Pentagon: US Does Not Support Kurdish Forces In Afrin

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The US does not support the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria’s Afrin and the area was not a part of US-led coalition operations against ISIS, the spokesman of the US-led coalition Col. Ryan Dillon said in a written statement to the Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu on January 16.

“The Coalition’s mission has not changed: to defeat ISIS [Daesh] in designated areas of Iraq and Syria and set conditions for follow-on operations to increase regional stability,” he said in a response to Anadolu ‘s question as to whether the US or the coalition would support Kurdish forces in Afrin where Turkish forces may launch opeartion soon. “We are not operating in Afrin. We are supporting our partners in defeating remaining ISIS pockets along the Middle Euphrates River Valley, specifically in areas north of Abu Kamal, on the eastern side of the Euphrates River.”

Meanwhile, the Turkish military deployed more military equipment including at least 10 battle tanks near the YGP-held area of Afrin and continued shelling YPG positions there.

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PZIVJ
Is Afrin being thrown under the bus?
The Kurds can see their future here.
- Terra Cotta Woolpuller
  The US won’t admit a presence due to showing them to be fully complicit in the destruction of Syria it’s bad PR drawing the public to the fact what everybody has been saying all along.
  Well on a lighter note 3 dead Iranians, 2 kurds 1 baloush being among the top commanders in Al Qaeda factions. There have been several leaders and the top spox for the FSA dead all of these guys are foreigners again,lol.
  - Graeme Rymill
    “The US won’t admit a presence…”
    From today’s AMN:
    “Unlike the Hasakah and Al-Raqqa governorates, the Kurdish forces are not entrenched with the U.S. military, which is a serious problem given Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s latest threats”
    https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/turkish-forces-surround-kurdish-enclave-northern-syria-map/
    - Carol Davidek-Waller
      Got trolls?
      - Graeme Rymill
        Even quoting AMN gets you called a troll!!!!!!
        Got brain?
  - Margaret
    Go-o-gle is p-a-ying $97 per hour,w-i-th weekly payo-u-ts.You can also avail th-i-s.O-n tuesday I got a brand new Land Rover Range Rover from having ea-r-ned $11752 this last four weeks..w-i-th-out any doubt it’s t-h-e most-comfortable job I have ever done .. It so-u-nds unbelievable but you wont forgive your-s-elf if you don’t check it!jw141n:>>> http://GoogleDailyConsumerDayJornalsJobsReport1/easy/jobs… ♥♥♥k♥♥n♥p♥u♥♥♥h♥c♥♥w♥y♥♥z♥i♥f♥♥k♥v♥u♥♥g♥♥m♥♥♥x♥♥n♥♥♥m♥♥♥n♥♥♥q♥♥♥u♥♥♥r♥♥♥j♥o:::::!ox632v:lhuhu
  - You can call me Al
    You mean Sunni Iranians with AQ ?, if so good result.
    - Terra Cotta Woolpuller
      Yes Iranian Al Qaeda in HTS 2 kurds 1 baloush , Found out more on the 4 FSA dead and 3 wounded in Daraa apparently the commander was scouting on a bike in SAA territory and they came upon a patrol who found them. What happened next was a tank arrived and killing the rider of the bike and then a firefight ensued up killing 3 and wounding 3, so much for the alleged assassination report.
- Graeme Rymill
  “Is Afrin being thrown under the bus?”
  Not by the US… there has never been a public undertaking by the US to defend or protect the Afrin canton.
  - PZIVJ
    But no doubt the Afrin area has received material support from the US SDF area, but it’s not official support. My point: is this ass Dillon giving Erdogan a green light here?
    - Tommy Jensen
      Washing hands.
    - Graeme Rymill
      “no doubt the Afrin area has received material support from the US SDF area”
      lol… “no doubt” but no evidence either…..
  - Tudor Miron
    Yeah! USA never armed Kurds :) and never promised them help and protection. They (US) would never try to form so called “border forces” consisting of 30k “freedom fighters” :)
    - Graeme Rymill
      None of those things you list apply to the Afrin canton. Because of its geographic position it has been isolated from the fight against ISIS that the SDF has conducted. This is zero evidence of the US arming Kurds in Afrin canton. The border forces doesn’t apply to Afrin.
      - Tudor Miron
        Do you really mean that Kurds in Afrin are completely separate entity from Kurds in SDF??? Do you expect others to believe that?
      - Graeme Rymill
        The Afrin canton is one of several cantons in the Autonomous Regions of Rojava founded on the principle of local self-government.So Afrin is self governing. This is a federal system. So Afrin is both geographically separate and politically autonomous. Of course there are political, cultural and ethnic bonds between the various autonomous regions.
        Turkey some time ago, to the displeasure of the US, released a map of all the US bases in Northern Syria. Not a single US base was shown in Afrin canton. Can you show me any evidence that the Afrin Kurds have been armed by the US? I have never seen any.
      - Tudor Miron
        I suggest we just wait and see.
      - alanya internet
        what about the corridor (to carry oil) from kirkuk to mediterrinean? would USA not want that? haven’t you seen kurdish advance towards west? who would that corridor serve to? and that force wouldn’t be supportive of kurds in afrin?
      - Graeme Rymill
        The Turkish Operation Euphrates Shield (August 2016 to March 2017) effectively ended the Kurdish advance west.
        I know of no oil pipeline that is intended to pass through Afrin. The existing (damaged?) Kirkuk pipeline passes to the north of Afrin in Turkish territory. There is a proposal to build a new pipeline but it would follow the existing pipeline which bypasses Syrian territory entirely.
  - George King
    Don’t underestimate the importance of Afrin and its geopolitical location and Kurdish populations connecting to the Sea. That would be the link escape from the land lock by its “we will never allow the creation of another Israel in the ME” crowd Turkey, Syria, Iraq and of course Iran. There will be no link to the Sea or free standing Kurdistan.
    - Graeme Rymill
      That Kurdish homeland stretching to the Mediterranean was no doubt a real ambition of the Kurds. As events have unfolded though this can be no more than a dream. Unless of course you see the US going to war with both Turkey and Syria. I don’t know what the fate of Afrin will be except that ot won’t be part of a greater Kurdistan.
  - Langaniso Mhlobo
    So you mean there is no SDF.No manpads given to Kurds.
    - Graeme Rymill
      Manpads given to the Kurds is just a rumour. Time will tell if it is true or not.
      I am fairly sure though that there is a SDF though!
      - Langaniso Mhlobo
        Graeme thank you man.
- BMWA1
  It’s more like a la carte under bus.
- Tommy Jensen
  We see our future in the dollares Americans/Israel gave us and the dollares they give us today………..LOL.
  To hell with the bus.
  - Langaniso Mhlobo
    In return enjoy being make zombi,satanist,vampires, gays,physco and batise with pork blood.Democracy of terrorism is coming as inclusive package.
- Jonathan Cohen
  ABORTION RIGHTS IN AFRIN!
  - PZIVJ
    ABORTION RIGHTS FOR YOUR MOM :D
    - Garga
      I’m afraid it’s a bit late, the damage is done!
    - Jonathan Cohen
      Yours too.
    - Bob
      Iol
  - 888mladen .
    Pity your mom had no abortion rights.
cortisol
Again, how can the goal be to defeat ISIS when at the same time USA is harboring them in their new, temporarily occupied territory?
- Terra Cotta Woolpuller
  The USA has no goal but extracting their mercenaries out and moving to other illegally occupied US areas. The US has built a super base in Northern Syria approx. 35,000 KM2 basically bigger than all of Lebanon. Then we have Charles Lister holding a discussion on Iran with no Iranians as keynote speakers. The US home to terrorism exporting and develops biochem weapons in violation of the CWC and Geneva convention.
  - Graeme Rymill
    Are you saying all SDF controlled territory is just one big US super base? If so then 35,000 sq km is likely an underestimate. The latest figures I have seen say the SDF control 51,000 sq km:
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DTMTAg8U8AA-KUX.jpg
    - Tudor Miron
      SDF’s future is very similar to that of their friends in Afrin, Iraqi Kurdistan and others – “Under the bus”. If they think that “we’re different than other Kurds that were used and thrown out the window later” than it is their future. If they realise that they should be loyal to their country (Syria in this case) than they will win in the long run. Lets wait and see.
      - cortisol
        I foresee that as well. Afrin is the beginning of domino falls regarding US “support”. It might take a year to happen but one way or the other, preferably diplomatically SDF territories will be absorbed back, or face attacks from all possible fronts (once ISIS/qaeda/HTS etc. are finished in Idlib, Hama, Damascus and Golan).
      - Joe
        The main losers will be the Kurds as there is no way the Kurds can survive boxed in against powerful ASSAD’s allies .
        And to have a separate state is just impossible only morons think it can be successful.
        If Kurds fight it out, the only possible outcome will be defeat and banned from Syria which I don’t think the Kurds want to risk it.
        So Sochi will decide. The rest all talk. Notice Putin is quiet all the time? Let those fools fantasize
      - Graeme Rymill
        You may well be right Tudor. The US has publicly committed to the SDF where it didn’t make that commitment to the Iraqi Kurds or the Afrin Kurds.
        But these are just words from the US. It remains to be seen what that commitement translates to if it come to confrontation.
    - as
      SDF dominated Kurds will have to keep their allies in check. But oh well they’re ‘Kurds’ they should be much better than the Arabs.
    - Sinbad2
      The map is just more American BS, there are only 2 groups in Syria, the Syrian Government, and the American Government.
- Carol Davidek-Waller
  In the Pentagon there are liars and damn liars. Take your pick.
  The only thing they seem to be good at is sucking up our money to little or no effect.
FlorianGeyer
Every time I see a picture of Col. Ryan Dillon it reminds me of Bart Simpson :)
- Terra Cotta Woolpuller
  Why is it because like Bart he says “it wasn’t me man!” while holding the slingshot! LMAO!!
- Tommy Jensen
  Im American and I would never lie to you guys.
Terra Cotta Woolpuller
My question is what the hell are you doing, your contribution has been minimal at best, seems like all you are doing is some illegal camping. People are running thin on patience with this deflection and obfuscation and not shouldering any responsibility for your actions of regime change and attempted in the area. Time to shut up and put up or step the fuck out!!
- Sinbad2
  “My question is what the hell are you doing”
  Spending money, lots of money, pity the poor people of Syria, but everyday of profligate spending brings the American collapse closer.
  - George King
    The US MIC is so entrenched they smother any sane planning, maybe out of the box thinking. Sometimes the common sense planning a stable future is just not profitable for them. In fact it would be to their demise into the 5% MIC budget of most countries.
    The U.S. military budget is $824.6 billion. That’s the budget for Fiscal Year 2018 which covers the period October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Military spending is the second largest federal government expenditure after Social Security at $1 trillion. The US is over 20 Trillion and counting that is public!
    Here is the real deal. Build pipeline and high speed land transport across the Bering Straight which is only 35 miles wide and shallow depth. The pipeline would connect up to the existing Alaska pipeline down into the lower 48 states. This will end the ME oil wars along with some added bonuses. Bring the troops home and join building the infrastructure to infuse the future with their their Treasure, Commons and Unalienable Rights.
    You take the blue pill—the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill—you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember: all I’m offering is the truth.
XJ5
The Kurds illogical wanting of of a homeland from the long gone “Ottom Empire” has lead The Kurds to take up some strange bed fellows. The Western Devils who drew the lines of The Middle East which deprived the Kurds of a homeland in the first place and Israel Jesw who are one of the biggest cancers in the middle East.
Un Jong Kim
This statement is nothing but a delaying tactic. Since the beginning, the U.S. has described terrorist PYD/PKK as “our land force in Syria” and until today, the total amount of weaponry given to the militant group by the Americans is over 4,900 trucks.
The recent U.S. plan to form a terror army in northern Syria is the continuation of the same strategy in an attempt to legitimize the terrorist group and use it against Turkey, Iran and Iraq in the future as a permanent element of conflict and destabilization.
The most urgent and necessary thing Turkish government should do at this point is cooperation with Syria. Then, there will not be any U.S.-backed seperatist or Islamist terror left in northern Syria in a short span of time.
- Tommy Jensen
  Sure. But Turkey not only have bloody hands, they also back radical militants worse than YPG.
  Black death or Cholera?
matt
Erdogan needs to be killed like Mussolini
François
Afrin SDF are dead….But next will come FSA and HTS turks proxis…
Manuel Flores Escobar
Nothing special..USA use Kurds to deploy forces inside Syria and to take oil fields….now USA have the oil fields and the bases…so Afrin can be crushed!
Tommy Jensen
“We do not deliver weapons to Kurds from now on”.
“We do not bomb hospitals”.
“We do not support terrorists”.
“We do not extract heroine in Afghanistan”.
“We do support regime changes”.
“We do not torture people in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo”.
“We do not support Kurdish Forces”.
“US is not a shethole country”.
Tudor Miron
What can I say… Oops! :D
I remember Solomon posted today that “kurds do what is the best for them. now america gives better guarantees then assad. this is assads failure.”(c)
I wanted to reply that if Kurds rely on USA “guarantees” than they are even less smart than I thought they are but now he might realise something himself, can he?
- Graeme Rymill
  Shut your eyes for a second Tudor and (shock! horror!) pretend you are a Kurd.
  It is 2014 and Kobani is under severe attack by ISIS. It looks like all the Kurdish areas of northern Syria will fall to ISIS. What can Assad reasonably offer in the way of assistance? Nothing! “Please wait 3 or 4 years under the ISIS yoke and we will come and free you”. The US on the other hand could offer air support, artillery, arms, hummers, logistics and training.
  Is it any surprise that the Kurds turned to the US? I don’t describe it as an Assad failure. The Syrian government had its hands full. But to expect the Kurds to reject the US and meekly accept ISIS domination for years just wasn’t a real option.
  Three years or so later Syria now has to deal with the fallout from those inevitable decisions that both Assad and the Kurds made. If the will is there a peaceful solution is possible.
Wegan
They don’t need help. Erdogan is just barking. He was never able to fix the kurdish problem at home let alone in someone else’s. The best play for the US and Israel is create a kurdistan in Turkey, not only they will have a grateful for life partner. But they will be able to ditch a horribly unreliable one. Europe will also be so happy that they won’t need to deal with him anymore (Erdogan). As of late turkey looked and sounded like a beggar, they want to join the EU so bad that they became pathetic. Looking like a beaten dog looking the love of his master.
The largest kurdish population lives in Turkey, the US will be able to destabilize the middle east at will with these guys and have a an insane leverage over the arabs, of course they would not mind adding some extra territory from Syria. And instead of greater Israel, there will be a greater Kurdistan.
- Tommy Jensen
  Its also my impression Erdogan is just barking. He dont have the guts to go the line:
  Out of NATO, join Russia/China/SCO fully, partner with Assad and Iran to kick the hell out of Kurdistan.
  He keeps open the door for Germany/EU/NATO, picking gold bags in Iraq and Syria and bark at US.
  But what do we know whats behind the scenes.
King_GeorgXIII
The US cant do anything, they just should march in all Syria Turkey iran iraq! The show is called Its not about ISIS!
- Sinbad2
  Oh, The grand old Duke of Trump,
  He had ten thousand men;
  He marched them up to the top of the hill,
  And he marched them down again.
  And when they were up, they were up,
  And when they were down, they were down,
  And when they were only half-way up,
  They were neither up nor down
- Boris Kazlov
  That is expensive war, US prefers cheap war (casualties-wise), but the defeat of their proxies obliges now to wage expensive war, the masks have been torn off.
John Mason
Doing a back flip and this should be a warning to the Kurds what the US is really like. Time for the Kurds to distance themselves from the US and show some patriotism towards the country that gave them citizenship, Syria.
- purplelibraryguy
  I doubt the Kurds have a lot of illusions there. For one thing, the YPG are a bunch of radical lefties, and the track record of how the US treats radical lefties makes chilling reading. They must know that fundamentally the Americans hate their guts and are just waiting till they’re not needed to betray them.
  But in the mean time, they’re using the Americans to get territory, money and materiel. When the Americans walk away, they’re no worse off than before the Americans were on their side, and they’ve got more stuff to defend themselves with.
Langaniso Mhlobo
Dillon lies like a devil who cares whether USA supports Kurdsh or gosh Kurds.What we know is both USA and their terrorist will be defeated.
Carol Davidek-Waller
Dillon’s mission statement is one prevarication after another. No reason to think the Afrin denial is more reliable than the rest of it.
- Graeme Rymill
  So are you suggesting that the US will intervene on behalf of the Afrin Kurds? I don’t believe that they will but we will see…..
888mladen .
It’s not directly related to what’s happening in Afrin but it’s related to the Vatican-US-Zionist project of partitioning Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran and creation of a new entity in the ME Kurdistan by name fully controlled by Its masters.
https://muraselon.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/krg-pope.jpeg
Bolter10
YPG are not supported now, that might change as with FSA, they are only tools being used bu USA.
Langaniso Mhlobo
What this terrorist commander is saying is USA has already provided manpads and weapons.It won’t help directly but will air drop weapons.
- You can call me Al
  He is also saying that the US are there to stay….”“to defeat ISIS [Daesh] in designated areas of Iraq and Syria and set conditions for follow-on operations to increase regional stability,”.
  I just hope that one day, the SDF understand that the US will drop them in a second if required – then returns back to their autonomous region and hands back the East of the Euphrates.
  - Langaniso Mhlobo
    Just two days back Tillerson said USA does not support Afrin Kurds.He also deny border forces of 30000.
    - You can call me Al
      Yes they did and what did they say earlier today ?. I honestly cannot keep up with their 2 or 3 policies.
Floyd Hazzard
That Kurdish Enclave in Afrin would be extremely stupid not to surrender the area to the legitimate government of Syria while it has a chance to do so. They have been abandoned to their fate with the Turks otherwise.
Mashashi Saburo
the Kurds would make a better ally of NATO than a double headed snake Turkey anyday. Just saying.

Pentagon: US Does Not Support Kurdish Forces In Afrin

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