We'll call off our Kurdish attack dogs if you promise to be mean to the Russians

Jason Ditz ends his report by noting it's unlikely the U.S. will fight against Turkey because it's a NATO ally. But it sure looks to me as if the Trump regime is at least threatening to launch an all-out proxy war against Turkey, and I think the Turks would see it that way in light of the weapons transfers Jason discusses.

So let's try to figure out what the real estate developer in the White House is up to, this time. Let's see -- how about, 'We'll call off our proxy army if you act like a good NATO ally and break all your deals with the Russians.'  

However, the fun of reading Jason's report is guessing what the Pentagon plans to do with the leftover weapons -- the ones that don't go to the Kurds for fighting Turkey.  

Pentagon Seeks Arms for 65,000 US-Backed Troops in Syria
By Jason Ditz
May 4, 2018
Anti-war.com

While US “relief funds” are frozen in Syria, the Pentagon continues to seek massive amounts of funding for its military operations in the country. This includes a request for $300 million in weapons to give to “partner forces” in Syria.

This amounts to enough arms for 65,000 fighters. This is expected to center on the Syrian Democratic Forces, which is to say, almost entirely the Kurdish YPG. The US has been arming the YPG for years now as part of its Syria operations.

This is being sought in spite of repeated US assurances to Turkey that their arming of the YPG was temporary. With ISIS virtually wiped out in Syria, the YPG no longer has offensive goals fitting into US plans for Syria, and rather is focused chiefly on fighting a Turkish invasion of northern Syria.

The $300 million in arms also comes with $250 million in “border security” funding for Syria. Both are going into the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO), which Pentagon officials can easily shuffle around to spend on virtually anything.

While couched as “Counter-ISIS” funding, the funding looks more likely to be backing the YPG in fighting Turkey. While the US is unlikely to fund fighting against another NATO ally, it may also be this is just another excuse to grow the OCO.

[END REPORT]

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