CIA-backed Islamic rebels are fighting against Pentagon-backed Kurish rebels in Syria.
Buzzfeed notes:
Officials with Syrian rebel battalions that receive covert backing from one arm of the U.S. government told BuzzFeed News that they recently began fighting rival rebels supported by another arm of the U.S. government.The infighting between American proxies is the latest setback for the Obama administration’s Syria policy and lays bare its contradictions as violence in the country gets worse.
The confusion is playing out on the battlefield — with the U.S. effectively engaged in a proxy war with itself.
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Furqa al-Sultan Murad receives weapons from the U.S. and its allies as part of a covert program, overseen by the CIA, that aids rebel groups struggling to overthrow the government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, according to rebel officials and analysts tracking the conflict.
The Kurdish militants, on the other hand, receive weapons and support from the Pentagon as part of U.S. efforts to fight ISIS. Known as the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, they are the centerpiece of the Obama administration’s strategy against the extremists in Syria and coordinate regularly with U.S. airstrikes.
(And see this story from the Telegraph.)
The Daily Beast also reports that U.S. allies are fighting CIA-backed rebels.
The U.S. is supporting the Kurds, who are the best on-the-ground fighters against ISIS … yet America’s close ally Turkey is trying to wipe out the Kurds.
Moreover, the U.S., Turkey and Saudi Arabia are all using the Incerlik air base in Adana, Turkey, on the border with Syria to launch military operations in Syria.
The U.S. is using Incerlik to SUPPORT the Kurds, but Turkey is using the EXACT SAME air baseto BOMB the Kurds.
In addition, the U.S. is supporting Shia Muslims in Iraq … but supporting their arch-enemy –Sunnis Muslims – in neighboring Syria.
And the U.S. claims to be fighting the war on terror AGAINST the exact same groups – ISIS and Al Qaeda – that our closest allies are SUPPORTING.
Absolutely insane …
Unless the U.S. is really pursuing an agenda in which chaos is the goal.
