Pullback Leaves Green Berets Feeling ‘Ashamed,’ and Kurdish Allies Describing ‘Betrayal’
“They trusted us and we broke that trust,” one Army officer who has worked alongside the Kurds in northern Syria said last week in a telephone interview. “It’s a stain on the American conscience.”
“I’m ashamed,” said another officer who had also served in northern Syria. Both officers spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid reprisals from their chains of command.
And the response from the Kurds themselves was just as stark. “The worst thing in military logic and comrades in the trench is betrayal,” said Shervan Darwish, an official allied with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces
https://www.richmond.com/nyt/international/pullback-leaves-green-berets-feeling-ashamed-and-kurdish-allies-describing/article_0a8d1fb4-46da-5816-84fa-9099b005522a.html
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Two U.S. Special Forces veterans have spoken out publicly about what they view as a betrayal of our Kurdish allies in the Middle East, by abandoning them in Syria with President Trump's abrupt policy decision to withdraw American troops out of Syria to Western Iraq.
Mark Giaconia and Greg Walker both served with the Kurds early on during America's second jaunt into Iraq, dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom. Giaconia participated in the joint CIA-Special Forces Operation called Viking Hammer in Northern Iraq which took down the Ansar al-Islam terrorist group by working hand in glove with Kurdish partner forces.
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The head of the US military's Central Command, Gen Joseph Votel, said in February that it was necessary to maintain "a vigilant offensive against the now largely dispersed and disaggregated [IS] that retains leaders, fighters, facilitators, resources and the profane ideology that fuels their efforts".https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-45547595
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We warned two weeks ago about the danger of abandoning America’s Kurdish-led partner force in Syria, even as thousands of suspected ISIS fighters remain in detention and ISIS attacks steadily increase. This week, with a U.S. withdrawal from northern Syria well under way, and after days of a Turkish assault on the region that’s now supposedly paused despite reports of serious cease-fire violations, we’re facing a new set of problems. Today, though, the U.S. has far less control over what happens—and the continued fighting and uncertainty will benefit ISIS and ISIS alone.
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/10/turkey-kurds-syria-trump/600388/
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James Mattis On Trump’s Syria Withdrawal: ‘Re-Instilling Trust Is Going To Be Very Difficult’
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America forsakes Syria’s Kurds in a ceasefire deal with TurkeyPresident Recep Tayyip Erdogan got nearly everything he wanted
https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2019/10/18/america-forsakes-syrias-kurds-in-a-ceasefire-deal-with-turkey_____________________________
McMaster calls Trump's Syria decision 'unfortunate'
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/465265-mcmaster-calls-trumps-decision-to-pull-back-from-northeast-syria-unfortunate
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So has America betrayed Syria's Kurds? Yeah, more or less. But when the dust settles, and the handwringing stops, we should have an honest conversation about how to avoid another inevitable betrayal of our next ally of convenience.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-east-watch/america-was-always-going-dump-kurds-90401
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Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Russian President Vladimir Putin is "kicking his heels" at the good fortune President Trump has brought to him.
"I never have understood this strange deference to Putin that our president displays. And obviously has influence on him.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2019/10/22/clapper_pelosi_right_all_roads_lead_to_putin_trump_talks_to_autocrats_to_get_more_appealing_narrative.html
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The Syrian Kurds lost 11,000 fighters in the U.S.-led campaign to defeat the Islamic State. They agreed not to negotiate with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. And in the weeks leading up to Turkey’s Oct. 9 invasion of northern Syria, they dismantled their defenses along the Turkish border.
So it came as a shock to Ilham Ahmed, the president of executive committee of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), when U.S. President Donald Trump stepped aside as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan began a bloody incursion into northern Syria, a campaign that, according to Ahmed, has so far killed at least 250 Kurds, including a large number of children, and forced 300,000 to flee their ancestral homes. Another 300 people have disappeared.
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On Tuesday, Putin and Erdogan held lengthy talks in Russia’s resort of Sochi, coming up with an agreement regarding northeast Syria. As a result of the deal, Turkish military incursion dubbed ‘Operation Peace Spring’ has effectively come to an end, while Syrian troops and Russian military police are set to deploy to much of the Syrian-Turkish border. Kurdish-led militias – which Ankara believes to have strong ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – are to be fully withdrawn from a 30-km strip along the border.
https://www.rt.com/news/471674-kurds-abdi-shoigu-russia-thanks/
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JAMES MATTIS WARN TRUMP: ISIS ALREADY RISING IN SYRIA, DON'T ABANDON KURDS
https://www.newsweek.com/isis-resurgence-adam-schiff-warning-james-mattis-syria-us-troops-withdrawal-kurds-turkey-1464898_____________________________
Former SOCOM commander McRaven latest former military leader to blast Trump over Syria
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The Kurdistan Region: Strategic U.S. Ally in a Tough Neighborhood is a Special Report prepared by The Washington Times Advocacy Department.
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Retired US Marine: ‘Peshmerga fighting capability impressive’
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Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the leading critics of President Trump's drawdown of U.S. troops from Syria, has a message for Mr. Trump, which he delivered from the Senate Thursday.
"If you continue on the course you're on, you will have brought a lot of damage to the nation, you'll abandon a valuable ally, set in motion the re-emergence of ISIS, and Mr. President, as much as I like you and want to work with you, I am going to be consistent," he said, quietly adding, "I will hold you accountable."
Betrayed yet again, the Kurds need our support
Frances O’Grady says Trump’s behaviour over Syria should be a cautionary tale, Ken Webb points out that America has betrayed Kurdish people before, DBC Reed recalls how they were cheated out of their homeland after the first world war, and Trevor Watkins says the ‘safe zone’ in Syria is anything bLetters
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Trump channels ‘America invades for oil’ meme as he says some troops will stay in Syria to ‘protect’ it
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McConnell introduces resolution opposing US withdrawal from Syria
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/22/politics/mitch-mcconnell-resolution-syria-troops/index.html________________________
Sen. Duckworth: With Syria drawdown, Donald Trump turns his back on America's credibility
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