As Trump vows to leave Syria, Kurds fear a power grab by Iran and Russia
Source:Yahoo News Date:23Dec2018
Trump’s poisoned Christmas gift to Erdogan increases the plight of Iraqi Kurds:
Officials in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdish region, are now struggling to prepare for the consequences of what they fear will result from a hasty U.S. military withdrawal from Syria, the announcement of which caught them and even senior members of the Trump administration off-guard. Among the feared outcomes is further empowerment of Iran and Russia in the region; a steady erosion of hard-won military gains against the Islamic State group, or ISIS; and another massive refugee wave.
“Putin will seize the oil first chance he gets,” a former Russian diplomat told Yahoo News. “The regime will bring in forces for the offensive, the Russians will negotiate a deal with the Kurds. And Moscow will work with the Kurds to reconcile with the [Bashar Assad] regime.”