Defying Turkey, US will arm Kurds in Syria
Ankara fears weapons will be used against it
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has approved a plan to arm Syrian Kurds so they can participate in the battle to retake Raqqa from the Islamic State (IS), a strategy that has drawn deep opposition from Turkey, a Nato ally.
US military commanders have long argued that arming the YPG, a Kurdish militia fighting alongside Syrian Arab forces against the IS, is the fastest way to seize Raqqa, the de facto capital of the militants’ self-proclaimed caliphate.
And Mr Trump, who has made fighting Islamist militants a priority during his campaign, again showed the high regard he has for Pentagon generals by endorsing their advice when faced with a policy dilemma.
Turkey has objected vociferously to such a move, raising fears of a backlash that could prompt the Turks to curtail their cooperation with Washington in the struggle against the IS.
A high-level delegation of Turkish officials was informed of the decision by Lt Gen HR McMaster, Mr Trump’s national security adviser, when they visited the White House on Monday, and the Pentagon announced the move on Tuesday.
Mr Trump’s decision on arming the Syrian Kurds comes as Iraqi forces, backed by American and allied air power and artillery, are making headway in Mosul. US military commanders have argued for simultaneous offences in Raqqa and Mosul so the IS would be forced to defend multiple fronts.
The president’s decision also comes as his top advisers recommended sending some 3,000 to 5,000 more US troops in to try to break a stalemate in another hot spot: the 15-year-long war in Afghanistan.
Dana White, the chief Pentagon spokeswoman, said in a statement that the arming was necessary to ensure that Raqqa could be taken “in the near future”.
“Yesterday, the president authorised the Department of Defence to equip Kurdish elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces as necessary to ensure a clear victory over Isis in Raqqa, Syria,” she said, using the name of the umbrella group for Arab and Kurdish fighters battling the Islamic State, also known as Isis or Isil.
Ms White added that the US would take steps to ensure that Turkey did not face “additional security risks”.
There was no immediate comment from the Turkish government, which considers the Kurdish force to be terrorists, and it remains to be seen whether the assurances the Trump administration is offering the Turks will be sufficient to ease the concerns of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is scheduled to meet with Mr Trump in Washington next week.
The arms that the US will provide Kurdish and Arab fighters in the anti-IS coalition include heavy machine guns, mortars, antitank weapons, armoured cars and engineering equipment.
US military officials have said that weapons are needed to help the lightly armed Kurdish and Arab fighters cope with urban warfare in Raqqa against unyielding IS militants who are equipped with car bombs and even some tanks they captured from the Syrian army.
To address Turkish concerns that the arms might be used against their forces one day, the supply of weapons and ammunition will be limited to what the Kurds and Arab fighters need to carry out specific operations, US officials said.
After the battle is over, an effort will be made to retrieve any excess equipment. American advisers will also monitor the weapons that are provided to the Kurds and will cut off the supply if they discover that they are being smuggled for use elsewhere or misused, US officials said.
To further mollify the Turks, most of the fighters who will be involved in the assault on Raqqa are expected to be Arabs, and the Pentagon said the YPG would not occupy the city after IS fighters had been ousted.
“Raqqa and all liberated territory should return to the governance of local Syrian Arabs,” Ms White said. “We do not envision a long-term YPG presence.”
The US has long worked with the YPG, or People’s Protection Units, under the umbrella of the Syrian Democratic Forces. The US military has always emphasised that those forces includes Arab fighters, who make up nearly half the total force and most of the fighters near Raqqa. But the YPG is generally considered to have the most experienced and battle-hardened fighters.
The Turkish government has long insisted that the Kurdish militia is closely linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, a separatist group known as the PKK. That group is listed by Turkey, the US and Europe as a terrorist organisation.
Syria analysts, as well as current and former senior US officials, said Mr Trump’s decision was not surprising given the military’s insistence on arming the Kurds for the impending battle for Raqqa, but they warned it could damage broader relations with Turkey.
“This decision was probably necessary if the coalition to defeat the Islamic State was to take Raqqa without huge numbers of US troops being directly involved,” said Andrew Exum, a former top Pentagon Middle East policy official who served as an Army Ranger. “But this decision — to arm a group closely associated with a foreign terrorist organisation, and one that has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state — will likely reverberate through US relations with Turkey for decades to come.”
Syrian Kurds, however, hailed the move. Alan Hassan, reached via internet messaging in Qamishli, in northeastern Syria, part of the de facto semiautonomous zone Kurds have carved out during the Syrian war, said that Trump’s decision gave new legitimacy to an existing partnership with the YPG.
“In the beginning, American support was secret,” he said. “Now, it is public. The relationship has changed from undeclared to declared.”
Former US president Barack Obama also favoured arming the Kurds, although divisions among his aides were so pronounced that he did not come to that view until his last week in office.
During his administration’s deliberations, US diplomats in Ankara warned of a possible Turkish backlash, while military officials insisted that the YPG was the only option if Raqqa was to be taken in the coming months.