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Erdogan Smells a United States Rat by Finian Cunningham!
(2020-03-07 at 09:39:42 )
Erdogan Smells a United States Rat by Finian Cunningham!
Well, it takes one to know one. The foul scheming and intrigues over the past nine years of war in Syria by the foreign aggressors and their terror proxies will have proven one thing to all the criminal accomplices - none of them can be trusted, even when they claim to be "partners".
Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who went to Moscow this week, wanted a deeper withdrawal of the Syrian army in Idlib province and he did not get it. The upshot is that more Syrian territory has been retaken by Syrias state forces - despite all the bluster from Mr. Erdogan vowing victory and rollback.
What happened is that the Turkish president no doubt smelled a rat from Washington,D.C.s lack of military support.
Mr. Erdogan knew if a military escalation occurred, his forces would be left out to hang and dry by its supposed NATO partner. All the United States of American talk about "fully backing" Turkey failed to materialize beyond hot air.
Recall that when violence flared last month between Turkish and Syrian forces, United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pledged on February 11 that Washington,D.C. "would stand by its NATO ally". As the violence increased along with the body count of Turkish troops, the United States did not deliver - despite Ankaras earnest requests two weeks ago for Patriot missiles. Requests that went unanswered.
Washington,D.C. knew that Syria and its Russian ally were not backing down from the principle of defeating terror groups on Syrian soil regardless of whether the militants are being given cover by Turkish artillery.
Syria has impeccable sovereign right to take back control over every square inch of its territory. Russia has stood full square behind its Syrian ally for that objective.
On March 5 when Mr. Erdogan flew to Moscow, he must have had that sinking feeling, knowing that Washington,D.C. was firing rhetorical blanks.
On the same day, Mr. Pompeo demanded that the Turkish leader should negotiate a withdrawal of Syrian army back to the Sochi ceasefire lines of 2018. But after six hours of negotiations with Mr. Putin, Mr. Erdogan settled for a lot less - a truce based on current territorial positions, including gains made in recent weeks by the Syrian army.
On his way to Moscow all that Mr. Erdogan was getting from Washington,D.C. were more vague hints that the United States was still "considering" supplying military ammunition to Turkey.
Probably the ominous sign for Mr. Erdogan that Washington,D.C. was going soft was the PR stunt on March 3 when two relatively minor United States envoys visited the White Helmets terrorist propaganda unit in Idlib offering "humanitarian aid".
That kind of media support does not quite fit the bill for Patriot missiles and United States of American warplanes that Ankara was really after.
Moreover one of the envoys, James Jeffrey, told a conference in Istanbul on March 5 that the United States was "pressuring European NATO allies to give more support to Turkey".
As Hurriyet Daily News reported, the United States envoy was responding to a question during regarding Washington,D.C.s views about concrete military support to Turkey.
"We are pressuring our European allies to make contribution to this issue," said Jeffrey. "There is a Spanish Patriot missile defense unit right now deployed in Turkey at the Incirlik airbase, that is an example of things that NATO is actually doing, and we want to see more actions like that."
This was being said as Mr. Erdogan flew to Moscow for his "face off" with Mr. Putin. In other words, the Turkish president knew that the United States was all talk and no action.
Damascus and Moscow have called Mr. Erdogan and Washington,D.C.s bluff. There will be no escalation in Syria to an international conflict because Mr. Erdogan and his master in Washington,D.C. do not have the cojones.
Syria has every right to rid its land of terrorists and their NATO patrons. And Syria has Russias back.
While Ankara knows all it can count on is a Washington,D.C. rat.
Reprinted here from the "Strategic Culture Foundation" provides a platform for exclusive analysis, research and policy comment on Eurasian and global affairs. We are covering political, economic, social and security issues worldwide. Since 2005 our journal has published thousands of analytical briefs and commentaries with the unique perspective of independent contributors. SCF works to broaden and diversify expert discussion by focusing on hidden aspects of international politics and unconventional thinking. Benefiting from the expanding power of the Internet, we work to spread reliable information, critical thought and progressive ideas.