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US Done Fighting Over 'Long-Bloodstained Sand' in Syria

Jeff Seldin

   WASHINGTON / WHITE HOUSE - The United States is "getting out" of Syria,
   no longer willing to spend blood and treasure in a country ripped apart
   by civil war now that the Islamic State terror group's self-declared
   caliphate is gone.

   President Donald Trump announced his decision at the White
   HouseonWednesday, saying that with a U.S.-brokered cease-fire between
   Turkey and U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria still
   holding, responsibility for peace in the region should be left to
   others.

   "We have done them a great service," Trump said of U.S. efforts to end
   fighting between Turkey, a NATO ally, and the mainly Kurdish Syrian
   Democratic Forces (SDF), who have been a key partner in the U.S.-led
   campaign to defeat IS.

   "This was an outcome created by us, the United States, and nobody
   else," he said. "Now we're getting out. ... Let someone else fight over
   this long-bloodstained sand."

   Syrian campaign

   Trump's announcement came hours after he said Turkeyassured the U.S.
   that the country's military campaign in northeastern Syria, aimed at
   clearing the Turkish-Syrian border of Kurdish fighters, whomAnkara
   regards as terrorists, was over.

   The initial reaction from Syrian Kurdish officials was muted.

     GEN.Mazloum:
     2. We THANK President Trump for his tireless efforts that stopped
     the brutal Turkish attack and jihadist groups on our people.
     -- Mustafa Bali (@mustefabali) [1]October 23, 2019

   In a statement posted on social media, SDF Commander General Mazloum
   Abdi thanked Trump "for his tireless efforts that stopped the brutal
   Turkish attack" and for the promise of continued U.S. support.

   But Abdi also said he spent time explaining "the Turkish violations"
   during the initial five-day pause in fighting that ended Tuesday.

   As the hours passed, other Kurdish officials expressed increasing
   displeasure.

   "This cannot be called a cease-fire,"IlhanAhmed, the executive
   president of the SDF's political wing, the Syrian Democratic Council,
   told U.S. lawmakers late Wednesday.

   "This is a continuation of the war," she said through a translator,
   adding, "This means that more people will be killed."

   Officials with the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in northeast
   Syria estimated that250 men, women and children hadbeen killed since
   Turkey launched its incursion following the withdrawal October 6 of
   U.S. special forces from near the Turkish-Syrian border.

   Another 300 have gone missing, and there have been allegations that
   dozens more have been injured as a result of the use of white
   phosphorus or chemical weapons--a charge Turkish officials vehemently
   deny.

   'Received promises'

   "We received promises from America," Ahmed said, explaining her sense
   of betrayal.

   "We were told wherever [U.S.] forces exist, we won't allow any attack
   [from Turkey]," she said. "For this reason, we trusted the U.S."

   Another Kurdish official, speaking on the condition of anonymity,
   described Trump's Wednesday announcement in equally stark terms.

   "It sounds to me that people of [northeast] Syria are being given up to
   the regime in Damascus," the official said.

   Trump, though, mostly dismissed such concerns.

   "We're achieving a much more stable area between Turkey and Syria,
   including a 20-mile-wide [30-kilometer-wide] safe zone," he said at the
   White House, adding itwas time for other countries to "get involved."

   "The nations in the region must ultimately take on the responsibility
   of helping Turkey and Syria police their border," he said.

   Trump also said that while he was lifting U.S. sanctions on Turkey, the
   U.S. reserved the right to reimpose new and more devastating punitive
   measures against Ankara if it failedto live up to its commitment to
   protect minorities and civilians.

   "We'll monitor the situation in Syria closely," a senior U.S.
   administration official said, adding that even with the continuing
   withdrawal of U.S. forces, "we have plenty of means and methods to do
   so."

   The official also said that, so far, Washington hadnot detected any
   evidence of forced population removals or ethnic cleansing.

References

   1. https://twitter.com/mustefabali/status/1187033970850123779?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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