For a few decades now, the United States has enjoyed a strong relationship with a group of people in the Middle East known as the Kurds. The future of this alliance was thrown into doubt earlier this week when the Trump administration announced the immediate withdrawal of the remaining American forces from Syria. The president had expressed a desire to complete this withdrawal last winter (which prompted the resignation of Defense Secretary James Mattis). But the recent decision to remove all remaining troops appears to have happened literally overnight without any real warning after a phone call between Turkish president Erdogan and Trump. Now, the Turkish military has already launched an offensive into northern Syria to defeat the Syrian Kurds. So what does all this mean? This week, we’ll examine the situation of the Syrian Kurds and what this could mean for you.
Who are the Kurds? There isn’t just one group of people known as the Kurds. There are several Kurdish groups that have distinct cultures and languages. Most practice Sunni Islam, but there are large minorities who identify as Shia Muslim or Christian. They are essentially a stateless people whose traditional territory was divided up among Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran throughout the last few centuries. Throughout their history, the Kurds have fought (sometimes against each other) to attain their own nation or at least substantial autonomy.
Why are the Kurds important? They have been an American ally for a long time. The Syrian Kurds were critical in the fight against ISIS in Syria and the Iraqi Kurds helped in the overthrow and occupation of Iraq in 2003. Currently, they have kept ISIS from reforming in Syria and have been guarding captured ISIS prisoners. Most of these prisoners (and their families) are foreign born and are barred from returning to their home countries. Many American troops have fought directly alongside the Kurds in various campaigns over the decades. In short, they are easily one of the most reliable American allies in the region.
What is the situation on the ground now? For nearly eight years, Syria has been embroiled in a devastating civil war. ISIS rose in the chaos that formed from this war. Ever since American troops entered northern Syria to defeat ISIS, there has been a small American presence in the northern part of the country. Turkey shares a long border with northern Syria and has long viewed the Kurds there as a terrorist group. The bigger problem for Turkey is that, since the Kurds have never had a formal nation to call their own, their continued existence fuels the Kurdish nationalist movement. Overall, many Kurds do want their own nation or at least autonomy from Turkey/Syria/Iraq. Turkey has long wanted to push its military into parts of northern Syria to create a buffer zone and try to destroy the Kurdish militias.
So why are the Syrian Kurds in danger now? Prior to the Syrian civil war, Syria wouldn’t allow Turkey to enter its territory to fight the Kurds. Now that Syria is pre-occupied with its civil war, the remaining American troops are the only thing left to protect the Syrian Kurds. Prior to this week, there were only about 1,000 American troops remaining in the region. This was designed to be just enough to keep ISIS down and prevent Turkish invasion, without over-committing American resources. Turkey wouldn’t risk accidentally attacking American forces since both nations have enjoyed a long alliance and Turkey remains a key member of the American-led NATO alliance. Now that the American troops have left, Turkey has already launched an offensive against the Kurds. Trump has said he will “destroy Turkey’s economy” and issue sanctions if the Kurds are attacked, but so far no such measures have been put in place in response to Turkey’s invasion.
What does this mean for the Middle East and for you? The sudden withdrawal means that the United States has essentially pulled the rug right out from under the Syrian Kurds. After decades of supporting American troops, the sudden and swift American withdrawal has left many of our closest allies feeling betrayed. Without American assistance, the Kurds cannot guard the prisons of ISIS fighters and cannot continue to suppress ISIS in the region. There are currently between 10,000 - 15,000 ISIS fighters in prisons being guarded by Kurdish forces. Simply put, the Kurds can’t contain ISIS and fight Turkish forces at the same time. This increases the likelihood that ISIS will rise again, just like the initial American withdrawal from Iraq helped create the group in the first place. ISIS was a menace that threatened the region’s religious communities, seized oil fields, and exported terrorism to every corner of the world. It’s possible that Turkey could move in to help prevent the rise of ISIS, but generally the Kurds are much higher up on their priority list. In addition to allowing the devastation of a loyal American ally, this move also dramatically harms America’s image as a reliable ally and damages its credibility abroad. The fact that the president justified his actions by saying “The Kurds didn’t help us in the Second World War” is particularly disrespectful to the 11,000 Kurds who died fighting against ISIS. If America can’t be seen as a reliable ally, who will back up America in its time of need?
How dare the Kurds not abandon their homeland to fight in Europe’s wars!
It certainly makes sense to draw down America’s unnecessary commitments abroad and end the seemingly endless wars. But it ought to be done with more planning and consideration of the critical allies that remain behind. Otherwise, we may yet again end up getting dragged into a Middle East conflict, but with one fewer ally to back us up.