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This agreement hands Turkey’s Erdogan everything he wanted when his military launched the Trump green-lit assault on the Kurds: The banishment of Syrian Kurds from the border and the removal of the showy and phony Trump threat of sanctions on Turkey’s economy.
Our U.S. troops retreated from Syria; Islamic State will most likely resurge; a humanitarian crisis was caused; tens of thousands of people were uprooted from their homes; and dozens were killed in battles, on both sides of the border.
The agreement lets Turkey off the hook for slaughtering innocent civilians and the Kurdish troops who fought alongside American soldiers against ISIS and it does nothing to recapture the hundreds of ISIS soldiers who have already escaped from Kurdish-held prisons.
The Kurds have lost their homeland and many of their citizens, and had to go crawling back to Assad. Turkey got their cleansing with their eviction.
Russia has taken over as "peace brokers" in the area.. Our USA had to bomb our own barracks so the Russians would stop posting photos of their Coke machines on social media. Our inept & ignorant 'I know everything" POTUS/Trump was handled and mugged. And we the people and our allies will pay the price, for his incompetency, yet again.
The only winners: Erdogan, Syria's Assad, Putin & Russia. Probably Iran too.
All roads from Trump's administration lead to Russia.
Last edited by corpgypsy; 10-20-2019 at 09:01 AM..
The current ceasefire only covers the areas between Ras al-Ayn (largely Kurdish) and Tal Tmar (heavily Arab), both border towns. There appears to be some dispute between the SDF and Turkey about the geographical area covered by the Pence Statement. The SDF announced it is committed only to the US version not to the Turkish version. Turkey announced that fighting will resume on Tuesday unless the Kurds withdraw from the entire border area from the Euphrates River to the Iraqi border.
Per earlier, SDF General Mazloum Kobani Abdi is reported to be trying to meet in Washington with U.S. officials outside the Trump Administration.
Until recently, fighting continued in Ras al-Ayn. The SDF alleged the Turkish-allied militia continued to press forward peventing their withdrawal from the area. There were numerous reported clashes. Turkey has now announced it opened safe-exit corridors on Sunday with defined geographical coordinates. SDF convoys are beginning to leave Ras al-Ayn. Some reports are the Kurdish civilian population is also expected to vacate Ras al-Ayn with Trump just now tweeting: New areas being resettled with Kurds. Hundreds of thousands displaced.
Turkey is calling for Syria to also exit the border zone. Syria appears to have “won” the race to hold key towns, including Kobane and Manbij. Turkey announced it will maintain its foothold in Syria until Assad agrees to hold national elections - a virtual impossibility since Assad could not maintain power following a legitimate election. The extremist militia groups that Turkey moved into these border areas last week are themselves rebels committed to the overthrow of Assad.
Erdogan and Putin meet in Sochi on Tuesday.
Last edited by EveryLady; 10-20-2019 at 11:06 AM..
One good thing for the trumpsters. At least Trump was able to save his Trump Towers Istanbul. It may have cost a few lives but those were Kurds and Trump says the Kurds are happy now. Trump says they have been fighting for centuries over there. Trump said it's like two kids fighting in the park. You let them go and just pull them apart. However, Trump's actions have caused the US to be complicit with Turkey in the eradication of more than 2 million Kurds. These people fought alongside US troops in the battle to rid ISIS and lost more than 100,000 of their own. Trump, a draft-dodging coward, has made the US a coward like himself. No country will ever trust the US again. US veterans are shamed by Trump's self-serving stupidity.
Trump brought the troops home. Well, not quite, you know what it costs to fly these days and Trump sent the troops to Iraq instead of the US. That's our president always looking after our best interests.
Be proud trumpster, your leader has done what no one else could do. Go out into the street and proudly show your bone spurs and the yellow that runs up Trump's back. No one can defend the cowardly act of desertion.
This video describes the damage done by Trump. Let me add, Trump just may have initiated WWIII.
Trump brought the troops home. Well, not quite, you know what it costs to fly these days and Trump sent the troops to Iraq instead of the US. That's our president always looking after our best interests.
Not only are the troops that were supporting the Kurds now going to Iraq ... they will be undertaking some sort of ISIS-oriented operation:
"Amid growing chaos after Turkey invaded the region earlier this month, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said late Saturday that all of the nearly 1,000 U.S. troops pulling out of northern Syria will now head to western Iraq to continue the campaign against Islamic State militants." https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/u...esper-n1069086
This after abandoning then bombing the U.S. bases on the Syrian side of the border.
U.S troops remain on the ground with some numbers of ISIS militants released (per the Pentagon, and other reports) and the status of thousands more now uncertain.
Putin said the other day he's very concerned. No one except Trump believes in Erdogan much less the militant Syrian National Army that Turkey unleashed after Erdogan's phone call to the White House.
We can all see by now that Trump does Putin’s bidding. Wonder what is in it for Trump? It’s about time our president works for the people of the United States. Trump seems to work for his and his kids benefit. Then he talks about Biden’s boy. How about looking at your own corrupt kids trump?
The SDF announced tonight it completed the withdrawal from Ras al-Ayn; no YPG fighters remain. Unknown numbers of civilians also fled the town with a total of 160,000 to 250,000 (depending on the source) now displaced across the area.
I'd say this latest Trump Military order via tweet, throwing the Kurds under the bus, is the equivalence to "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody" and not "lose any voters."".
I'd say this latest Trump Military order via tweet, throwing the Turks under the bus, is the equivalence to "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody" and not "lose any voters."".
Dare I say, Much worse?
Much, Much worse.
Trump tweeted this afternoon:
"The ceasefire is holding up very nicely. There are some minor skirmishes that have ended quickly. New areas being resettled with Kurds. U.S. soldiers are not in combat or ceasefire zone. We have secured the Oil." Mark Esper [first spelled Esperanto then corrected], Secretary of defense. Ending endless wars!
Petraeus today called Trump's 'resettlement' of so-far hundreds of thousands of Kurds "ethnic displacement." Trump may be congratulating himself on the resettlement but he's had second thoughts about the OIL with this tonight:
"President Trump is leaning in favor of a new Pentagon plan to keep a small contingent of American troops in eastern Syria, perhaps numbering about 200, to combat the Islamic State and block the advance of Syrian government and Russian forces into the region’s coveted oil fields, a senior administration official said on Sunday." https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/20/w...ia-turkey.html
"The ceasefire is holding up very nicely. There are some minor skirmishes that have ended quickly. New areas being resettled with Kurds. U.S. soldiers are not in combat or ceasefire zone. We have secured the Oil." Mark Esper [first spelled Esperanto then corrected], Secretary of defense. Ending endless wars!
Petraeus today called Trump's 'resettlement' of so-far hundreds of thousands of Kurds "ethnic displacement." Trump may be congratulating himself on the resettlement but he's had second thoughts about the OIL with this tonight:
"President Trump is leaning in favor of a new Pentagon plan to keep a small contingent of American troops in eastern Syria, perhaps numbering about 200, to combat the Islamic State and block the advance of Syrian government and Russian forces into the region’s coveted oil fields, a senior administration official said on Sunday." https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/20/w...ia-turkey.html
Figures. Where there's liquid assets to be had, Trump will hang on to them no matter what he say's.
Oh, And I wrote "Throw the Turks"......when it should have been "Throw the Kurds under the bus."
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Hundreds of thousands displaced. 
