Alwaght- The Russian sudden and all-out stepping in the Syrian crisis has foiled the US and its allies’ plans in Syria, and the possible success of the Russia-Iran alliance in fighting against terrorism in Syria could push back Washington from West Asian region. So the Americans are developing plans including capture of Raqqa, a city in Syria’s north and a stronghold for the ISIS terrorist group, and the self-declared Islamic State to seize the initiative from Moscow in what is called the US-led war against ISIS to hamper Russia and Iran’s win in Syria, however, it is turning out that these US plots, as their precedents, are stillborn.
The Washington Post has reported that the city of Raqqa, the center of the self-declared ISIS's caliphate, is the White House’s next focus point to arrange a new fight there. The report suggests that shift in the US approach comes after its $500 million plan for training and equipping the Syrian opposition groups ended in failure. Fruitless plan which was nominally against ISIS terrorists, but in fact was aimed to fight the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces. According to the US officials, Washington’s recent initiative intends sending the allocated arms and resources to the opposition fighters engaged in battling the ISIS terrorist group in northern Syria. Recently, a US army aircraft delivered 50 tons of ammunitions to Syrian president’s opponent fighters, but there are contradictory reports on what military group has received the US arms.
The Washington Post quoted the Syrian Kurdish commanders, who are fighting within Kurdish People’s Protection Units, as saying that the 50-ton arms cargo has been taken by Syrian Kurdish units, however, the Washington’s officials suggested that the arms load has been received by the “ Syria's moderate Arab rebels.” The US emphasized that the arms were delivered to the Syrian opposition fighters and not to the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, and it was set that the arms would be immediately used to press the ISIS fighters in Raqqa city’s outskirts, Steve Warren, the US army’s Colonel, told the reporters. These all uncertainties concerning the US arms cargo’s fate are very likely linked to the Turkey’s concerns over Kurdish People’s Protection Units’ achievement of advanced arms, because Ankara views the Syria's armed kurdish units as Syrian branch of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a group listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey.
The US big challenge in northern Syria
The US has repeatedly admitted that there is no trustable opposition group on the ground to make use of the American jets’ airstrikes, and the Kurdish People’s Protection Units are the only qualified groups to battle ISIS. Therefore, US-Turkey discord over the Kurds’ role is the biggest challenge facing any plan Washington is proposing in northern Syria. Earlier, the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kurdish Units were set to be a linking ring between US and Russia, using the American arms and the Russian air raids to confront the ISIS takfiris, an issue not appealing to Turkey. The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused on Saturday the Kurdish groups of attempting to take control of Syria’s north. “We will not let Kurds seize control of northern Syria”, Erdogan added.
The President Erdogan continued that this issue - Kurdish control of northern Syria- was a threat to Turkey and it was impossible for Ankara to say yes to such a threat. The Turkish president’s remarks has come after the Kurdish defense units had announced that Tell Abyad town in Raqqa city, which shares border with Turkey, has been joined to their areas of control. The majority of Tell Abyad’s population is made up of Syrian Arab Sunnis, and the Kurdish People’s Protection Units said it would be governed autonomously.
Washington and Riyadh beef up aid for Syrian opposition
At the time when The Washington Post’s report was published, the US Department of Sate issued a statement noting that the US and Saudi Arabia have agreed that as the efforts to find a political solution to end the conflict in Syria were being pursued, they would increase supports for the Syrian moderate opposition in the face of Syria's government. But in the statement the details about the quality of supports set to be delivered to Bashar al-Assad’s “moderate opposition” have not been mentioned.
The US and its allies’ emphasis on the moderate opposition comes as observers argue that there is no moderate group in Syria, and even Washington has recently announced officially that the $500 million CIA and Pentagon’s plan for training the Syria’s moderate rebels has failed. The Americans have sought to capture Raqqa while they have serious challenges with their allies over armed groups to help. On the other side, the reports suggest that the Kurds are not interested to advance south to capture Raqqa, preferring to strengthen their domination over the areas under their control. The US wonders whom to support in northern Syria, as the Washington Post acknowledged that the US plan has taken a wrong path since its onset.
