The Daesh terrorists are back in business. In Manbij, the group carried out a bombing that claimed 19 victims, including four Americans. Having emerged in Iraq, Daesh has served as a convenient tool to turn the Syrian crisis into what it is today. Since the organization seized control of large chunks of territory in Iraq and Syria, a four-year campaign reduced it to rubble.Yet there is a clear attempt now to breathe new life into the near-dead terrorists. It is no secret that various intelligence agencies have used Daesh to accomplish their goals. Clearly, the group’s comeback in Manbij was closely related to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from Syria. To identify the puppet masters behind the assault, all one has to do is find out who opposes the U.S. withdrawal and remember that the terrorist organization, the People’s Protection Units (YPG) who are the PKK’s Syrian affiliate, recently threatened to release thousands of Daesh fighters from their custody. It wouldn’t hurt to recall that certain Gulf states have also been subtly putting Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) into motion.
In his Washington Post column, David Ignatius claimed that Turkey’s military pressure and attacks by the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) had facilitated the Daesh attack. “Worried about Turkish threats,” he argues, the YPG militants “couldn’t concentrate full-time” on the fight against Daesh and weakened local security. Ignatius adds that “Turkey’s obsession” with the PKK/YPG threat “may have helped put U.S. forces at risk.” Finally, The Washington Post columnist recalls U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s speech in Cairo –”when America retreats, chaos often follows”– and urges Trump not to “abandon the sacrifices Americans have made” in northern Syria.
The United States followed misguided policies in response to the rise of Daesh and during attempts to finish off the group. U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan created hotbeds of radicalism in the Middle East. It is no secret that Daesh militants joined forces in Iraqi prisons. Yet the Obama administration bears more responsibility than any other side for failing to manage the fallout of the Arab revolts. At the time, Washington adhered to a policy that facilitated the spread of militias, proxies and terrorist organizations from Libya to Syria and Yemen. To make matters worse, the White House openly supported a terrorist organization, the PKK/YPG, in the name of fighting Daesh, ignoring repeated warnings by Turkey, its strategic partner.
For those reasons, Ignatius’ attempt to assign blame to Turkey was laughable at best. Accusing Turkey, which launched Operation Euphrates Shield against Daesh and seeks to take over the fight against Daesh when the U.S. withdraws, is nothing more than PKK/YPG propaganda.
Meanwhile, a senior leader of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), Saleh Muslum, whom the U.S. continues to protect, keeps issuing threats involving Daesh prisoners in their custody. If Turkish troops set foot in northern Syria, he says, the PKK/YPG might free Daesh prisoners. Those excuses won’t cover up the truth.
[Daily Sabah, 21 January 2019]
In this article
- Opinion
- Afghanistan
- CENTCOM
- DAESH
- Daily Sabah
- Democratic Union Party (PYD)
- Donald Trump
- East of the Euphrates
- Fight against DAESH
- Fight Against Terror
- Free Syrian Army (FSA)
- gulf
- HTS
- Iraq
- Kurdistan Workers' Party Terrorist Organization (PKK)
- Libya
- Libyan Crisis
- Manbij
- Middle East
- NATO
- NATO Ally
- Obama Administration
- Operation Euphrates Shield
- Peace Corridor
- People's Protection Units (YPG)
- PKK - YPG - SDF - PYD - YPJ - SDG - HBDH - HPG - KCK - PJAK - TAK - YBŞ
- Safe Zone
- Syria
- Syrian Civil War
- Syrian Conflict
- Syrian Crisis
- Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)
- Syrian National Army (SNA)
- Syrian National Coalition
- Syrian Opposition
- Syrian Refugees
- Terrorism
- Trump’s Syria Withdrawal
- Turkish Foreign Policy
- Turkish-American Relations
- Türkiye-US Relations
- Türkiye-US Security Relations
- Türkiye's Foreign Policy
- Türkiye's Operation Peace Spring
- Türkiye’s Operation Olive Branch
- U.S. Secretary of State
- United States (US)
- US President
- US Withdrawal from Syria
- US-PKK/PYD/YPG/SDF Relations
- US-Terror Relations
- Vladimir Putin
- Yemen
- Yemeni Crisis