October 14, 2019

MARK KARLIN, BUZZFLASH EDITOR’S BLOG

The carnage of the Kurds and the release of ISIS prisoners that Donald Trump has unleashed is being done in our name.

After all, the actions Trump has taken are in the name of the United States — and that is us. We are tarnished with his betrayal of an allied people, the resultant release of high-target ISIS terrorists, the bloodletting that is ongoing and the enabling of an increase in Russian influence in the region.

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Paul Krugman offered three possible reasons (see above) for an unfathomable decision by Trump to let Turkey invade northern Syria. The abominable catastrophe, however, is so disastrous that even Mitch McConnell and other loyal Trump Republicans are searing in their criticism of Trump’s decision to pull US troops out of Syria and give the greenlight to Turkish strongman Erdoğan to slaughter the Kurdish enclave in northern Syria.

Even Trump’s loyal Defense Secretary Mike Esper admitted on Sunday that Turkey “appears to be” committing war crimes. Also on Sunday, The New York Times reported the release of both “high value” Islamic State prisoners and detained ISIS supporters, noting,

Both developments underscored the pandemonium unleashed by President Trump’s sudden decision to order American troops to evacuate part of the Syrian region bordering Turkey.

That allowed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey to order an invasion of Syrian territory controlled by a Kurdish-led militia that was at the center of American-led efforts to contain the Islamic State over the past several years.

Some might call it calculated treason. After all, the action sends a message to the nations of the world that the US cannot be a trusted ally while also endangering lives across the planet and inflaming conflict in the Middle East with the re-activation of ISIS butchers.

Trump, as usual, has been all over the map in trying to explain a decision that profoundly undercuts US national interests and security.

He has implied that the Kurds were not worth protecting because they had not fought at “Normandy.” That made little sense because there was and is no Kurdish nation to have been an ally. Furthermore, many Kurds did fight as individuals with ally units.

As a CNN article fact-checking Trump’s false claim noted, however, is what the Kurds did to help the US control ISIS and keep the Syrian Assad government at bay:

The US never called on the Kurds to aid in the invasion of Normandy or in the war at all. The experts who spoke to CNN did say that every time, however, that the US has asked for Kurdish aid, the Kurds have come.

"When we needed them and when we called upon them, they were ready," Rubin said, asserting that every president since George H.W. Bush has called on the Kurds to help fight a common enemy. "And they were there to answer our call."

The SDF, a Kurdish-led military group including Arab soldiers and backed by US, British and French special forces, defeated ISIS and liberated eastern Syria in March. The SDF said it lost 11,000 "forces, leaders, and fighters" while battling ISIS.

Of course, it goes without saying again that someone who never fought on "our side" in any military capacity is Donald “Bone Spurs” Trump, his nepotistic children, Donald Trump's father and basically his entire family: Chickenhawks one and all, although his sons like to shoot captive game. What a bunch of craven and treasonous grifters.

At first, Trump adopted an anti-endless war stance in explaining why he was removing about 1,000 troops from northern Syria, That explanation did not appear to be credulous because within a few new cycles, the Pentagon announced that 1,800 troops were being deployed to Saudi Arabia to protect the oil fields.

Trump has said that he will apply economic sanctions on Turkey if they become too brutal, but on a Sunday talk show, Trump loyalist Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said there was a hold-up in applying them:

“Given that we’ve already seen — a hundred thousand people reportedly displaced, these ISIS prisoners out, set loose, execution of some of America’s Kurdish allies, what is the holdup? Why don’t you just impose these sanctions?” [John] Karl [of ABC’s “This Week” asked.

“Let me just say this is a complicated, developing situation. You have a NATO ally on one hand fighting against the Kurds who were helping us with the fight against ISIS. We are in daily communications with Turkey, both at the Defense Department, the State Department, on very specific issues. We are ready to go at a moment’s notice to put on sanctions,” Mnuchin replied.

“And as I’ve said, these sanctions could be starting small, they could be maximum pressure which would destroy the Turkish economy,” he said, adding that President Trump is “very focused” on the issue and stressing that events are developing.

It’s a little past the time of monitoring developments when the Turkish invasion has unleashed unfathomable potential terrorism and, according to Trump’s own secretary of defense, has engaged in likely war crimes. Trump’s own dilatory actions indicate that he is both condoning Erdoğan’s reported summary executions and helping out Russia, who have been backing the Assad regime.

Besides which, he’s been playing golf this weekend, not huddling with advisors about the horrifying developments.

In fact, the Kurds, according to The Guardian, have had to look elsewhere for protection:

Kurdish fighters controlling the region would surrender the border towns of Manbij and Kobane to Damascus in a deal brokered by Russia, officials said on Sunday night. [italics inserted by BuzzFlash]

Syrian state media said units from President Bashar al-Assad’s army were moving north to “confront Turkish aggression on Syrian territory.” Unconfirmed reports said the deal between the Kurds and the regime would be extended to apply to the whole of north-east Syria.

That’s right, Russia brokered a deal for the Syrian army to protect the Kurds from the Turks, replacing US soldiers with a military that relies on Russia as its superpower sponsor.

Or as The New York Times headlined its article on the latest development, “America's former Kurdish allies in Syria made a deal with Damascus -- a Washington foe -- after the order to withdraw U.S. forces from northern Syria”:

The deal is a major turning point in the war as the U.S. abruptly abandons years of policy built on collaboration with a Kurdish-led militia to fight the Islamic State and on limiting the influence of Syrian government backers Iran and Russia.

An article by Mark Lippman of the Daily Kos community sheds some light on this, as Lippman found reporting on an Russian, Turkish, Iranian summit in mid-September that included following goals:

4. Discussed the situation in the northeast of Syria, emphasized that security and stability in this region can only be achieved on the basis of respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country and agreed to coordinate their efforts to this end.

5. Rejected in this regard all attempts to create new realities on the ground under the pretext of combating terrorism, including illegitimate self-rule initiatives, and expressed their determination to stand against separatist agendas aimed at undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria as well as threatening the national security of neighboring countries.

Lippman also found this nugget on the Kremlin’s English-Language website. In his speech at the summit, Putin also said:

Naturally, the situation in the northeast of Syria is a source of concern. Problems of security in this area and other parts of Syria should be resolved based exclusively on preserving its sovereignty and territorial integrity. We consider it unacceptable to divide Syria into spheres of influence….

Regarding the presence of the US Armed Forces, it is common knowledge that their presence on Syrian territory is illegal. And we hope that the decision to withdraw US service personnel from Syria, made by President of the United States Donald Trump will be implemented completely.

It sure looks like when Trump was talking about withdrawing troops from northern Syria, Putin was pulling the strings.

Another indicator fhat Trump’s Syria debacle was Trump channeling Putin relates to a UN Security Council resolution calling on Turkey to end its invasion at once. Despite Trump claiming he does not support the brutal Turkish war in Syria, Russia and the United States joined together to veto the resolution:

“We call upon Turkey to cease the unilateral military action….”

The Turkish offensive would create "fertile ground for the resurgence of Da'esh" in a "significant threat to regional, international, and European security", [Jurgen] Schulz [the German UN ambassador] added, referring to an Islamist militant group that is sometimes known as Isis.

It would also "exacerbate civilian suffering and provoke further displacements which will further increase the number of refugees," he said.

All this, a massacre of Kurds, the letting loose of ISIS terrorists and an increase in Russian influence in the region is being done in our name as citizens o the United States.

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