Rojava wins Medal of Honor

US Syrian mission hog-tied

Kurdish flag of Syria

Rojava wins French Medal of Honor

    While still under attack by Turkish-backed terrorists, Rojava, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, was award the Medal of Honor by the French Senate, Washington Kurdish Institute reports.

    Not everyone was happy with the outcome. “The French senate has hosted members of the PKK’s Syrian wing, the YPG, and awarded medals of ‘honor’ this week despite the repeated security concerns and warnings of its NATO alley Türkiye,” declared the Daily Sabah, a Turkish newspaper. “Support of the YPG in Syria by France, the United States and several other Western counties has become one of the stumbling blocks in bilateral ties between Türkiye and its NATO allies.”

    The North Press report was more positive. It began, “The French Senate honored on Saturday the spokespersons for the Kurdish Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) and People’s Protection Units (YPG) in appreciation of the sacrifices made by them in fighting the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group.”

    The French award ceremony happened as part of the Newroz Reception in Paris put together by the Kurdish Businessmen Union. As we reported President Biden hosted one at the White House to celebrate what is called in the British Committee for Iran Freedom release, “Persian New Year" which is the best name I’ve heard for it so far.

    The BCIF emphasized the things going on in Iran this Newroz, which they write as ‘Nowruz’. It was celebrated in the British Parliament on March 16th. “The cross-party MPs and Peers and other speakers wished those around the world celebrating Persian New Year a happy Nowruz and expressed solidarity with the people of Iran and their organized resistance movement, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).”

    The WKI wrote, “Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs disapproved of the action and summoned the French ambassador to “strongly denounce the Senate of France” for their recognition of the YPG/YPJ.”

    According to the Anadolu Agency, in addition to denouncing the French honoring, “they also asked France not to support alleged efforts by Kurdish militants to gain international credence.”

    These celebrations of Newroz seem to me, exactly that, efforts to gain international credence. And a good thing it is, too.

US mission in Syria needs to include Iran-backed threats

    Source: Politico, by Charles Lister, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. He traveled with US Central Command Commander Gen. Erik Kurilla on his recent trip to NE Syria.

    “While the US troop presence exists explicitly and only to combat ISIS, during my visit the constant threat of attack by Iranian-sponsored militias was palpable.” He said the US-led forces were “laser-focused on the array of Iranian-produced drones known to have been used for kamikaze-style attacks on US forces in the region. As CENTCOM has made clear, countering ISIS and presenting its resurgence is the second most vital US priority in the Middle East, but the first is facing down the threats posed by a hostile Iran.”

    Note here the glaring contradiction? The US troop mission needs to grow beyond only combating ISIS to include removing Iranian-Shiite-militant organizations like Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps from Syria, Iraq and all of Kurdistan.

    His visit revealed another international complication to this already twisted intrigue, Russia’s presence vis a vis fighter jet overflights. “That Russia has markedly escalated its flight of fighter jets into US-controlled airspace in northwestern Syria has complicated things further. One such ‘overflight’ occurred during our visit to the area—no coincidence given the presence of CENTCOM’S leadership.”

    Leaders from Russia, Syria, Iran and Turkey are planning to meet in the near future. The airspace over Syria will certainly be on the agenda, but Syria’s Assad has recently made it clear that he considers Turkey’s Erdogan regime the main source of Syria’s military problems. Their initial addresses to one another should make an interesting study. Let’s hope they don’t see eye to eye.