virtually wiped out in Syria, the YPG no longer has offensive goals fitting into US plans for Syria, and rather is focused chiefly on fighting a Turkish invasion of northern Syria.
The $300 million in arms also comes with $250 million in “border security” funding for Syria. Both are going into the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO), which Pentagon officials can easily shuffle around to spend on virtually anything.
While couched as “Counter-ISIS” funding, the funding looks more likely to be backing the YPG in fighting Turkey. While the US is unlikely to fund fighting against another NATO ally, it may also be this is just another excuse to grow the OCO.
Kurds to establish own state in N.E. Syria? And, then, defended by whom? By Kurds, Israelis, Saudis, Nato, Americans?
Now let us hear from Turks? Russians probably do not fret much if any, if a new state arises in Syria; provided the new state fights the kind of terrorism that Russia, China is fighting right now.
After all, both China and Russia have many own “moderate” and ‘moderate’ Islamists. So, China and Russia must also love them and not just Judaists, Buddhists, Christians, Bizzards…..
You are very mistaken. Russia does not want to see another NATO-stan like Kosovo.
Its not that they dont want to see another NATO stan, they wont allow it.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
America is determined to overthrow the legitimate government of Syria. When is the world going to say enough is enough?
America is even working hard to overthrow the legitimate government in America . So what can you expect
Amazing isn’t it! It is sometimes hardest to see things that are closests.
Slogging along from one quagmire to the next… It’s the American way.
Illegally in Syria, pretending to help “liberate” Raqqa while refusing any help or rebuilding of the city (unlike the Russians who have liberated and helped Aleppo) then blaming the Turks who eventually did join in to fight against the illegal US forces working with the Kurds. Even Chomsky is imploring people to support them (see article in Angry Arab blog). Go Home Yanks.
You make it sound like it’s a stretch for Chomsky. It’s not; he’s a Zionist through and through.
Unfortunately proven many times iver. Anytime Neicon propaganda went into overdrive he found an explanation to defend their push. It is a strange phenomena, and he is by no means the inly intelligent and accomplished individual that inexplicably responds to the call of tribal loyalty. Even when defending makes zero sense, and is stretched to the point of ridiculous — somehow the cide of loyalty kicks in. I guess being excommunicated from the collective is more of a punishment, then sticking with the required narrative.
Did not we already support the moderate rebels which we trained and they took our training and weapons over to the ISIS side . Why don’t we come home a let Syria take care of their own problems .
. The Pentagon just must have to much money . But I suppose if they don’t spend the money next year they will be given less . So this money could go to the Kurds to defend themselves against Turkey A NATO ally . The United States would never want to fight against Turkey A NATO ally . Turkey maybe a member of NATO but they seem to feel entirely different when it come to killing Kurds a U.S. ally . It doesn’t seem to bother Turkey one bit to fight against a U.S. ally . Have you ever stopped to think that being a member of NATO does not really make all those nations allies . I can’t imagine this group of chicken shit countries holding together in any serous conflict for longer than one week .
Remember all the times people wanted to fix K-12 education or health care? The refrain was, “We have to stop throwing money at the problem.”
Our brand new, already obsolete Ford class aircraft carriers are likely to sink an $80 million aircraft every month, based on reliability numbers currently generated during onshore testing of the launch system. Incredibly, the naval captain in charge of the program demonstrates a total ignorance of statistics and reliability. You really can’t make this sh*t up: https://www.checkpointasia.net/americas-new-13-billion-aircraft-carrier-cannot-operate-aircraft/
The year to year increase in the Pentagon budget is greater than the total Russia spends in a year. They are decreasing their budget, and there are strong indications their weapons system may be superior to the Pentagon’s. I think the best way to catch up is to spend exactly what they spend. Then we can take $800 billion/year and spend it on problems that genuinely threaten the American public.
And what does Sultan Erdogan have to say about this??
Okay, let me see if I have this straight… Trump wants to pull out US troops and replace them with some kind of multi-Arab force, which we will pay for and arm, which means we very much still have a ‘presence’ inside Syria. (but Trump can say: “See, I kept a promise to pull US troops out of Syria! Huzzah!”) We have frozen funds to the White Helmets, which we funded with much enthusiasm (and allowed them to carry out false flag chemical attacks to provoke the Syrian Government, the Russians and Iran and maybe a few others). We’re going to use the Kurds (again) to step it up against Turkey. The US cannot define who it supports inside Syria but is prepared to spend lots of US dollars to keep the sh-t storm going. I call that ‘standard US Foreign Policy’. The lack of strategy is perfectly clear! Oh yes, Trump is following the global elitist platform all the way. Any questions? Anyone care for a mint? -DV
I think you’re catching on. “Standard US Foreign Policy” always, always advances the institutional imperatives of the MIC, the 3 Ps: profits (for military contractors), promotions (for military and civilian employees of the Pentagon) and pork (for politicians).
Well put. And those have been the institutional imperatives ever since it became clear that the Allies were going to win World War 2: “How do we keep this gravy train rolling once Hitler and Tojo are gone?”
Yes. What’s more, no other purported objectives are consistently achieved. Certainly not hegemony or even control, since we often end up with a failed state. Oil production almost always goes down when an oil producing country is invaded, and sometimes takes years to recover pre-war production levels. Democracy and human rights? Not even pseudo-leftist R2P hawks really believe that tripe.
If any of those were the true objectives, the policies would be miserable failures. Sane people do not take the same failed actions repeatedly expecting different results “this time.” Therefore, those truly in control know full well that none of the above are the true objectives of US policies, and that the policies are not failures but a huge success. They are not insane, simply depraved psychopaths.
The last time the US spent money it used $500 million to train “4 or 5 soldiers.
The art of rebellion.