Two years prior to his departure, President Obama left the management of Syrian affairs and the war against terror to his soldiers and started to think about his legacy and his library. Unfortunately, President Trump appears to have been doing the same since his first day on the job. It has been 100 days, and still the Obama team is running the fight against Daesh terrorists. If Daesh was a freak result of what Obama and Hillary Clinton did in Iraq — "Barack Obama founded ISIS [Daesh]. I would say the co-founder would be crooked Hillary Clinton," Donald Trump, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016, in a speech in Sunrise, Fla. — then at least the field implementers of this crooked policy of fighting a terror group with another terror group should have been replaced. But no! The Trump administration insists on following the same policy and implementing it with the same people.
On April 24, the Turkish air force went into action against the outlawed PKK base near Sinjar on Mount Karachok in Iraq, wiping out ammunition dumps and weapons stores and a People's Protection Units (YPG) command center in northeastern Syria, both hubs of a conjoined terrorist entity. U.S. Marine representatives visited this center the very next day. The Pentagon spokesman portrayed this visit as "checking on U.S. allies."
Turkish authorities know each and every one of these so-called YPG commanders from their records as PKK terrorists in Turkey. They may appear to American army officers as legitimate "military" personnel in their war fatigues, curiously very similar to their own, but they are wanted criminals in Turkey.
Not only that, but the U.S. has sent a group of U.S. Marines armed with eight-wheeled Stryker armored carriers to northern Syria as a buffer between YPG terrorists and Turkish forces. U.S. armored vehicles were positioned in Darbasiyah village, a few hundred meters from the Turkish border. It was the second time American troops stepped in to protect YPG terrorists. On March 17, U.S. soldiers advanced towards Manbij when Turkish soldiers were about to take control of the town.
The American side still appears to think these terrorists can play a major role in retaking Raqqa from Daesh. Turkey is present in the Syrian and Iraqi arenas. President Erdoğan informed presidents Trump and Vladimir Putin repeatedly that Turkey is not going to allow these terrorists to increase their areas of influence in northern Syria. Trump and Putin must understand that Turkey's national security interests in this area do not conflict with the policy of wiping Daesh out in the area.
YPG terrorists, supposedly leading a group called the Syrian Democratic Force (SDF), cannot and will not fight an effective war. They are a bunch of civilians that used to the jacks of hit-and-run terror activities in Turkey. As a result U.S. Marines are going to fight and die in Raqqa, and later PKK/PYD terrorists will start their ethnic cleansing of Arabs and Turkmens.
As Erdoğan says, the Marines cannot keep PKK terrorists safe in northern Syria; Turkish forces will be there one night, taking them unawares.
About the author
Hakkı Öcal is an award-winning journalist. He currently serves as academic at Ibn Haldun University.
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