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US Close Ally in Syria Losing Ground 12/12 06:45
(AP) -- The jihadi rebels who toppled Syrian President Bashar Assad say they
want to build a unified, inclusive country. But after nearly 14 years of civil
war, putting that ideal into practice will not be easy.
For Syria's Kurdish minority, America's closest ally in the country, the
struggle for a new order is entering a potentially even more challenging phase.
Over the course of Syria's civil war, Kurdish fighters have fended off an
array of armed factions, partnered with the U.S. to rout the Islamic State
group and carved out a largely autonomous region in the country's oil-rich east.
But the gains of the non-Arab Kurds are now at risk. The ascendance of the
Sunni Arab rebels who overthrew Assad -- with vital help from Turkey, a
longtime foe of the Kurds -- will make it hard for the Kurds to find a place in
the new Syria and could prolong the conflict.
The jihadi rebels who rode into Damascus over the weekend have made peaceful
overtures to the Kurds. But the rebels violently drove Kurdish fighters out of
the eastern city of Deir al-Zour days after government forces abandoned it.
To the north, a separate opposition faction backed by Turkey that has been
battling the Kurds for years seized the town of Manbij. And Turkey carried out
airstrikes on a Kurdish convoy it said was carrying heavy weapons looted from
government arsenals.
The Kurds have long counted on U.S. aid in the face of such challenges.
Around 900 American troops are in eastern Syria, where they partner with
Kurdish forces to prevent an Islamic State resurgence. But the future of that
mission will be thrown into doubt under president-elect Donald Trump, who has
long been skeptical about U.S. involvement in Syria.
Here's a closer look at the predicament the Kurds find themselves in.
Who are the U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters in Syria?
The Kurds are among the largest stateless ethnic groups in the world, with
some 30 million concentrated in a territory straddling Turkey, Iran, Iraq and
Syria. They are a minority in each country and have often suffered persecution,
which has fueled armed Kurdish uprisings.
In Syria, they carved out an autonomous enclave early in the civil war,
never fully siding with the Assad government or the rebels seeking to topple
him.
When the Islamic State group seized a third of the country in 2014, Kurdish
fighters -- who are secular and include women in their ranks -- proved their
mettle in early battles against the extremists, earning support from the
U.S.-led coalition.
They formed a group known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, which also
includes Arab fighters, and drove the Islamic State group out of large areas of
Syria with help from U.S.-led airstrikes and American special forces. In 2017,
these Kurdish-led forces captured Raqqa, the capital of the extremists'
self-styled caliphate.
Why is Turkey fighting the Kurds?
Turkey has long viewed the SDF as an extension of the decades-old Kurdish
insurgency within its own borders. It considers the main Kurdish faction a
terrorist group on par with the Islamic State and has said it should have no
presence in the new Syria.
In recent years, Turkey has trained and funded fighters known as the Syrian
National Army, helping them wrest control of territory from the Kurds in
northern Syria along the border with Turkey. These Turkish-backed fighters have
portrayed themselves as part of the opposition against Assad, but analysts say
they are largely driven by opportunism and hatred of the Kurds.
The Kurds have focused on battling the SNA in recent years. But the new
leadership in Damascus, which also has longstanding ties to Turkey, could open
another, much longer front.
How do the Syrian rebels view the Kurds?
The main rebel faction is led by Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu
Mohammed al-Golani, a former al-Qaida militant who cut ties with the group
eight years ago and says he wants to build a new Syria free of dictatorship
that will serve all its religious and ethnic communities.
Nawaf Khalil, head of the Germany-based Center for Kurdish Studies, said the
early signs were positive. He said the rebels steered clear of two
SDF-controlled enclaves of Aleppo when they stormed the city two weeks ago at
the start of their rapid advance across the country.
"It is also positive that they did not speak negatively about the Syrian
Democratic Forces," he said.
It remains to be seen if those sentiments will endure. After sweeping into
Deir al-Zour this week, a fighter from al-Sharaa's group posted a video saying
they would soon advance toward Raqqa and other areas of eastern Syria, raising
the possibility of further clashes with the Kurds.
The rebels could still seek some kind of agreement with the Kurds to
incorporate them into the post-Assad political order, but that would likely
require accepting a degree of Kurdish autonomy in the east. It would also risk
angering Turkey, which now appears to be the chief power broker in Syria.
Will the Trump administration support the Kurds?
The top U.S. military commander for the Middle East, Army Gen. Erik Kurilla,
met with SDF forces in Syria on Tuesday, in a sign of the Biden
administration's commitment to the alliance post-Assad.
But things could change on Jan. 20.
Trump has provided few details about his Middle East policy, aside from
saying he wants to end the region's wars and keep the United States out of them.
In a social media post shortly before Assad was overthrown, Trump wrote that
"Syria is a mess, but is not our friend, & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE
NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT."
During his previous term, in 2019, Trump abandoned the Kurds ahead of a
Turkish incursion, casting it as the fulfillment of a campaign promise to end
U.S. involvement in the region's "endless wars."
The move prompted heavy criticism, including from prominent Republicans who
accused him of betraying an ally. Trump backtracked weeks later, approving a
wider mission to secure oil fields in the east. The troops remained where they
were and the alliance endured.
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