Did President Trump Sell Out The Kurds By Pulling Out Of Syria?

Kurdish-led militiamen ride atop military vehicles as they celebrate victory over Islamic State in Raqqa, Syria, October 17, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro/File Photo

Kenneth R. Timmerman, NYPost: Trump didn’t sell out the Kurds by pulling out of Syria

The national media blasted President Trump’s withdrawal of 50 US military advisors from the Syrian border with Turkey as a “sellout,” a “betrayal” and a “huge strategic blunder.”

Let’s be clear: None of them truly care about the Kurds. Otherwise, they would have been sending correspondents and camera crews to Rojava, as the Kurds call northern Syria, on a regular basis.

Let’s also be clear about the goals of Turkish president Tayyip Recep Erdogan. While he attempted to stylize his military invasion of Rojava as a counterterrorism operation, few international observers bought into it. Why? Because there have been no terror attacks against Turkey from Syrian territory since the Syrian Kurds established their self-governing entity in 2012. None.

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WNU Editor: Turkish President Erdogan's threat to invade northern Syria and destroy Kurdish autonomy in that part of Syria was very real. His forces and his Syrian fighters were already deployed, and he gave a deadline on when he was going to do it. Given a choice between waging a war against a NATO ally with limited resources or to retreat and use the threat of sanctions to deter Turkey from destroying the Kurds, President Trump choose the one that would have the maximum impact with the least lost of life. This is not selling out the Kurds. As of today the ceasefire is still holding, but tensions are high. President Erdogan will be seeing Russian President Putin on Tuesday to discuss Syria. I understand that Putin is telling Erdogan to hold back, and to not escalate the crisis. We shall know after that meeting if this is will happen.