Sherkoh Abbas co-authored this article. He serves as President of the Kurdistan National Assembly of Syria.
It’s enough to drive an enthusiasticTrumpster to tears ….
Why did President Trump announce America would stop arming the Syrian Kurds?
America can’t invoke the lame excuse that was invoked to abandon the Iraqi Kurds, namely, their having held the Sept. 25th Independence Referendum, for this occurred just after the Nov. 22nd summit-meeting of the self-dubbed "guarantor powers" for Syria (Iran, Turkey and Russia)—excluding America—in Sochi.
After a tremendous expenditure of human, financial and ideological resources, the United States is poised to be excluded from Syria and Iraq, even as Trump Must Detail a Clear Syria Strategy to Block Iranian Influence Post-ISIS.
Indeed, after John Bolton Warned of bowing to the “International Swamp,” Trump apparently capitulated to Turkey’s Islamist President Erdoğan, after Erdoğan had slammed U.S. support for the Islamic State—a fanciful claim—saying Turkey does not want an allied relationship in the Syrian offensive.
The warning signs have been readily apparent…
Meanwhile, Iraqi officials found a mass grave of Yazidi murdered by the Islamic State.
To be a Player, you need at least one reliable Piece on the Board.
That’s why it is insufficient to base policy on hope…
- that “neutrality” will prompt Baghdad to extricate itself from Tehran’s influence, as per Obama-holdover envoy Brett McGurk.
- that it’s preferable to swallow exclusion until the defeat of the Islamic State, as per Sebastian Lukács Gorka, Ph.D. [verbal communication during the Annual Gala of the Zionist Organization of America, Nov. 12].
- that Turkey’s Islamist Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will suddenly morph to reasonableness, even after having purchased Russian armaments.
That’s why it is unnerving to have encountered evidence that America is incrementally abandoning the region, noting…
- that a recently published essay on the website of The Hill rationalized abandonment of efforts to re-establish Kurdistan, for its remedy for how the Kurdish people can get their groove back is to beg for recognition from anyone who will listen.
- that, after Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Foreign Relations Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir called on the US to get more involved to ensure a ceasefire between the Iraqi government and Erbil is enforced, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told Kurdish PM Nechirvan Idris Barzani that he had encouraged Iraq to start dialogue with Kurdistan, indeed, “serious” talks.
- that Erdoğan has repeatedly conveniently invoked incidents to intimidate the West, recalling inter alia [1]—the refusal to allow America to overfly Turkey when attacking Saddam; [2]—the apology demand after he had dispatched mercenaries on the Gaza flotilla; [3]—the apology demand from NATO after an “impudent” drill which was honored, [4]—the demand that Germany (illegally) ban Kurdish symbols, and [5]—the demand that Kurd-held Afrin must be cleared of America-supported “terrorists.”
That’s why, as Trump hands Syria to Russia and Iran increases its presence (despite the U.S.-Russia deal) on Israel’s doorstep, we have fretted…
- that both the Globe and America have been “fiddling” during the past two months, via essays that were written, respectively, for audiences that needed orientation [with 68 hyperlinks] and that might specifically prompt the Trump Administration to act [60 hyperlinks].
- that America needs to be reminded that the Kurds are the only trustworthy non-Islamist Muslims in the Syrian/Iraqi theater, particularly after the Obama Administration misled the public on al-Qaeda and the Iran-Nuke capitulation-pact.
- that America will enhance the effort to Make America Great Again by recognizing Kurdish nationalism—as Truman did, in opposition to the State Department, when he recognized Israel—even if this must entail providing a Berlin-Style Emergency airlift [64 hyperlinks].
Meanwhile, Kurdistan, the only site for America to place its military/diplomatic/ideological Piece onto the Middle East board—for the long-term—is told to await the arrival of Samuel Beckett’s Godot…despite awareness of bullying from everyone in the “neighborhood”…despite America’s studied inaction.
We were gratified that, contrasting with colleague-Gorka, visionary-disrupter Lieutenant Stephen Kevin Bannon responded to a non-directive query by instantly exclaiming, “I have always strongly favored an independent Kurdistan.” [verbal communication at ZOA Gala, Nov. 12].
Indeed, during his speech, Bannon recognized that pro-Israel forces should fight to diminish the power of the Washington foreign-policy establishment, an approach that may be working, inasmuch as the notoriously Arabist State Department just acknowledged it has a “morale issue.”*
Essayists have ignored the legal underpinnings for the Kurdish Referendum, derivative of the Treaty of Sèvres of a century ago and ratification of the Iraqi Constitution of a decade ago.
The former called for an “autonomous” Kurdistan and the latter called for “a referendum in Kirkuk and other disputed territories to determine the will of their citizens, by a date not to exceed the 31st of December, 2007” (Article 140, Section 2).
Amazingly, this constitutional citation was omitted from a presentation of why the Kurdistan referendum stands on “solid legal footing” during a July 28seminar , and it only samples Baghdad’s multiple constitutional violations.
Others have sounded this alarm, recognizing that The Middle East's Problems Are Really America’s Problems [“Iraq ended up with ISIS, Iranian and Iranian-sponsored militias, and a Baghdad government beating on our Kurdish allies”] and that The US Betrayal of Kurdistan Should be a Warning Sign for Israel [“What happened to the Kurds will happen to Israel”].
Foreign policy debate focused on President Trump’s whirlwind visit to the Orient during the past fortnight, as China unveiled a massive island-maker, signaling further expansion in South China Sea.
Meanwhile, however, Iraqi forces wasted no time erasing the legacy of three years of Kurdish rule in Zumar, oil emerged as the real prize of Iran’s Kurdish adventure and, in shadowy covert wars, Iran took center stage.*
President Trump claimed, “America’s back” after his Asian sojourn, for he doesn’t want America to be subject to overseas nuclear-extortion … whether it emanates from North Korea or from Iran.
That’s why Trump must block Iran’s effort to build a land-bridge to the Mediterranean by severing Syrian and Iraqi Kurdistan, as illustrated by the shrinking areas Kurds control on these constantly updated military maps … and recognize the Kurdish plea for human rights protection that has roots that sprouted four millennia ago.
There is no justification for delay, for Kurdistan could be successfully invaded at a moment’s notice by any/all of the “guarantors” as Kirkuk demonstrated, so we wonder what Trump is being told…
- Perhaps Trump was advised (prudently) to procrastinate because the military currently cannot engage in major combat in two theaters and, therefore, that he must first resolve the North Korean challenge, including its nascent ballistic missile submarine program; perhaps he was also told by the Pentagon that securing North Korean nuclear weapons 'with complete certainty' would require a ground invasion and that any attack on Pyongyang could trigger an attack against American interests by Tehran.
- Furthermore, perhaps Trump was also advised (correctly) that Turkey’s Erdoğan has been meddling in America while planning to predominate over American interests in Syria; perhaps he was also told that Obama’s covert effort to supply his favorites yielded emergence of hundreds of identical, brand-new ISIS-owned Toyota trucks.
- On the other hand, perhaps Trump was further advised (incorrectly) that Turkey, due to upcoming elections, may soften anti-Kurd activities; perhaps he was also told that the Kurds’ referendum was a blunder but that, perhaps, it could prompt all stakeholders to cooperate.
If America is to play any meaningful role in the Middle East, anti-Jihadists must acknowledge that a muscular foreign policy is central to making MAGA, for—recognizing its rich heritage and the modernity of Erbil—Kurdistan requires no nation-building.
This article constitutes the policy of the Kurdistan National Assembly of Syria. Sherkoh Abbas serves as its President. Robert Sklaroff is a physician-activist.
