Trump blasted by US veterans for ‘abandoning’ Kurdish allies

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has come under angry criticism from US military veterans for abandoning Kurdish battlefield allies after greenlighting Turkey´s assault on the Kurds in northeastern Syria.

Turkish troops and aircraft launched their long-awaited assault into Syria Wednesday after Trump ordered US troops in the area pulled back, leaving the Kurds — whom Ankara calls a terror threat — fully exposed. Former Middle East commander Joseph Votel has accused Trump of giving up longstanding allies who, as the core of the Syrian Democratic Forces, were crucial in the half-decade campaign to crush the Islamic State group.

“This policy abandonment threatens to undo five years´ worth of fighting against ISIS and will severely damage American credibility and reliability in any future fights where we need strong allies,” Votel, who retired earlier this year, wrote in The Atlantic. “The SDF freed tens of thousands of square miles and millions of people from the grip of ISIS. Throughout the fight, it sustained nearly 11,000 casualties,” he said. By comparison, he noted, only six US troops and two American civilians were killed in that campaign. Trump has said he wants to end the US involvement in Syria and also explained that the US cannot do anything about a centuries-old hate between the Turks and Kurds.