Name: I'm an American National Guard Captain. I Didn't Enlist to Abandon our Kurdish Allies | NYT Opinion
Uploaded: 2020-03-25T07:47:45.000Z
Duration: 3 min 10 s
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Three months ago, I was in northern Syria

with the Army’s 34th Infantry Division.

announced he was pulling our last troops out

“And I say why are we protecting Syria’s land?”

Ever since I haven’t been able to sleep at night.

“Breaking news: Turkey has launched a military offensive

against the Kurds in northeastern Syria.”

“In just a week hundreds reported dead.

Around the world, condemnation growing.”

is unstrategic, immoral and ultimately un-American.

Don’t get me wrong, I agree with President Trump’s

statement that we should end endless wars.

I don’t think we should have been in Iraq.

I certainly don’t think we should be in Yemen.

Overall, it is good for us to get out of the Middle East.

But we do that by building and maintaining alliances,

That’s how we work ourselves out of our jobs.

I was stationed in July in Kobani, Syria.

In Kobani, there’s a little cafe where we met with our Kurdish

I met a Kurdish fighter who asked me if the U.S. would ever

would never leave Syria and abandon the Kurds.

Last week I read that Kobani was attacked by Turkey.

That’s the same city where I drank tea with the Kurds

and reassured them that we’d have their back.

I joined the Army to follow in the footsteps

Now the same army that stopped the Nazis is being sent home

to clear the way for an ethnic cleansing of the Kurds.

“This morning that short-lived deal already appears to be falling apart.”

“Turkish attacks continued on the border today.”

have been escaping … promising slaughter

and quote ‘the return of the Islamic State.’”

President Trump has said, “We have won against ISIS,”

means collecting on-the-ground intelligence

and guarding tens of thousands of captured ISIS

believe the president’s decision may prolong a war—

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I'm an American National Guard Captain. I Didn't Enlist to Abandon our Kurdish Allies | NYT Opinion

ultimately

intelligence

territory

statement