Whether it was the carrot of the promise of their own Syrian Kurdistan or the stick of the threat to work with Turkey to start bombing and killing the YPG forces if they did not cooperate with NATO, the United States has apparently brought the YPG around to its way of thinking.
According to reports from a number of media outlets, most notably Al Jazeera and Foreign Policy, the United States has now taken control over the Rmeilan Airbase in Northeastern Syria, in the Hasakah Province.
The information was first reported after a Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) spokesperson told Al Jazeera that U.S. troops have taken control of the airbase in order to “assist” the SDF in their “fight against ISIS.”
The SDF is made up of a number of participants – mostly Kurdish, but also members of the Free Syrian Army, and other “moderate cannibal” groups fighting Assad and, allegedly, ISIS. The SDF has been supported by the United States in the past.
Hasakah, and the Rmeilan Airbase specifically, are located in the Northeastern tip of Syria, close to both the Iraqi and Turkish borders thus making the base a strategic location.
Taj Kordish, the SDF spokesman told Al Jazeera:
Under a deal with the YPG, the US was given control of the airport. The purpose of this deal is to back up the SDF, by providing weapons and an airbase for US warplanes. This airport was previously controlled by the YPG for over two years now. This strategic airport is close to several oil bases – one of the biggest in this area. Rmeilan airport was previously used for agricultural purposes by the Syrian government.
The notoriously discredited “human rights watchdog” the Syrian Observatory For Human Rights (SOHR), has stated that the airfield is still in the process of being prepared by U.S. forces.
The United States CENTCOM has neither confirmed nor denied the reports.
It is as yet unclear as to whether or not the YPG is working with the United States because it has been promised its dream of an independent Kurdistan in northern Syria or whether it has been bullied and blackmailed into doing so out of fear of facing the combined military weight of the Turks, the Americans, and their ISIS pets. It is also possible that the Kurds are willing, as they have said in the past, to partner with anyone anytime to achieve their own goals.
Whatever the case, it is clear that there is a multi-layered cast of intrigue and geopolitical concerns at play.
The one thing that is without doubt, however, is that the United States is violating national sovereignty, human rights, and international law if it is indeed taking over Rmeilan airbase.
Brandon Turbeville – article archive here – is the author of six books, Codex Alimentarius — The End of Health Freedom, 7 Real Conspiracies, Five Sense Solutions and Dispatches From a Dissident, volume 1 and volume 2, The Road to Damascus: The Anglo-American Assault on Syria, and The Difference it Makes: 36 Reasons Why Hillary Clinton Should Never Be President. Turbeville has published over 500 articles dealing on a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, government corruption, and civil liberties. Brandon Turbeville’s podcast Truth on The Tracks can be found every Monday night 9 pm EST at UCYTV. He is available for radio and TV interviews. Please contact activistpost (at) gmail.com.
Russia lost the initiative to keep the US out of Syria at the beginning of their campaign. They pissed about and now the bad guy is up to mischief.
Russia has won every round against the Washington clowns so far without breaching international law and without getting in a flap. I’d not write them off so fast. They still hold the most cards, have the most options as far as what happens in the region now. Their preferred strategy as with China appears to be in feeding out the rope as the Clowns want it, and letting them entangle themselves on their way to the gallows.
Russia is going to establish a permanent air base in Syria near Turkish border. Maybe they will bring in nukes at Syria’s request. Syria needs to go to the U.N. and demand U.S. and other westerners leave their country.
The U.S. has, for decades, been ignoring international law. The only law it seems to recognize is that “might makes right.” The Russians know this and have effectively rearmed since their debacle of 1991. Now, Russia is putting the brakes on the U.S. nation destroying binge and being demonized in the western news media for their efforts to restore law and order on the planet. In this case, the U.S. occupying a crop dusting air strip in Syria will probably only be used to resupply the YPG. But If the special forces there get out of hand, they could quickly be put out of commission by the Russian ASF with little redress in the U.N. since they are breaking the law.
Oh dear – they have chosen a poor ally. They will pay a heavy price for that soon.
The US is close with Turkey, who is not their friend at all.