President Donald Trump has “blood on his hands” for abandoning America’s Kurdish allies in Syria, according to retired General John Allen.
General Allen, who was a special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS (Islamic State) under the Obama administration, said the crisis in Syria was “entirely foreseeable” and claimed that “full-blown ethnic cleansing is under way by Turkish-supported militias”.
“This is what happens when Trump follows his instincts,” he told CNN. “I said there would be blood, but could not have imagined this outcome.”
The retired four-star Marine general and former commander of US forces in Afghanistan spoke out after Mr Trump ordered around 1,000 US troops to pull out of northern Syria, effectively leaving the way clear for the ongoing Turkish offensive against the Kurds.
The Kurds, who feel betrayed by the Americans they had fought alongside against Islamic State, last night struck a deal for Syrian forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad to join them in a major switch of alliances. Within hours Syrian regime soldiers began moving north to confront Turkish forces. This morning the country’s state news agency reported that government troops had entered the northern town of Tal Tamr close to Turkey’s border.
Sana said the Syrian army moved into the area to “confront the Turkish aggression”, without giving further details. The report said residents of Tal Tamr, about 12 miles from the border, welcomed the troops.
The dramatic change in allegiances — which is likely to further cement Assad’s hold on war-torn Syria — came after US Defence Secretary Mark Esper called the situation in Syria “untenable”. “We have American forces likely caught between two opposing advancing armies and it’s a very untenable situation,” Mr Esper said.
Turkey views elements of the Kurdish-led Syrian Defence Forces as terrorists and says it wants to drive them away from a “safe zone” reaching 18 miles into Syria. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to resettle up to two million Syrian refugees currently in Turkey within the zone, leading some critics to accuse it of plotting ethnic cleansing of the local Kurdish population. Speaking to reporters before traveling to Azerbaijan today, Mr Erdogan said his country would settle Arabs in the northern Syrian town of Manbij, and described the withdrawal of 1,000 US troops from northern Syria as a positive step.
Earlier he claimed Turkey’s troops controlled about 42 square miles, including 21 villages. There were reports yesterday that heavy fighting just south of the border resulted in hundreds of Islamic State supporters escaping from a Kurdish-run “displaced persons” camp in Ein Eissa.
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Unbowed by accusations that he effectively gave the Turkish invasion a green light by pulling out of Syria, Mr Trump tweeted last night that it was “very smart” not to be involved “for a change” in the fighting.
“Those that mistakenly got us into the Middle East Wars are still pushing to fight. They have no idea what a bad decision they have made,” he added.
He has faced criticism from fellow Republicans for the US withdrawal. Republicans in Congress are preparing legislation that would force the administration to impose sanctions on Turkey for its incursion into northern Syria.