10/11/19
The United States of America, year by year, give out money and troops to allies who need humanitarian aid or war assistance. A close ally of the United States are the Kurds, in Syria. The Kurds are an ethnic group who make up about a 4th of the Middle East. Given the Kurds and the United States together took down a majority of ISIS, you would believe the United States would continue to help out our close ally.
While in the mists of a war for independence from turkey, the Kurds also have tens of thousands of ISIS soldiers captured. After news that some ISIS members had escaped, president trump believed the Kurds were doing this on purpose, so he spoke with the president of Turkey, eventually removing his troops from Syria, within weeks of this withdrawal, the Turkish Army attacked the unstable boarder of Syria, freeing hundreds of radicalized ISIS members. “Kurdish authorities have reported the escape of hundreds of ISIS family members from a camp in northern Syria, and warned that ISIS militants held in prisons could be next to go if fighting with Turkish forces continues to escalate.” (FULL ARTICLE)This fear that Kurds and Americans in Syria could be killed by ISIS members is very scary.
This whole situation is kind of confusing, this quote should help explain ( FULL ARTICLE) “The situation is deeply complicated. Turkey has launched an invasion against Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, who were the primary American ally in Syria against the Islamic State and who control northern Syria. Turkey has been fighting separatist Kurds inside its borders and considers the Syrian Kurds terrorists”. The Islamic state and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have been in conflict within Syria for some time now. The president of the United States, previously allies with the Kurds, continue to let Kurds die and allow ISIS member to escape. On another note, Trump has business interests in Turkey including a Trump Tower - many critics believe he did was he thought was in his best business interest versus proper American foreign policy that was in best interest of our country. Is this justice? Do we strive to democracy or tyranny? Why are we leading the Kurds to genocide?
The Kurdish and Turkish conflict is nothing new, with conflicts going back to about 1978 where Kurds banded into the PKK to fight ethnic suppression of Kurds. The conflict between the Turkish and the Kurds has always been simmering and Turkey has constantly been condemned for their war crimes against the Kurdish. Seeing that this is not a new conflict, I would say the question Trump is asking is if we get involved in yet another conflict in the Middle East, where do we draw the line? The conflicts in both Iraq and Afghanistan has cost America 2.7 trillion as of 2017 and as a businessman, no mater the moral reason, Trump sees a loss next to the Middle Eastern conflicts.
ReplyDeleteNice post, Shane -- this is a big story right now. You link some great articles, too.
ReplyDeleteA few suggestions: try to simplify your post so that it's easier for your reader to follow the issue. In addition, make sure your initial image loads.
Thanks Shane, this is the first time I have read in depth about this conflict, though I have heard things 'hear and there' I never truly understood the complexity of the situation in Syria. I think Trump's decision to remove US protection from the Kurds was ill-advised, however, I do feel it is important to be conscious of US involvement. I don't feel like it is the US's responsibility to interfere with the war between Turkey and the Kurds and it is important that we concentrate our efforts and funds on domestic issues. Thanks for the post, I feel I am much better informed on this conflict.
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