More problems for the Middle East.. Kurds beware !

a reply to: ufoorbhunter

Kurds aren't united at all. Just consider that there are differences between YPG, PRD, PKK, KRG & KDP. The faction of Barzani is the one that is in bed with the 'Good terrorists' of the coalition looking for leadership change in Syria. He is 'useful' to some for some time ...

Current events: Turkey is moving Turkish troops (regular troops, not rebel proxy fighters) into Rebel-held areas on the border with Kurdish areas. It is very clear that they intend to lay the smack down on the Kurdish region in the NW corner of Syria. Soon.

Expect the US media to completely ignore this. I don't think the Kurds realize that, as far as the West/US is concerned, they're just mercenaries who are being hired to help get rid of ISIS. Once that is done, the West isn't going to stick around to help defend them from their neighbors.

a reply to: pavil
They have not been fighting alone, and the Chaldean folks were getting genocided in wholesale by whatever the heck IS actually is and not what is sold to us. They have plenty of skin in this fight.

I'm not against Kurdish homeland. Its just an expansion of Israel. And history shows that what is good for Israel is good for the USA. I like what is good for the USA, so I have to just accept these foreign policy actions as the cost of my good living here half a world away. I guess I kind of have gotten over the moral dilemma part of our foreign policy and just hope our guys win it for us, whoever they may be


a reply to: theultimatebelgianjoke
yes, actually both sides of congress have vocalized an illustrated support, and the Sertary of State has confirmed it with double speak as far as I am concerned. Not to mention that we now essentially have at minimum a standing army of 50,000+ just in Rojava (Syrian Kurdistan) who got a nice beefed up heavy weapons package delivered throughout the year. They now have the manpower and the weapons to hold their borders. That cannot be possible if the US did not support this together with Israel. Rex Tillerson is our plug to the entire Kurdish government in Iraq, and many of these deals were inked by himself during his tennure at ExxonMobile starting in 2011.

a reply to: AndyFromMichigan
The US is heavily vested in the Kurds. We have essentially subsidized an entire military force to maintain those borders and given them the weapons they need to defend against their equally armed rivals as outlined previously. The only thing they lack now is an air force. I suspect they have a handful of air defense systems, but outside of possibly a handful of manpad's, I don't think any sophisticated AA systems were approved by Congress.

Breaking news: Iraqi troops are moving into the city of Kirkuk (recently liberated from ISIS) to push Kurdish troops out again. There has been some fighting and casualties. There has also been movement around Mosul to push back Kurdish lines.

It's like I said: the powers that be will not tolerate a Kurdish state. Turkey has moved troops to stop them in NW Syria, and you can expect Syrian forces (with Russian and Iranian help) to make similar moves in the near future. In eastern Syria, the Kurds have pushed far south of their traditional lands in an effort to claim some oil fields, but the overwhelming likelyhood is this will not be allowed to stand. The US will whine, but in terms of real military power there isn't a hell of a lot we can or will do to stop them. Everyone knows that, outside of a handful of special forces troops, no US boots will ever set foot in Syria.

a reply to: AndyFromMichigan
Kind of like how Jordan, Egypt, SA, and others invaded Israel, some of which we were also friend with at the time. I hope you understand the parallels, and that against overwhelming odds Israel survived, expanded, and continues to expand today.


What you are seeing right now, with Kurdistan, is literally a repeat of Israel's creation. Like almost to the T. Frenemies threating the borders with violence and invasion. Overwhelming odds, support by the US ....


I have a feeling you and I both know Kurdistan is a reality we will all have to come to terms with.

Well now, this is an interesting developement:

US-Backed Syrian Kurds Transfer Key Gas Field To Russians After Secret Talks

In a move that surprised many observers of the ongoing war for Deir Ezzor province, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) handed over one of Syria's largest gas fields to Russian forces on Thursday, possibly as the result of unprecedented direct talks between high ranking Russian officials and Kurdish leaders in Qamishli in northeastern Syria.

....

Beirut-based al-Masdar News broke the story based on Syrian military sources:

The information, disseminated by Syrian military reports, claims that an agreement has been brokered between Russia and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces whereby the Syrian government will be allowed to assume control over the gas field.

This backs up something odd I spotted on the Syria Liveuamap yesterday: A Russian "reconnaissance unit" was spotted inside Kurdish-held territory, at about this location.

Hmmm.... I wonder if the Syrian Kurds' leaders can see the writing on the wall, and realize that they aren't going to be allowed to set up an independent state. So, they're taking the rout of patching things up with the Syrian government. Which really shouldn't be too hard. As I mentioned before, there has been little fighting between the Kurds and the Syrian army.

I guess we'll have to see how this plays out in the coming days/weeks.