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The Kobani Precedent; March 25, 2015 By Jonathan Spyer
Topic Started: Mar 28 15, 2:37 (930 Views)
Jim M
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R. Sergeant Major

An excerpt from "The Kobani Precedent"

"This leaves the Kurds, and only the Kurds, to work with. And the un-stated alliance is sufficiently tight for it to begin to have effects also on Turkish-Kurdish relations in Syria, as seen in the Suleiman Shah operation.

But what are the broader implications of this absence of any other coherent partner on the ground?

The stark clarity of the northern Syria situation is replicated in all essentials in Iraq, though a more determined attempt by the US to deny this reality is under way in that country.

In Iraq, there is a clear and stated enemy of the US (the Daash ), a clear and stated Kurdish ally of the west (the Kurdish Regional Government and its Pesh Merga) and an Iran-supported government which controls the capital and part of the territory of the country.

Unlike in Syria, however, in Iraq the US relates to the official government, mistakenly, as an ally. This is leading to a potentially disastrous situation whereby US air power is currently partnering with Iran-supported Shia militias against the Daash .

The most powerful of these militias have a presence in the government of Iraq. But they do not act under the orders of the elected Baghdad government, but rather in coordination with their sponsors in the Qods Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps.

It is possible that the current partnering with Shia Islamist forces in Iraq is the result of a general US attempt now under way to achieve a historic rapprochement with Iran, as suggested by Michael Doran in a recent essay. Or it may be that this reality has emerged as a result of poor analysis of the realities of the Levant and Iraq, resulting in a confused and flailing policy. But either way, the result is an astonishing mess."

http://www.rubincenter.org/2015/03/the-kobani-precedent/

I don't agree with his summary at the end of the article that "Hopefully, this sense will eventually percolate up to the policymaking community too." I think it will continue until Obama is gone.
Edited by Jim M, Mar 28 15, 8:30.
Kurdish Wisdom of War Proverbs:

"Deal with your friends as if they will become your enemies tomorrow, and deal with your
enemies as if they will become your friends tomorrow."

"Those away from the battlefield boast about their swords."

"Those who do not go to war roar like a lion."

"Everything is pardoned the brave."

"Whoever digs a pit for his enemy should dig it his own size."

"A thousand friends are too few; one enemy is one too many."
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