"Using the Kurds to fight ISIS is a bad idea" Topic

Interesting analysis of ISIS tactics and why using the Kurds as "boots on the ground" to fight them is not a good idea:

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Keep in mind that the author was a former Turkish military man, so take it with the requisite grain of salt.

He hasn't said anything really new. The Kurds aren't a standing army, no surprise. US air power won't do it alone, also not a surprise. The West won't fight, Iraqi armed forces don't fight, some force trained & backed by air power has to do it; all no surprises.

Well, the Turks aren't going to do anything, except for possibly attack the Kurds.

Iranians and/or their militias don't seem to be working out too well either, and the Iraqis are hopeless, so……..

Given that this is a Turkish news report and given the Turks historical position vis a vis the Kurds I'm surprised that they dealt with this as well as they did. Seriously, Turks are not going to endorse giving weapons to the Kurds, forming a Kurdish state, or backing the Kurds in any way since they hold Kurdish territory.

But it would be nice for the Turks to even make a minimal effort against ISIS.

ISIS recruiting stations are allowed to operate openly in the more pious (i.e., poorer) neighborhoods of Istanbul, and the Turks only bother to stop recruits headed for ISIS if they're western enough they think someone might care.

Will be interesting to see if the Turkish position starts to change now that Erdogan has been reined in a bit politically.

I can't get the article to load, but I get the idea from the comments. I can't help but think that any time someone wants to use an ethnic group to fight their battles, it is going to end badly.

Note that this article is from 2014.

His basic argument is that the Kurds fight from ambush and fight defensively, they have never had an offensive capability (or mobility) or a standing army.

Apparently the YPG/J (Kurds) are pretty good at fighting ISIS, especially with some air supply, and the occasional air strike.
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They also won't ever pursue and finish IS outside of Kurdistan. They are in it for defense only – not going into Iraq and Syria and cleaning them out. Maybe that's in the article.

The author is saying, don't push the Kurds too hard, don't expect them to finish off ISIS by themselves. I agree with him.

There are only 28 million Kurds in Kurdistan, maybe 40 million Kurds in the world, counting all their diaspora population. There are 80 million Turks in the Republic of Turkey, 70 million Persians in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 70 million Arabs in al-Shams alone, without counting the Arab-speaking populations in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

The Kurds lack the manpower to conquer non-Kurdish regions of the near east. Too big of a war could decimate their population. It appears that the Kurdish leadership is too wise to try the adventure, beyond nibbling a little around the borders of Kurdistan.

Someone else is going to have to clear ISIS out of al-Shams.

But it would be nice for the Turks to even make a minimal effort against ISIS.

100% agreed ! The Turks, the 2d biggest army in NATO, is pretty much doing nothing to stop Daesh. They are even buying bootlegged oil from Daesh … Not Helping you bunch'a Turkeys !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, the Turks are making the "minimal effort", since no action is pretty minimal in my book, and apparently more "minimal" than others would like to see.

It takes a lot of effort to import that cut rate ISIS oil and keep the borders open to potential ISIS recruits!

I wonder if^H^H how the fact that the Kurdish Party established a parliamentary presence in the latest Turkish elections will affect things?

"They also won't ever pursue and finish IS outside of Kurdistan"

But they define Kurdistan as stretching from the Mediterranean to the Caspian, so they can still get pretty far.

That's Greater Kurdistan, Tuscaloosa. That's how some think Kurdistan could gain ports and become a viable state. But it would require seizing narrow corridors of territory hundreds of miles long, populated mainly by Arabs, Turks and Persians and bordered by Arab, Turkish and Persian national states.

The Turks, for instance, just won't allow the Kurds to grab a 300 mile stretch of Syria 50 miles wide, from the mountains to the coast. The Turks will take that land themselves first, and they have the muscle to do it.

Even if the Turks didn't interfere, the hostile population of the corridor would harbor guerillas who would fight a Kurdish occupation. The only way to pacify the new territories would be to ethnically cleanse the hostile population. The neighbors aren't going to allow that.

The Kurdish leadership seem to understand that there are only 28 million Kurds, and they will have 80 million Turks, 70 million Persians, 70 million Arabs as neighbors forever, so had better maintain good relations with all the neighbors, as far as possible.

I realize that the Kurds are not angels. I see that they act in their own interests. I am very favorably impressed with their moderation and wisdom. I wish it was possible to partner more actively with them. We should do as much as we can to arm and support them.

The Turks and Iraqis will continue to have a veto over that. We will have to be patient and persuasive, rather than demanding what we can not enforce.

… the Kurds are not angels.

"They be Killer Angels !"