"...That statement is a real head scratcher. The main U.S. operation base in the area is the NATO airbase Incerlik in Turkey. Should the U.S. fly its jets from Incerlik to fight off the Turkish jets over Afrin which also take off from Incerlik? And what about Syrian and Russian air defenses that cover the area? Do the Kurds expect the U.S. to start World War III over their inability to compromise with the Syrian government?
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Is this diplomatic artistry or are these helpless gestures?
U.S. allied Turkish forces invade Syria to kill and "cleanse" U.S. allied Syrian YPG/PKK Kurds in Afrin. The Trump administration immediately steps in to assure the respective allies of its continued support:
---
Is this diplomatic artistry or are these helpless gestures?
U.S. allied Turkish forces invade Syria to kill and "cleanse" U.S. allied Syrian YPG/PKK Kurds in Afrin. The Trump administration immediately steps in to assure the respective allies of its continued support:
- Today the Deputy Secretary General of NATO, the U.S. diplomat Rose Gottemoeller, visited Ankara to tell the Turkish allies that everything is fine. The U.S. will stand with them.
- Today Commander of U.S. Central Command General Votel and U.S. Diplomat Brett McGurk visited Kobane to tell their Syrian YPG/PKK allies that everything is fine. The U.S. will stand with them.
My hunch is that despite these visits neither the Turks nor the Kurds were happy with their U.S. allies."...
''... On 18 August last, Brett McGurk offered a friendly reception to the leaders of Daesh, although officially, the United States was preparing to crush the jihadist organisation.The project of the Syrian Border Security Force has a lot to say about the sincerity of the YPG militia, which professes the gentle anarchy of Murray Boochkin, but which, without hesitation, are ready to form a single unit with the killers of Daesh under US command.
Contrary to appearances, the Turkish attack on Afrine, and probably soon on Mambij, was approved on 8 and 19 January by the Russian military staff, which was alerted by the number 2 of the régime and head of the secret services, the director of the MIT (Milli İstihbarat Teşkilatı), Hakan Fidan, who journeyed specially to Moscow for this reason. The attack was facilitated by the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from the combat zone.
Identically, Turkey informed Syria of the attack in writing, even if Damascus claimed that it had not received the letter.
President el-Assad, who can not place his country in confrontation with the United States in order to stop the recycling of the jihadists, left Turkey, a member of NATO, to deal with it...."
Thierry Meyssan: US secrets, lies and confusion in northern Syria (with Operation Olive Branch Updates)
© Ahmad Abdo/Agence France-Presse
US presidential envoy Brett McGurk
US presidential envoy Brett McGurk
The denial expressed on 17 January by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson concerning the declarations of the commander-in-chief of CentCom, General Joseph Votel, on 23 December, and of the spokesman of the anti-Daesh Coalition, Colonel Thomas Veale, on 13 January, has sowed confusion.
The denial did not satisfy Turkey who, after having warned the US Chargé d'Affaires, Philip Kosnett, on the 10 January, and on 13 January, began preparing military operations in Afrine and Manbij, effectively launched them on 20 January.
Contrary to the declarations proffered by various participants, the US programme was not intended to create a sovereign, independent State in the North of Syria - that is the French plan - but a non-recognised State, like the Puntland State of Somalia or the Iraqi Kurdistan. The latter structure is absolutely independent, and despite the Iraqi Constitution, does not respond to orders from Iraq, of which it is nonetheless a part. Iraqi Kurdistan also has its own embassies abroad.
The Syrian Border Security Force should officially be composed of 30,000 men, half of whom should be ex-Democratic Syrian Forces. These combatants should receive three weeks of training in interrogation techniques and biometric scanning. 230 cadets have already followed this course.
In practice, the other half should be composed of 15,000 ex-jihadists from Daesh who would thus be discretely recycled.
In reality, President Trump's special representative to the Coalition, Brett McGurk, was the lawyer who participated, alongside John Negroponte and Colonel James Steele, in the creation of the Islamic Emirate in Iraq in 2006. With Colonel James Coffman, he was tasked with giving President George Bush an account of this secret operation, which was intended to combat the Iraqi resistance to the occupation by dividing their forces into Sunnis and Chiites, and artificially creating a civil war.
After a passage at Harvard, Brett McGurk was re-assigned to the State Department under John Kerry. He helped with transforming the Islamic Emirate in Iraq into Daesh, and co-organised the preparatory meeting for the jihadist invasion of Iraq, on 27 May 2014 in Amman. He reorganised Iraq, then trained the International Coalition which was tasked with fighting ... Daesh.
A good student, McGurk agreed to serve President Trump in order to get rid of the jihadist organisation that he had himself created, and some of whose members he is now attempting to recycle.
On 18 August last, Brett McGurk offered a friendly reception to the leaders of Daesh, although officially, the United States was preparing to crush the jihadist organisation.
Contrary to appearances, the Turkish attack on Afrine, and probably soon on Mambij, was approved on 8 and 19 January by the Russian military staff, which was alerted by the number 2 of the régime and head of the secret services, the director of the MIT (Milli İstihbarat Teşkilatı), Hakan Fidan, who journeyed specially to Moscow for this reason. The attack was facilitated by the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from the combat zone.
Identically, Turkey informed Syria of the attack in writing, even if Damascus claimed that it had not received the letter.
President el-Assad, who can not place his country in confrontation with the United States in order to stop the recycling of the jihadists, left Turkey, a member of NATO, to deal with it.
President Trump had not been informed about the Votel-McGurk plan. The Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, confirmed to his men the instructions of the White House concerning the jihadists. However, Votel and McGurk are still in place.
Translation
Pete Kimberley
Source
Al-Watan (Syria)
Comment: It's the State Department/Pentagon conflict from the Obama admin all over again, it seems. See SOTT's discussion of the dynamics behind the recent Turkish op in Syria here: Behind the Headlines: Turkey Launches Military Operation Against Syrian Kurdish 'Rebels'
Meanwhile, here's what's been going on in northern Syria since yesterday: the UN is preparing a large-scale humanitarian operation for Afrin. Despite claims from Kurdish sources of multiple Turkish casualties, the Turks announced they experienced their first combat death yesterday: a serviceman was killed in Gulbaba village in Kilis province. A second soldier was reportedly killed today. The Turkish opposition party CHP expressed their support for the military operation, calling it "inevitable".
The SDF countered the Turks' claim to have progressed 8 km into Syrian territory, saying it's "fake news". YPG say they drove Turkish-backed FSA forces out of Bulbul, close to the border with Turkey. Sputnik has shared photos of FSA fighters in Afrin. After capturing the al-Sheikh Khurz hill near Afrin city (along with capturing several Kurdish fighters). YPG reportedly conducted a counteroffensive, retaking the hill.
Turkish FM Cavusoglu said he believes the future of relations with the U.S. will depend on how the U.S. deals with the current situation. The U.S., via Tillerson, says they are "engaged with Turkey" on the operation, asking both sides to "show restraint" and "minimize the impact on civilian casualties". The U.S. wants to "work together to address Turkey's legitimate security concerns in a way that's satisfactory to Turkey". Meanwhile, Mattis "urged restraint", saying the Turkish op "distracts from the international effort to defeat Daesh".
Moon of Alabama shared these two gems today:
The delusions the Syrian YPG/PKK Kurds have of their position is truly amazing:[Sinam Mohamad, a senior official in the YPG-backed Syrian Kurdish administration in northern Syria and] currently in Washington with fellow Syrian Kurdish representative Nobahar Mustafa, said the Syrian Kurdish people expected the United States to declare a no-fly zone over the Kurdish-controlled north, "including Afrin." Mustafa, who was present at the interview, concurred that Afrin "presents a very real and immediate test of US commitment to their Kurdish partners." The United States "must and can stop Turkey," Mustafa said.That statement is a real head scratcher. The main U.S. operation base in the area is the NATO airbase Incerlik in Turkey. Should the U.S. fly its jets from Incerlik to fight off the Turkish jets over Afrin which also take off from Incerlik? And what about Syrian and Russian air defenses that cover the area? Do the Kurds expect the U.S. to start World War III over their inability to compromise with the Syrian government?
---
Is this diplomatic artistry or are these helpless gestures?
U.S. allied Turkish forces invade Syria to kill and "cleanse" U.S. allied Syrian YPG/PKK Kurds in Afrin. The Trump administration immediately steps in to assure the respective allies of its continued support:The U.S. also called on 'both sides for restraint' after Turkey attacks Afrin.
- Today the Deputy Secretary General of NATO, the U.S. diplomat Rose Gottemoeller, visited Ankara to tell the Turkish allies that everything is fine. The U.S. will stand with them.
- Today Commander of U.S. Central Command General Votel and U.S. Diplomat Brett McGurk visited Kobane to tell their Syrian YPG/PKK allies that everything is fine. The U.S. will stand with them.
My hunch is that despite these visits neither the Turks nor the Kurds were happy with their U.S. allies.
https://sott.net/en375035