Hey, those Kurds don't pay, Saudi Arabia does. Soooo...
by digby
Trump pulled the troops back from the Turkish border so that his pal Erdogan could slaughter the Kurds. This was, apparently, so that he could get into some news ones:
The Pentagon will deploy about 1,500 extra troops to Saudi Arabia in answer to requests by the leading US military commander in the Middle East and, in part, because the US Navy is unable to send a relief aircraft carrier to deter potential Iranian aggression, multiple US officials tell CNN.
The move to bolster troops in the Middle East comes as President Donald Trump's decision to pull back US military forces from northeastern Syria has prompted bipartisan criticism from lawmakers who say the President has given Turkey an opening to attack US Kurdish allies who helped in the fight against ISIS.
The Pentagon said Friday that the deployment to Saudi Arabia will include two fighter squadrons, one air expeditionary win, two Patriot batteries and one Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system.
Of course his criteria is that whoever gets military support are those who pay him personally and buy a bunch of weaponry from US contractors. (In the case of Saudi Arabia, they've promised but haven't actually signed the contract which proves that it's really just about giving Trump a photo op.)He believes that national security depends upon who pays the most. He doesn't understand why they might do that and hedoesn't care.
Sadly, the Kurds don't have the bank to pay for their defense and that means ISIS is probably going to make a big comeback.
Meanwhile:
A contingent of U.S. Special Forces has been caught up in Turkish shelling against U.S.-backed Kurdish positions in northern Syria, days after President Donald Trump told his Turkish counterpart he would withdraw U.S. troops from certain positions in the area.
Newsweek has learned through both an Iraqi Kurdish intelligence official and senior Pentagon official that Special Forces operating on Mashtenour hill in the majority-Kurdish city of Kobani fell under artillery fire from Turkish forces conducting their so-called "Operation Peace Spring" against Kurdish fighters backed by the U.S. but considered terrorist organizations by Turkey.
The senior Pentagon official said that Turkish forces should be aware of U.S. positions "down to the grid." The official could not specify the exact number of personnel present, but indicated they were "small numbers below company level," so somewhere between 15 and 100 troops.
Barbara Starr on CNN just reported that the Pentagon has a plan to withdraw all the troops from Syria if they are attacked by Turkey. I'll bet Trump thinks that's a terrific idea. He's got bigger fish to fry now.
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