BEIRUT \u2014 A senior Syrian Kurdish official said Washington would undermine the campaign against Islamic State militants and Americans would lose their place in the region\u2019s fight against terrorism if they \u201cturn their back\u201d on their only ally in Syria \u2014 the Kurds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The comments by Ilham Ahmed, a member of the political arm of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, were in response to the U.S. administration\u2019s suggestion that military aid to the Kurdish-led forces may be halted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the weekend, the White House and the Pentagon said there will be \u201cpending adjustments to the military support\u201d to the SDF, though there was no specific confirmation the arms flow would stop altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ahmed said nothing in the statements specifically indicates the arms supply would stop, but she added that the \u201cvague\u201d phrasing appears aimed at appeasing Turkey. Ankara sees the Syrian Kurdish fighters as an extension of its own insurgent group it labels \u201cterrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Such vague statements can be a double-edged sword, Ahmed said. She spoke to The Associated Press in a series of text messages from northern Syria late on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. said it will maintain its \u201cpresence to fight Daesh and to reinforce stability in liberated areas.\u201d This means, Ahmed said, the administration is \u201cstarting a new phase focused on stability and administration.\u201d Daesh is the Arabic name for ISIS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t judge what the Americans are thinking,\u201d Ahmed said. \u201cBut one thing is obviously clear, and that is if the Americans turn their back on their only partners (in Syria), it means they will withdraw from the fight against Daesh in the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf they really decide to stop the support, this means they are giving a chance for Daesh to re-appear and spread,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Trump administration announced in May it would start arming the Kurds in anticipation of the fight to retake the city of Raqqa, the de-facto capital of ISIS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Kurdish-led SDF liberated the city last month. They have been pushing down the Euphrates River Valley, chasing ISIS militants along the border with Iraq and east of the river, capturing oil and gas fields and securing the Kurdish forces\u2019 hold in northern and eastern Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following a call between President Donald Trump and Turkey\u2019s Recep Tayyib Erdogan on Friday, the White House said there will be \u201cpending adjustments to the military support provided to our partners on the ground in Syria, now that the battle of Raqqa is complete.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are progressing into a stabilization phase to ensure that ISIS cannot return,\u201d the White House said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The SDF is now believed to be in control of about 25 percent of Syria and they fear that a U.S. withdrawal may pit them against Syrian government troops and their allies, in the absence of a political agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are now about 1,500 U.S. troops in Syria that initially came to train and support the SDF in the anti-ISIS campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A senior Syrian Kurdish official said Washington would undermine the campaign against Islamic State militants and Americans would lose their place in the region\u2019s fight against terrorism if they \u201cturn their back\u201d on their only ally in Syria \u2014 the Kurds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":53982,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,8,12,26,62],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1213],"class_list":["post-25470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"PBZA6JVOP5FZNCMGV5O2B4CLZ4","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2017\/11\/28\/syrian-kurdish-official-to-us-dont-turn-your-back-on-us\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n