The Article below was published in Vol. 135, Issue 2 of the Lake Forest College Stentor on October 18, 2019
By Maryam Javed ’21
Opinions Editor
The bloody civil war in Syria has been raging for almost a decade now. Tensions have recently escalated further since President Donald Trump withdrew American troops from the region of Rojava in Northern Syria, predominantly inhabited by Kurds and Assyrians, which paved the way for Turkish forces to invade. Turkish military forces consider the Kurds in this region, the YPG, The People’s Protection Units, a defense group that formed as a result of the Syrian civil war, as terrorists. They believe the YPG’s political party shares the same ideology as the PKK, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party rebels in Turkey, which led Turkish military forces to invade the region and resulted in innocent civilian deaths. I think it was a horrible mistake on President Trump’s part to withdraw the troops from such a sensitive region in Syria, reversing years of American foreign policy plans in the country.
Traditionally, the US has always sided with the YPG and saw the Kurds as an important ally, especially against major threats like ISIS. The US allied with YPG because it was neutral between the rebels and Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, and used this group to build an alliance with Arabs and fight ISIS. The American government then tried to use this new alliance, the SDF, the Syrian Democratic Forces, which is primarily composed of minority groups in Syria such as the Kurds and Assyrians, to defeat ISIS. With this withdrawal of US troops. Turkish military forces saw a perfect opportunity to invade the region and carry out their military operations. They believe they are eliminating a major threat and do not care if they have the world’s support or not. President Trump does not support Erdogan, the leader of Turkey’s actions; however, he has said he would impose several sanctions on Turkey.
I believe that Turkey’s invasion of the region was a completely avoidable crisis. If President Trump communicated with the SDF properly and planned accordingly, this conflict could have been entirely averted. The Syrians in this area were shocked when American troops were withdrawn and felt betrayed with no support from the United States. Multiple civilians, including children, are reported to be dead as a result of airstrikes brought forth by Turkey in civilian areas near the cities of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn, causing utter turmoil.
This decision President Trump made is something that, I believe, reflects his poor foreign-policy skills and rash decision-making. This is just another example of President Trump not communicating with other countries effectively. By withdrawing the troops in Syria, he caused the United States to lose an important ally fighting against terrorists. In the future, it seems unlikely that SDF forces will cooperate with US military forces again because of this great betrayal. Even several members of the US’s military forces previously in the region expressed great disdain towards his decision. The current situation in Syria continues to worsen. President Trump should have considered the implications of the country and how much the people have endured within the last eight years. With Turkey’s airstrike and ongoing violence, civilians grow more frustrated and are struggling to be hopeful for peace in the region.
Maryam Javed can be reached at javedm@mx.lakeforest.edu.
