Kurds reaching critical juncture in US partnership
The United States and Kurds currently share a partnership of convenience in Syria, but Kurds are looking ahead warily to the role they might be asked to play as US policy evolves.
US President Donald Trump is wavering between members of his team who want to expand the war in Syria by also targeting Iranian-linked elements and those who say such a step would mean endless conflict in the region. This internal US disarray further complicates already-complex field developments in the Syrian civil war and the battle against the Islamic State (IS).
Whichever way US policy in Syria moves, it's clear there will be no changes in its position on the Kurds. Beyond driving IS out of Raqqa, the United States appears to have long-range plans for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in which the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) play a significant role.
Numerous claims are circulating that the United States will deploy forces to Syria's Tabqa base, which has been liberated from IS; that the YPG will be sent to al-Tanf base on the Iraq-Syria border, where Jordanian-based forces opposed to the Syrian regime are operating; and that after Raqqa the next target will be Deir ez-Zor, and Kurds will be tasked with challenging the Iranian elements. Those ideas — combined with the pro-Saudi position the United States has adopted in the crisis with Qatar — inevitably lead to the question of what's next for the US-Kurdish partnership.
A senior YPG commander who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity said the YPG is ready to go to anyplace in Syria to fight IS, but they will not agree to any alliance beyond that. He said Kurds see Iran as a problem but will not become part of a battle against it. They have no plans to move to al-Tanf, he said.
