US has a tiger by the tail with Syrian Democratic Forces

The making of a "popular resistance"

"Residents of Hasaka have accused the SDF of retaliatory measures against farmers who refrain from giving their wheat to them, saying that the SDF sets fire to their farms."

The following report is the latest among several similar ones I've seen during the past year which describe the SDF acting badly toward Arab civilians in Eastern Syria. But the U.S. still keeps supporting the SDF with military aid  -- a sore point with Turkey given that the majority of SDF fighters are Kurds that Anakara deems terrorists. 

Whether or not they're terrorists, they've certainly worn out whatever welcome they had among Arabs who supported their fight against Islamic State in Syria. The SDF has retaliated in several ways, creating a tit-for-tat conflict with the Syrian Arabs that keeps escalating.  

All this has fallen back on the United States; Arabs in the region have become vociferously anti-American just because of U.S. support for the SDF and many have turned to Syria's government for help.   

   

US-Backed SDF in Eastern Syria Prevent Civilians' Interactions with Damascus
July 18, 2019

FARS

General-Director of Syria's Grains Committee Yousef Qassem said on Thursday that the SDF in Hasaka does not permit the Syrian farmers in the region to sell their wheat to the government centers in Syria.

The Arabic-language al-Watan newspaper quoted local sources in Deir Ezzur province as saying that residents of Hasaka have accused the SDF of retaliatory measures against the farmers who refrain from giving their wheat to them, saying that the SDF sets fire to their farms.

A number of civilians were killed in Hasaka recently in an extensive fire in vast areas of the province's farmlands.

Sources noted in June that several civilians were killed and wounded in SDF and US attacks, and said that the entire regions under the SDF control in Hasaka and Deir Ezzur provinces were the scenes of popular protests against the presence of occupying forces there.

The Arabic-language Al-Khabour News Website reported that the SDF in Hasaka province prevented civilians from leaving the regions under their control for safe regions controlled by the Syrian Army.

The SDF fighters also asked for the payment of a sum of about 100,000 Syrian liras from any vehicle trying to leave the SDF-controlled region for Hasaka.

[END REPORT]

Not only has the situation escalated, but it's also gotten increasingly tangled for Americans. From the July 18 Syrian War sitrep at FARS:

TEHRAN (FNA)- Syrian tribes are working to form a Popular Resistance against the occupying US Troops in Eastern Syria, the Arabic-language media outlets said on Wednesday.

Deir Ezzur

The Arabic-language al-Watan newspaper quoted local sources in Eastern Syria as saying that a meeting has recently been held between tribal leaders and the elderly as well as head of Deir Ezzur Military Security Committee and the province’s governor Abdelmajid al-Kawakebi and Syrian Army’s backup forces. [above photo]

The sources noted that participants in the meeting discussed issues such as forming popular resistance forces against occupying American forces in Deir Ezzur and al-Jazira region of Syria and ways to confront these forces.

Meantime, the Arabic-language Arabi al-Youm pointed to acute differences between Arab tribes in Eastern Deir Ezzur with the US-backed militants, and said that the tribal leaders of al-Akidat and al-Bakareh tribes in Eastern Deir Ezzur strongly opposed the Kurdish militias’ decision to dismiss head of Deir Ezzur Civil Council and replace him with their own forces.

[...]

But here the plot thickens because the Saudis are involved. If you ask how this happened, it's a long story. They're all long stories in the Middle East.  

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