The U.S. has lots of leverage – let’s use it. Kenneth R. TimmermanFrontPage Magazine - A few excerpts:
"The Trump administration is trying to walk a fine line between Turkey, which it still refers to as a NATO ally, and our Kurdish allies on the ground in northern Syria, and it has become increasingly painful and disheartening to watch.
As I argued in these pages two months ago, Turkey has long since stopped behaving like a NATO ally. It’s time that the Trump administration faced these facts and got tough on Turkey.
There can be no doubt that the appeasement policy carried out by the outgoing national security advisor, H.R. McMaster, and Rex Tillerson, has failed miserably. How deeply SecDef Jim Mattis buys into that policy could be a factor in his survival on the Trump team.
Jim Mattis will likely be tossed to the curb in short order.
Erdogan is now threatening to unleash his Islamist allies on the remaining YPG strongholds further east, in Manbij, and even to push across the border into Mount Sinjar in Iraq to attack Iranian Kurds he considers to be allied to the PKK"
The United States needs to stand by our allies. In this battle, there can be no doubt who they are: the Kurds, not Turkey. The Kurds have built a secular, pluralistic, democratic government in northern Syria
Like Israel has? What a farce! Speaking of the "wonderful Kurdish allies" Underage Girls Recruited to Kurdish ForcesPKK uses underage girls in hostilities.
The case of a 12-year old Kurdish Syrian girl recruited to fight alongside local militias has highlighted ongoing concerns about the recruitment of child soldiers by Kurdish forces.
Asayish forces [the police force of the autonomous Kurdish cantons] kidnapped Avin in an act of revenge over an issue related to the marriage of her sister Amina,” Avin’s uncle Aram Saroxan told Syria Stories. “Those militias recently kidnapped several young girls from Darbassiye, all aged between 13 and 14 years-old, handed them weapons, and threw them into the frontline battles in Deir ez-Zor province.”
Media activist Juwan Remmo said that although the Kurdish militias claimed that there was no compulsory draft, they routinely recruited young teenagers to their ranks.“The PKK and its militias are renowned for committing such acts, it’s nothing new,” he said. “This is not the first case of that kind, as… many other similar incidents occurred in regions under the control of the PKK and its militias.”
FrontPage continues below:
Next, we can accelerate the disengagement from Incirlik airbase in eastern Turkey, as Germany has already done. This is the NATO airbase that Turkey refused to let us use in the first battle against Saddam Hussein in 1991, and again in 2003, and again more recently for strikes against ISIS. This is the base where Erdogan loyalists besieged U.S. Air Force personnel during the August 2016 coup, treating their NATO allies (us!) as a hostile, occupying force.
I have long argued we should withdraw from Incirlik and move those air assets to Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan. Israel’s Debka.com believes such a move is already under way.
Next, the U.S. should go to NATO to seek sanctions against Turkey for violating the North Atlantic Treaty by conducting offensive operations beyond its borders without NATO approval and without having been attacked.
If Turkey does not withdraw from Syria and cease threatening Iraq within ten days, NATO should impose a series of increasingly severe sanctions against Turkey, starting with the suspension of all military cooperation and military sales to Turkey. If Turkey still does not comply, NATO should suspend Turkey until it does. After these NATO sanctions go into effect, and if Turkey remains defiant, the U.S. should seek United Nations sanctions against Turkey’s banking and defense sectors, nether of which is prepared for sanctions"
That's from FrontPage Magazine- David Horowitz A very pro Israel outlet. A very pro Israel 2.0 perspective. I'm struck by just how much of this type of spin is pushed forth on the net. In cyber space-No mention of the US being a disloyal NATO partner. Of course.The sanctions against Turkey are coming... I've talked about this repeatedly.Last time: Turkey/Halkbank: The Biggest (Conjured Up) Sanctions-Evasion Scheme in Recent History Not coincidentally another very pro Israel think tank was the main player behind that scheme.
Foundation for Defense of Democracies- has conducted its research from a particular vantage point and with a relatively narrow focus. Its research and advocacy have centered on the Middle East and in particular on conflicts and issues that impinge on Israel.
Looking like a pattern. Has been for quite some time now