Trump celebrates ‘great day for civilization’ as Pence, Pompeo secure Syria cease-fire and pullback

[NightHawkeye]

Trump celebrates ‘great day for civilization’ as Pence, Pompeo secure Syria cease-fire agreement

President Trump declared Thursday "a great day for civilization" as Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced terms of a cease-fire agreement that would end violence between Turkey and Kurds in Syria, following a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.

The deal is for a 120-hour cease-fire, during which time the Kurdish-led forces could pull back from the roughly 20-mile wide safe zone on the Turkish-Syrian border. All Turkish military operations under the recent offensive known as Operation Peace Spring will pause during that time, and the operation itself will come to an end entirely upon the completion of the Kurdish withdrawal, under the terms of the deal.​

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Good. For now.

 

[RocksInMyHead]

I'm not sure if it counts as a cease-fire if only one side agrees to it. The Kurds weren't involved at all in the negotiations and have not responded to it yet.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

I'm not sure if it counts as a cease-fire if only one side agrees to it. The Kurds weren't involved at all in the negotiations and have not responded to it yet.

haha... just thought it is good (GREAT!) if/when GOD stops 'shooting' at us, even if we have not responded to Him yet ......
I think overseas that the people who are not being fired upon sure appreciate it for the time being... even if it is not reciprocal.

 

[Kentonio]

So the ‘deal’ is that the Kurds (who weren’t consulted) are supposed to leave their homelands to the Turks and in return they won’t be slaughtered? That’s some interesting negotiating tactic.

 

[NightHawkeye]

So the ‘deal’ is that the Kurds (who weren’t consulted) are supposed to leave their homelands to the Turks and in return they won’t be slaughtered? That’s some interesting negotiating tactic.

I believe the deal is that the "terrorists" who have been conducting raids in Turkey are required to leave.

 

[Kentonio]

I believe the deal is that the "terrorists" who have been conducting raids in Turkey are required to leave.

Oh and how pray tell might the Turks identify these ‘terrorists’? Could it perhaps be by them being Kurdish? Or were those kids the Turks murdered also terrorists?

 

[RocksInMyHead]

I believe the deal is that the "terrorists" who have been conducting raids in Turkey are required to leave.

According to the article you linked, the deal is that all Kurdish-led forces have to pull back 20 miles from the border. Unless you accept Turkey's assertion that all the Kurdish forces are terrorists (which is not true), your understanding is incorrect.

 

[NightHawkeye]

According to the article you linked, the deal is that all Kurdish-led forces have to pull back 20 miles from the border. Unless you accept Turkey's assertion that all the Kurdish forces are terrorists (which is not true), your understanding is incorrect.

The YPG is apparently recognized as a terrorist group by the US government. Turkey is our NATO ally.

Maybe this should change ... but I'm not aware that anyone in congress is suggesting these designations should be changed.

 

[Hank77]

First speaker, VP Pence, begins at 14:00

 

[A_Thinker]

Trump celebrates ‘great day for civilization’ as Pence, Pompeo secure Syria cease-fire agreement

President Trump declared Thursday "a great day for civilization" as Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced terms of a cease-fire agreement that would end violence between Turkey and Kurds in Syria, following a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.

The deal is for a 120-hour cease-fire, during which time the Kurdish-led forces could pull back from the roughly 20-mile wide safe zone on the Turkish-Syrian border. All Turkish military operations under the recent offensive known as Operation Peace Spring will pause during that time, and the operation itself will come to an end entirely upon the completion of the Kurdish withdrawal, under the terms of the deal.​

That Trump could effectuate a 120 hour cease-fire to violence he allowed to begin is, indeed, a good thing.

Let's keep our fingers crossed ...

 

[RocksInMyHead]

The YPG is apparently recognized as a terrorist group by the US government. Turkey is our NATO ally.

Maybe this should change ... but I'm not aware that anyone in congress is suggesting these designations should be changed.

To be clear, the US considers the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) a terrorist organization. There are strong ties between the YPG and PKK, but the US has not, to my knowledge, officially designated the YPG as a terrorist group. Turkey has, though.

Also, I'd point out that the US negotiated a similar agreement earlier this year, where the Kurds agreed to take down their defenses and pull back from the border. Turkey still invaded, as soon as US troops were pulled back, despite that ceasefire. I can't see the Kurds agreeing to the same sort of agreement again given that Turkey already broke the last one, and this one will not have US troops enforcing it.

 

[DaisyDay]

The YPG is apparently recognized as a terrorist group by the US government. Turkey is our NATO ally.

From the BBC:

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fought alongside the US against the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria, and the US withdrawal has been condemned as the abandonment of an ally.

The SDF was not represented at the talks between Washington and Ankara, and have not yet commented on the developments.​

Maybe this should change ... but I'm not aware that anyone in congress is suggesting these designations should be changed.

Okay, and our former comrades in arms, the SDF?

 

[NightHawkeye]

Okay, and our former comrades in arms, the SDF?

What would you have the US do? Assad's not leaving. Erdogan's not leaving. The Mullahs in Iran aren't leaving. Iraq is still a quagmire created by the US.

Here's a map of Kurdish territory, btw:

 

[Tom 1]

Trump celebrates ‘great day for civilization’ as Pence, Pompeo secure Syria cease-fire agreement

President Trump declared Thursday "a great day for civilization" as Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced terms of a cease-fire agreement that would end violence between Turkey and Kurds in Syria, following a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.

The deal is for a 120-hour cease-fire, during which time the Kurdish-led forces could pull back from the roughly 20-mile wide safe zone on the Turkish-Syrian border. All Turkish military operations under the recent offensive known as Operation Peace Spring will pause during that time, and the operation itself will come to an end entirely upon the completion of the Kurdish withdrawal, under the terms of the deal.​

Uh what?

Good day for Erdogan, Putin and Rouhani. What civilization are they talking about? Is this better than when US allies and assorted civilians hadn't been killed yet?

 

[Tom 1]

What would you have the US do? Assad's not leaving. Erdogan's not leaving. The Mullahs in Iran aren't leaving. Iraq is still a quagmire created by the US.

Here's a map of Kurdish territory, btw:

The Kurds don't have any territory.

 

[Nithavela]

If the kurds pull back (I don't think they will), turkey will require another security zone for their security zone in a few months.

Erdogan will keep pushing until there are either no more kurds or his offensive gets too costly.

 

[wing2000]

[interesting how some adopt the Turkish talking points so quickly - not naming any names]

 

[NightHawkeye]

The Kurds don't have any territory.

Exactly!

The Kurds are a minority living within countries controlled by others. The Kurds are also not a monolithic block. The YPG in Syria is apparently a Marxist-Leninist group with real terrorist ties. The YPG is not the more western-friendly Kurd military group as in Iraq.

 

[NightHawkeye]

[interesting how some adopt the Turkish talking points so quickly - not naming any names]

It's funny how quickly many Democrats have become warhawks.