U.S. vs. Turkey in Syria

The opposition between the U.S. and Turkey in Syria is not news. But one does not always read such a clear report of it working out on the ground as this one:

“ALEPPO – Subsequent to fierce clashes with the western-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Islamist rebels were able Wednesday to recapture areas in Syria’s northern province of Aleppo, local sources reported.

“Local activists confirmed that a number of Islamist factions, backed by Turkish artillery shelling, were able to deter an SDF-led offensive on their positions and seize control of areas fell to the latter earlier on Tuesday.

“The SDF forces include the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), Arab and Christian fighters –mainly supported by the United States in the war on radical Islamists.”

Gaddafi was anti-radical Islamists and cooperated with the U.S., only to be slaughtered and Libya sent into turmoil with U.S. participation and leadership. Turkey supports radical Islamists while being an ally of the U.S. and a NATO member. The U.S. supports anti-radical Islamist forces in Syria. The U.S. is also fighting Islamist forces in Iraq.

A major anomaly here is the U.S. overthrow of Gaddafi and his government, and that’s what Obama and Clinton supported. The two of them obviously made a huge blunder, maybe not as great as Bush’s attack on Iraq (and what disaster would have happened if his eagerness to attack Iran had not been thwarted), but still a huge blunder that indicates enormous ineptitude. A second major anomaly is the opposition between the two supposed allies, Turkey and the U.S. That alliance is due in part to the hangover from the Cold War and the failure of Bush I and Bill Clinton to end it on a permanent basis by dissolving NATO and winding down the U.S. presence in Europe and Asia.

U.S. blunders and failures combined with an expansionist policy, a unipolar policy, an exceptionalist attitude, a religionist policy of spreading democracy, a powerful military lobby and position, and a policy of U.S. superiority lie at the roots of these anomalies and contradictions. Taking over the world or attempting to bring together or to absorb disparate factions and countries that have antagonisms and conflicts under one roof or rule or system is bound to lead to situations where the U.S. is supporting two sides that are hostile to one another or is supporting a side like Turkey that’s hostile to another side being supported like anti-Assad Kurd forces. The utopian goal of world domination by the U.S, in one way or another, leads to the interventions and the contradictions.

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