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Photo: Amit Magal
Prof. Yossi Shain
Photo: Amit Magal

The Americans have betrayed the Kurds once more

Opinion: Withdrawal of U.S. troops from northern Syria is nothing less than selling out the Kurds as Turkey begins to move forces into the region; Trump’s personal failure will become clear in the coming days

U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration are trying to create a new image for him – a president who brings respect to the United States, who stops the "defeatism" of Barack Obama's administration, protects allies and doesn't throw around empty slogans about hollow values.

 

 

This is how the Trump administration built new relations in the Middle East with the Saudis, Egypt, Jordan and the Iranian enemy, of course.

 

Kurdish fighters alongside U.S. troops in northern Syria (Photo: AFP)
Kurdish fighters alongside U.S. troops in northern Syria (Photo: AFP)

 

This is exactly what the president has said, almost word for word, about U.S. policy in Asia: Tightening ties with allies in the region Japan, the Philippines and South Korea; a new policy against the North Korean threat; and trade agreements with China.

 

Syria was a problematic issue from the get-go. Trump talked about eradicating Islamic State while also speaking out against Syrian President Bashar Assad's crimes.

 

The Tomahawks deployed against the Assad regime weren't only meant to prevent use of chemical weapons, but also to signal that Trump was shifting from Obama's policy of "betrayal."

 

Betraying the Kurds is nothing new for the United States. They betrayed them in 1975, when the CIA allowed the Iranian Shah to cunningly deceive the Kurdish people.

 

Turkish troops in Syria (Photo: AFP)
Turkish troops in Syria (Photo: AFP)

 

The Shah lent a hand to the terrible violence of the Iraqis against the Kurds in exchange for sovereignty over the Shatt al-Arab River.

 

The Americans also betrayed the Kurds at the end of the First Gulf War, when then-U.S. president George H.W. Bush abandoned them and did not prevent the defeated Saddam Hussein's chemical attacks.

 

Now we see another great betrayal of the Kurds, who have helped the Americans fight Islamic State.

 

Turkey begins to move forces into northern Syria. The scale of the American betrayal and Trump’s personal failure will become clear in the coming days.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump (Photo: Reuters)
U.S. President Donald Trump (Photo: Reuters)

 

The Kurds didn't see this fiasco coming. Trump warned Erdogan against committing any "inhumane" actions, but the thoughtful president did not specify how many casualties can the Turkish dictator do away with.

 

Washington doesn't want another military campaign. We saw how Trump hesitated and failed in the moment of truth after Iran bombed Saudi oil facilities.

 

Will the president fail in Syria - a major failure in the face of the Kurdish massacre? Would such a failure open a Republican front against him in the House of Representatives?

 

Israel realizes that the rules of the game in the Middle East are changing. Jerusalem is worried.

 

Netanyahu realizes he is trapped in a catch-22, because he cannot criticize his good pal, President Trump.

 

It is still too early to know whether the potential failure of America's foreign policy in Syria will be reflected in Trump's impeachment process.

 

Will the president be perceived as a loser and lose points for the first time among his supporters?

 

Foreign policy has never been a mainstay for the president's supporters nor a crucial element in the elections.

 

However, there is a limit to the contempt that the Republican congressmen will agree to absorb.

 

Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump (Photo: GPO)
Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump (Photo: GPO)

 

Will Trump stain his legacy? Will he bring a disaster upon the Kurds and indirectly emerge as a failed president who once again caused American treachery?

 

The Saudis are still licking their wounds and looking for a new way forward; the Jordanians are fearful and in Egypt, President Sisi is taking matters into his own hands.

 

And Israel? It is still waits for Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit to decide the fate of its own leader.

 


פרסום ראשון: 10.11.19, 18:55
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