Years Of U.S. Government Lies Could Soon Result In A Kurdish Massacre
American officials designed that fiction to enable the anti-ISIS strategy adopted under President Barack Obama and continued under  President Donald Trump . Now itâs taking its most serious toll yet: Turkey is bombarding Afrin  a Kurdish enclave in northwest Syria  with airstrikes and artillery fire and the U.S. is refusing responsibility. Extending the Obama-era logic  team  Trump  maintains that Afrin is totally distinct from the Kurdish regions in Syriaâs northeast that are home to American bases and thousands of U.S. troops.
Dozens of civilians have died in the campaignâs initial assault on smaller villages around the main city. Over a million more are at risk  as are Turkish civilians facing rockets in response. And  Trump âs choice has boosted bitterness toward the U.S. among Washingtonâs most effective partners in Syria. In the weeks ahead  it could torpedo U.S.-brokered cooperation between Kurds and the countryâs majority Arab community  tempting more Arabs to join radical groups like the powerful local al Qaeda affiliate or whatâs left of ISIS; escalate an already dire humanitarian crisis; and cede more space in Syria to actors  Trump  is ostensibly committed to challenging â Russia  Iran and the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Thereâs little clear benefit to the U.S. in return.
Its most serious move so far was an apparently harsh call between Erdogan and  Trump  on Jan. 24. The readout said  Trump  repeatedly praised the U.S.-Turkey partnership but warned that Erdogan was proceeding down a path that could result in âconflict between Turkish and American forces.â
âMy general sense on Afrin is that it shows the dysfunction of  Trump âs national security process â Colin Kahl  one of the top Obama-era officials managing the relationship with Turkey  wrote in an email this week to HuffPost.
He pointed out that the administration set the stage for the clash by  Trump  first telling Erdogan  in November  that the U.S. would cut off heavy weapons to the YPG  and officials then talking about an extended U.S. presence alongside the YPG-dominated forces less than two months later.
American officials designed that fiction to enable the anti-ISIS strategy adopted under President Barack Obama and continued under  [TGT]  . Now itâs taking its most serious toll yet: Turkey is bombarding Afrin  a Kurdish enclave in northwest Syria  with airstrikes and artillery fire and the U.S. is refusing responsibility. Extending the Obama-era logic  team   [TGT] maintains that Afrin is totally distinct from the Kurdish regions in Syriaâs northeast that are home to American bases and thousands of U.S. troops.
Dozens of civilians have died in the campaignâs initial assault on smaller villages around the main city. Over a million more are at risk  as are Turkish civilians facing rockets in response. And  Trump âs choice has boosted bitterness toward the U.S. among Washingtonâs most effective partners in Syria. In the weeks ahead  it could torpedo U.S.-brokered cooperation between Kurds and the countryâs majority Arab community  tempting more Arabs to join radical groups like the powerful local al Qaeda affiliate or whatâs left of ISIS; escalate an already dire humanitarian crisis; and cede more space in Syria to actors  Trump  is ostensibly committed to challenging â Russia  Iran and the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Thereâs little clear benefit to the U.S. in return.
Its most serious move so far was an apparently harsh call between Erdogan and  Trump  on Jan. 24. The readout said  Trump  repeatedly praised the U.S.-Turkey partnership but warned that Erdogan was proceeding down a path that could result in âconflict between Turkish and American forces.â
âMy general sense on Afrin is that it shows the dysfunction of  Trump âs national security process â Colin Kahl  one of the top Obama-era officials managing the relationship with Turkey  wrote in an email this week to HuffPost.
He pointed out that the administration set the stage for the clash by  Trump  first telling Erdogan  in November  that the U.S. would cut off heavy weapons to the YPG  and officials then talking about an extended U.S. presence alongside the YPG-dominated forces less than two months later.