The US Is Considering A New Plan For Syria - And The Kurds 'Will Not Be Happy About It'

[Purveyor]

The Pentagon is weighing a new request from Turkey to train and equip Arab rebels battling government forces in northern Syria, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The request, which reportedly came just one week before an ISIS-linked suicide bomber killed 10 people in Istanbul, is evidently an attempt to seal a vulnerable stretch of the Turkish-Syrian border that continues to serve as a transit point for foreign fighters and weapons.

It is also an attempt to appease Turkey, which has expressed concern to Washington that the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) - a militia linked to Turkey's longtime enemy, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) - is taking advantage of its anti-ISIS partnership with the US to gain power and territory along the Turkish-Syrian border.

A newly empowered, US-backed Arab rebel brigade aimed at enabling larger groups of Arab forces fighting in Syria would presumably serve as a counterweight to Kurdish territorial ambitions in the north. That's according to Aaron Stein, a Turkey expert and senior resident fellow at the Atlantic Council who spoke with Business Insider on Wednesday.

That, in turn, would allow the US-led anti-ISIS coalition to stem the YPG's advances - a primary concern for Turkey - without sacrificing ongoing efforts to seal off Turkey's southern border to jihadists.

MORE...

http://www.businessinsider.in/The-US-is-considering-a-new-plan-for-Syria-and-the-Kurds-will-not-be-happy-about-it/articleshow/50584517.cms

[malthaussen]

1. Meet the new plan, same as the old plan.

"Screw the Kurds" has always been the default position in the area.

-- Mal

[Cayenne]

2. Russia makes a better offer to Kurds

The Kurds will probably throw in with Russia.

[newthinking]

3. ?? This is exactly what we criticized the Russians for working toward

all those headlines about "the Russians aren't bombing ISIS". They were slowing the flow of money, oil, and mercenaries on the region south of Turkey and stopping the trafficking lines to ISIS.

Corrected: I see what we mean is to give more weapons to the "moderate Rebels" for *them* and Turkey to supposedly "seal" the border. Right... In other words Russia is successfully stopping the flow.

Down is up and up is down. Amazing.