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Why the US needs the Kurds in Syria

Since 2012 the U.S. has tried to put their feet in Syria. The CIA and the State Department had different ideas on how to approach the escalating conflict, and they pursued different paths. Nonetheless as the situation  evolved from a failed revolution to civil war, the U.S. didn’t have a reliable partner on the ground.

In 2014 the program “train and equip” was officialized by Congress and financed with $500 millions. The idea was to bring to Turkey some Free Syrian Army soldiers to train them and then bring them back to Syria. Each candidate, before entering the program, had to pass through a screening process. Most of the applicants were rejected because their ties with Islamic extremism or terrorism.

The American and Turkish trained rebels were defeated, kidnapped, and defected to more radical groups on the ground such as Al Nusra. None of the over 100 fighters trained was able to gain back territory from ISIS.

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Turkey ready to intervene in Syria?

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Although first reports could look suspiciously biased, several sources on the ground said the same thing: Turkish soldiers  are entering Jarablus, Northern Syria.

And it is a big deal.

Jarablus, currently in ISIS hands, is exactly across the border from Turkey. Next to the town, on the East, the Euphrates river. On the other side of the river SDF — Syrian Democratic Forces — were planning to advance and unify Rojava — the Kurdish controlled area — with Afrin and therefore control all the north border of Syria with Turkey.

Besides ISIS, the Kurds have also encountered political (and some more) resistance  to this  “independence” dream.

Turkey is the first opponent to this project, as the Kurds in Turkey will make more claims on an autonomous region. The President Recep  Erdogan pushed with the anti-ISIS International coalition for a buffer zone, 40-mile wide, 68-mile-long, west  of the Euphrates. And he made a deal with the United States about it, or so reported the Washington Post.  The area  would potentially haven to the estimated over 2 millions of Syrians who have crossed the border . And of course, it will end the unification dream of Rojava.

The deal was reached in July. Since then a lot have changed on the ground.

On October 30, 2015, Russia started an airstrike campaign aiding the Bashar al-Assad and the regime, Turkey’s enemy. On November 24, Turkey shot down a jet that invaded its airspace for 16 seconds, creating a deep friction amongst the two countries. Moscow accused Turkey to aid ISIS. Erdogan denied.

Turkey grew more and more isolated and found itself to be fragile. The government had to start facing great internal problems: the end of the ceasefire with the PKK, the uprising of the southern cities, mainly populated by Kurds, and the latest suicide bomber in Istanbul, killing 10 tourists.

In the meantime the United States ally with the SDF, which is mainly composed by the YPG — the Kurdish militia of Rojava — and some FSA units, Christian and Armenian militias. The plan pushed by the US is to cut off ISIS supply routes pushing from the newly conquered Tischrin Dam on the west and from Hasakah province, where the US took control of an airfield. The plan is then to try and take Raqqa, the de-facto capital of the Islamic State.

The creation of the buffer zone might disrupt this plan. Although they strongly deny this possibility using mainly military and strength logic, Kurds might start fighting Turkey on Syrian soil.

In any case, this area will not be possible without Russian agreement, which bombing campaign has hit the area several times.

As for what is happening on the ground, witness say Turkish troops entered Jarablus, while “ISIS was all unresponsive to the activity of Turkish soldiers.” Too soon to understand if this is actually happening. #StayTuned

 

The female fighters who are killing ISIS

When talking about women on the frontlines there are always a lot of misconceptions. In the past year women fighters in Syria and Iraq have been praised by the Western media, but the reality is that the Kurds are not a monolithic people and they are divided in many different groups. Amongst those, women have different roles and they are not all in combat. I have tried to explain the differences in an article for War is Boring.

A couple of weeks ago Reuters opinion editor, Jason Fields, and War is Boring editor, Matthew Gault, called me on their podcast War College, to discuss the issue.

What kind of lives they have? What are they fighting for?  Those are amongst the questions they posed me. So if you have similar queries you should definitely listen to this!

Obama calling on Muslim communities to deal with ISIS

For the third times since he became president, Barack Obama addressed the nation on a Sunday evening. For Americans is a big deal. In his speech he talked about terrorism and the latest attack on San Bernardino. Many commentators believe that it was a way to reassure the public,which in less than a year will have to elect their new Commander in Chief.

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“The threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it,” Obama said.

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