Syrian Kurds Tell Washington May Join Forces With Assad if US Pulls Out of Syria
Syrian Kurds Tell Washington May Join Forces With Assad if US Pulls Out of Syria by Jack Detsch – Al-Monitor
A top Syrian Kurdish official visiting Washington today said US-backed fighters would consider integrating with Bashar al-Assad’s forces after the United States completes its pullout from the war-torn country.
“The Syrian Democratic Forces can be part of the new Syrian army,” Ilham Ahmed, a leader in the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), said through an interpreter at the Middle East Institute today. “This is an alternative path for us.”
Ahmed, who leads the executive council of the SDC, the political wing of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, said the Donald Trump administration had not objected to Syrian Kurds opening up negotiations with Damascus.
“They did not object clearly. They always tell us this is a Syrian affair,” she said. “But they urged us, when you negotiate, you should come from a strong position.”
Even as the United States appears to have slowed down its pullout from Syria, a turn by Kurdish forces toward Damascus could frustrate the Pentagon’s plans to stabilize former Islamic State-held areas…
