Truthdig
What Is Trump's Mission in Syria?
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/whats_trumps_mission_in_syria_20170310/
Posted on Mar 10, 2017
By Juan Cole (http://www.truthdig.com/staff/juan_cole) / Informed Comment
(https://www.juancole.com/2017/03/troops-trumps-mission.html)
The US had about 500 troops embedded with the People's Protection Units
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People's_Protection_Units) (Kurdish acronym
YPG) until this week, when another 400 were deployed
(https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/09/us-troops-arrival-syria-inten
sifies-struggle-for-influence) , along with heavy artillery. It is rumored
in the Arabic press (http://www.alhayat.com/Articles/20621842/%D8%A3%D9%
Why is the Trump administration doubling down on US military involvement
with Syria?
As the Mosul campaign in neighboring Iraq proceeds apace, Daesh (ISIS, ISIL)
fighters are fleeing to Raqqa and other areas in Syria, from which they
could regroup to fend off the US-backed coalition. Iraqi prime minister
Haydar al-Abadi is promising hot pursuit, with the Iraqi military and Air
Force hitting Daesh on the Syrian side of the border (they assert that
Syrian strong man Bashar al-Assad has given them permission for these
cross-border incursions.
At the same time, there is a dispute on the Syrian side about which forces
will be taking al-Raqqa, the capital of the collapsing Daesh "caliphate
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caliphate) ." Turkey would like it to be its
own proteges, Arab militias with a tilt toward Muslim fundamentalism. The
Obama Pentagon under Ash Carter had developed a plan to back the leftist
Kurdish militia, the YPG along with a few of its Arab allies, in taking
Raqqa.
That plan still appears to be the Pentagon favorite, but it has gotten
enormous pressure from Turkey not to follow through. Turkey views the YPG as
a terrorist organization tightly linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK), and worries that if it secedes from Syria that act will encourage
separatism among Turkish Kurds.
My guess is that Trump is sending a Marines artillery unit so as to bring
heavy weaponry to the battlefield against Daesh. Having the Americans handle
this weaponry avoids a raging back and forth with Turkey about the propriety
of giving heavy weapons to the Kurdistan militias or YPG.
If so, this deployment is political more than it is military. US commanders
are talking about staying in the region after Daesh is defeated to pacify
it.
These are a whole series of Very Bad Ideas. If any number of US troops are
killed, that could been seen as requiring US reprisals and a troop
escalation.
US Marines shouldn't be put in harm's way in an attempt to make Turkey less
angry. The Kurds already have much of al-Raqqa province and if they take the
city from Daesh, it won't make them more or less militant about separatism.
Turkey has lost the Syrian war to Russia and Iran, and might as well suck it
up.
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