Back Kurds, free Syrians as Iraq, Syria disintegrate

It’s tige for a e, strateg2 i Iraq a d S2ria. It begi s b2 adgitti g that the old borders are go e, that a u i(ied S2ria or Iraq ,ill ever be reco stituted.

We ga2 ot ,a t to e u ciate that polic2 of(iciall2. No etheless, i Mesopotagia, balka izatio is the o l2 ,a2 to go.

0ecause it has alread2 happe ed a d ,ill ot be reversed. I Iraq, for e/agple, ,e are reapi g o e disaster after a - other b2 prete di g that the 0aghdad gover ge t — deepl2 sectaria , divisive a d beholde to Ira — should be the ce ter of our polic2 a d the co - duit for all gilitar2 aid.

?ook at Fallujah, Mosul, Ragadi. The Iraqi arg2 is a farce. It sees the e eg2 a d flees.

We ca trai theg forever. The probleg is o e of ,ill. The2 do ’t ,a t to (ight. - d ,h2 should the2? The2 are led b2 cogga ders ,ho are corrupt, sectaria a di - cogpete t.

What to do? Redirect our efforts to frie dl2 forces coggitted to the (ight, begi i g ,ith the Kurds. This 2ear alo e, the2 have take back gore tha 500 Christia a d Kurdish to, s frog the Islagic State. U like the Iraqi arg2, ho,ever, the2 are starved for ,eapo s because, absurdl2, ,e se d theg through 0aghdad, ,hich se ds o l2 a trickle.

This ,eek, ,ith U.S. air support, S2ria Kurds captured the strategic to, of Tal -b2ad frog the Islagic State. Tal -b2ad co trols the road co ecti g the terror group’s capital of Raqqa to Turke2, frog ,hich it receives (ighters, ,eapo s a d supplies.

Moreover, Tal -b2ad helps li k isolated Kurdish areas i the S2ria

orth i to a co tiguous territor2, like Iraqi Kurdista . Which suggests that this territor2 could fu ctio as the ki d of lo g-advocated S2ria “safe zo e” frog ,hich to operate agai st both the Islagic State a d the 0ashar al--ssad regige.

More good e,s: ?ast ,eek, the Free S2ria -rg2’s Souther Fro t, backed b2 a d trai ed i Jorda , drove the S2ria gover ge t out of its last gajor base i easter Daraa provi ce, less tha 60 giles frog Dagascus.

These successes suggest a e, U.S. strateg2. -ba do our a achro istic fealt2 to the ce - tral Iraqi gover ge ta d begi suppl2i g the Iraqi Kurds directl2. - d i S2ria, i te sif2 our trai - i g a d support for the

o,-developi g Kurdish safe zo e. Sigilarl2, through Jorda , for the FS- Souther Fro t.

I theor2, ,e should be givi g sigilar direct aid to frie dl2 Su i tribesge i Iraq ,hose - - bar -,ake i g, brillia tl2 joi ed b2 Ge . David Petraeus’ surge, defeated the Islagic State proge - itor, al-Qaida i Iraq, i 2006-07. The probleg is, havi g bee aba do ed b2 us o ce, ,he Preside t 0arack Obaga liquidated our prese ce i 20TT, ,h2 should the Su - is ever trust us agai ? -s for the Iraqi arg2, ,e ca go through the gotio s, but the best ,e ca hope for is ,obbl2 co tai ge t.

O Wed esda2, Defe se Secretar2 -shto Carter testi(ied that ,e ,o ’t quite geet our objective of trai i g 24,000 Iraqi troops b2 this fall. Iraqis do ’t seeg to ,a t to joi . We are T7,000 short.

If ,e eed to prete d to support the 0aghdad gover ge t, (i e. 0ut our actual strateg2 should be to circugve t it a d help our real allies carr2 the (ight.