Quote:General Mazloum Abdi, the pre-eminent military leader of the Syrian Kurds, thanked President Donald Trump on Wednesday for his efforts in stopping a Turkish offensive and negotiating a cease-fire.

General Mazloum, who leads the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), issued his statement shortly after the president announced the U.S. was lifting economic sanctions on Turkey in return for its commitment to a “permanent” cease-fire.

That commitment had been announced the day before, when Russia and Turkey agreed to joint patrols within 10 km of the Syria-Turkey border, and the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) agreed to withdraw 30 km south of the border.

General Mazloum’s statement was announced via Twitter by Mustafa Bali, a spokesperson for the SDF.

President Trump reciprocated soon afterwards:

Trump hailed the new arrangement on Wednesday, declaring that the U.S. was “willing to take blame and we’re also willing to take credit” for the new cease-fire.

“We are achieving a much more peaceful and stable area between turkey and syria, including a 20-mile wide safe zone,” he said.

The president added: “Turkey, Syria, and all forms of the Kurds have been fighting for centuries. we have done them a great service and we have done a great job for all of them. And now we’re getting out. … Let someone else fight over this long blood-stained sand.”

He added that he had spoken with General Mazloum, who thanked him and assured him that members of the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) would remain in prison.

The new arrangement had been accomplished, Trump noted, “without spilling American blood.

“After all of the precious blood and treasure America has poured into the deserts of the Middle East, I am committed to pursuing a different course, one that leads to victory for America,” he said.

(10-23-2019 04:02 PM)JMUDunk Wrote:  Just exhausting.

(10-24-2019 09:32 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  I have two questions.

One, whom do we want to win in Syria? 1) Daesh/ISIS, 2) Syria/Russia/Iran, or the new guys 3) Turkey? Because those are the choices.

I can't come up with a good reason why we want any of them to win. In fact, I think the best result for us might be for all of them to get bogged down and stay bogged down in an endless conflict with no sign of victory. If they kill each other, then we don't have to. Which leads to my second question.

Two, if we don't want anybody to win, why are we even there?

Never fight a war that you don't intend to win. Vietnam should have taught us that, but apparently it didn't. Never, never, never, never fight a war that you don't anyone to win. Syria is never, never land.