US Military Pullout from Syria: Declaring Victory To Hide Near Total Defeat – 3 – In Its Own “Humanitarian Intervention, Syrian Government Troops (the Assad Government) Enter Manbij in an effort to derail a Turkish Invasion of Northern Syria…
December 28, 2018
Syria…
Symbolic move or something more serious on the part of the Assad government? Where are all those voices whining about “humanitarian intervention” now that it is the Syrian government intervening to protect its own people?
There are reports beginning to come out that the Syrian Army (of the central government, the Assad Government) has entered Manbij – the region of Syria that Turkey is poised to invade and occupy – in an effort to torpedo a Turkish invasion, and to protect its Kurdish citizens from Turkish anti-Kurdish wrath.
It could frustrate U.S.-Turkish on-going plans to partition Syria; no doubt it will be hailed throughout Syria as valiant attempt to maintain Syrian sovereignty and that Syria is not a place to be cynically carved up by foreign powers making backroom deals.
Syria does not need the presence of U.S. military forces to protect its own people, it can do so itself. US troops remaining in Syria has always been not about protecting Kurds but to further U.S. geopolitical goals – put pressure on Iran, block Iranian-Syrian cooperation and to continue in its long held goal to partition the country either de facto or de jure…
The Syrian national army’s entry into Manbij complicates what was essentially a US-Turkish deal that included a U.S. military withdrawal from Syrian territories east of the Euphrates, throws a monkey wrench in the Turkish invasion plans although it is not clear if Turkey will proceed with its invasion. If Erdogan does proceed all indications are that the Turkish military will be fighting Syrian troops defending the national integrity of Syria…Trump thought he could cut deals on Syria’s future without involving the Syrian government..
Symbolic move or something more serious on the part of the Assad government? Where are all those voices whining about “humanitarian intervention” now that it is the Syrian government intervening to protect its own people? Will it lead to a joint Turkish-U.S. military operation against the Damascus forces? Will the Turkish government stay its hand and pull back from the Syrian border? And if it doesn’t what then?
This move by the Syrian government will rally the entire country behind it, unifying the country into an anti-Turkish invasion front. It was a bold, progressive, humane move – even if it fails militarily…and it exposed the complete cynicism of the U.S.-Turkish wheeling and dealing.
The Syrians will protect their own Kurds…they don’t the U.S. military – who has thrown the Kurds under the bus repeatedly in recent decades – to remain in Syria
So…getting very interesting…
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