Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Trump approves plan to arm Kurds
U.S. to directly supply weapons to forces fighting the Islamic State in Syria.
President Donald Trump has approved a plan to directly arm Kurdish forces fighting in Syria as part of a U.S. military plan to capture Raqqa, the Syrian city that is the Islamic State’s de facto capital, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.
Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said the president made the decision on Monday and described the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, as “the only force on the ground that can successfully seize Raqqa in the near future.”
“We are keenly aware of the security concerns of our coalition partner Turkey,” White said in a statement. “We want to reassure the people and government of Turkey that the U.S. is committed to preventing additional security risks and protecting our NATO ally.”
The decision, first reported by NBC, is sure to enrage Turkey, the NATO ally that views the YPG as a threat and has rebuked the United States for partnering with the group in its fight against extremists in Syria.
White provided no details on what kind of weaponry would be provided to the Kurdish fighters or when. The YPG, which dominates a diverse group of fighters known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, has emerged as the United States’ premier partner force against the Islamic State in Syria.
That partnership has generated ongoing friction with Ankara, which sees the YPG as an extension of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which is considered a terrorist group by both Turkey and the United States.
The Turkish position has created a dilemma for U.S. military officials, who see no viable alternative force in Syria capable of and willing to mount an assault on the Islamic State’s final stronghold. Already, the YPG has received air support from the United States and, indirectly through Arab fighters, some U.S. weaponry.
Neither the Trump administration, nor the Barack Obama administration before it, had made any secret of its intention to give the Syrian Kurds a primary role in isolating Raqqa leading up to the planned offensive. Defense officials have said repeatedly that such a role would require direct weapons shipments and upgrading the equipment provided to move through what are expected to be vast minefields and other obstacles leading into Raqqa.
Turkish officials have privately acknowledged that the matter appeared to be decided. But they have continued to complain publicly about what they framed as a counterproductive U.S. strategy that amounted to enlisting a terrorist group to fight another terrorist group.
Trump is expected to officially inform Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of his decision next Tuesday, when Erdogan visits the White House.
Turkey has continued to lobby the Trump administration to change course in the days leading up to Erdogan’s visit, dispatching top Turkish officials, including Gen. Hulusi Akar, the military chief of staff, and Hakan Fidan, the intelligence chief, to Washington. A Turkish delegation briefly met with Trump on Monday, according to a report in the Turkish Daily Sabah newspaper.
To soften the blow, senior administration and military officials have been in near constant contact with their Turkish counterparts to assure them the Kurds will not be part of the force that enters Raqqa and will not dominate the establishment of a new local government. That force, U.S. officials have said, will be comprised of the Arab fighters who are part of the Kurdish-Arab Syrian Democratic Forces.
Turkey has charged that the political wing of the YPG has moved in behind the SDF forces who have taken territory from Islamic State, also known as ISIS, across northern Syria and forced out Arab and Turkmen populations. Their goal, Erdogan has said, is to create a Kurdish canton that can join with the PKK, separatists who have been at war with the Turkish government.