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Does Washington have a policy toward Syria’s Kurds?

The view from Washington about US policy toward Syria may be more confusing than it looks from Turkey.
People sit in the back of a truck as they celebrate what they said was the liberation of villages from Islamist rebels near the city of Ras al-Ain in the province of Hasakah, after capturing it from Islamist rebels November 6, 2013. Redur Xelil, spokesman for the armed wing of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), said Kurdish militias had seized the city of Ras al-Ain and all its surrounding villages. Syrian Kurdish fighters have captured more territory from Islamist rebels in northeastern Syria

A recent Financial Times blog ended by saying, “Welcome to the Middle East and have a nice day.”

I spent the last week in Washington, which coincided with the visit of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and every day I reread those lines:  “Welcome to the Middle East and have a nice day.”

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