[Peace] Flyer to be distributed at AWARE's regular monthly anti-war demonstration

[J.B. Nicholson]

[Flyer to be distributed at AWARE's regular monthly anti-war demonstration,
2-4pm Saturday, November 2, at the Susan B. Anthony Memorial
(Main & Neil streets in Champaign)]

U.S. WAR-MAKING IN SYRIA AND AFGHANISTAN TODAY

The first of President Trump’s recent foreign policy steps was to withdraw 
the small U.S. contingent that was a deterrent to Turkey’s expansion of its 
invasion of Syria, and to authorize Turkish President Erdoğan’s plans to 
extend his atrocities and ethnic cleansing of Syrian Kurds.

His second step was to move U.S. troops to “secure” the oil-producing 
areas. The latter, apparently after he was told about the oil, is easy to 
understand. He has held all along that our only standing interest in the 
Middle East is to “secure” its oil for our own benefit.

As for the first step, we can only speculate, but it seems quite likely 
that the motive is what guides him consistently: How will the action affect
me? Trump is an effective con man who has a good sense of what animates his 
voting base. In this case, he presumably expected (correctly it seems) that 
withdrawing a few hundred troops would appeal to the sector of the 
population that resonates to his message that America is foolishly 
expending its blood and treasure to help “unworthy” people who don’t even 
thank us for our sacrifices on their behalf, and that Trump is the first 
president to stand up for the suffering American people instead of giving 
everything away to foreigners out of stupidity (or treachery).

It’s worth recalling that repeated polls have shown that Americans vastly 
overestimate the scale of foreign aid — and recommend that it be 
considerably higher than it actually is (putting aside what constitutes “aid”).

Much has been written and said about the betrayal of the Kurds, a U.S. ally 
in the war against ISIS (also known as Daesh). This isn’t, however, the 
first time that the U.S. has betrayed the Kurds and other former allies.

Betrayal of the Kurds has been virtually a qualification for office since 
Ford-Kissinger abandoned the Kurds to the mercy of Saddam Hussein when they 
were no longer needed. Reagan went so far as to support his friend Saddam’s 
chemical warfare campaign against Iraqi Kurds, seeking to shift the blame 
to Iran and blocking congressional efforts to respond to these hideous 
crimes. Clinton’s method was to provide the arms for the murderous 
government assault on Turkish Kurds, which killed tens of thousands, wiped 
out 3,500 towns and villages, and drove hundreds of thousands from their 
homes. (See Noam Chomsky, “The New Military Humanism,” 1999). Clinton’s 
flood of military aid increased along with the shocking crimes, as Turkey 
became the prime recipient of American arms (outside of Israel-Egypt, a 
separate category).

Trump’s contribution is particularly disgusting. The Kurds lost 11,000 
soldiers, men and women, leading the war against ISIS for which Trump 
claims credit, helped by some U.S. special forces (five casualties are 
reported) and air support. Erdoğan demanded that Kurds eliminate defensive 
fortifications (filling in trenches, etc.) near the border, and at the 
request of the U.S. command, they complied, trusting Washington’s promise 
that it would protect them from a further Turkish assault. Trump’s tweet 
broke that promise, leaving Kurds exposed to the invasion by Turkish-backed 
forces, most it seems jihadis and criminals. For years, Turkey has been 
helping tens of thousands of jihadis to flood into Syria for its anti-Assad 
war and to establish a Turkish presence. No surprises in how the extended 
Turkish assault has been carried out.

Turkey had already invaded and occupied Kurdish-controlled regions of 
northern Syria, killing hundreds and displacing hundreds of thousands, with 
credible charges of serious war crimes. Trump’s green light was for 
extending the operation with the alleged goal of ending a terrorist threat, 
in reality in order to put an end to the highly promising social and 
political achievements in Kurdish-led Rojava by violence and terror, ethnic 
cleansing, and resettling the region with Syrians of Turkey’s choosing.
~~~
Write your Congressional representatives & demand the U.S. Government 
fulfill President Trump’s promises to withdraw all U.S. troops from Syria & 
Afghanistan:
~ Senator Dick Durbin: <https://www.durbin.senate.gov/contact/email>
~ Sen. Tammy Duckworth: 
<https://www.duckworth.senate.gov/content/contact-senator>
~ Representative Rodney Davis: <https://rodneydavis.house.gov/contact/>
~~~
The ANTI-WAR ANTI-RACISM EFFORT is on Facebook at <AWARE of 
Champaign-Urbana Illinois>
The TV program ‘AWARE on the Air,’ a local discussion of war news, is on 
Urbana Public Television,
Tuesdays at 10pm (& available on YouTube)

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