Will President Trump Sacrifice Israel’s Safety, and Thousands of Christians in Syria, Just to Appease the Turks?
One hour ago I got the most terrible news imaginable. President Trump is about to endanger tens of thousands of Christians, hundreds of thousands of Kurds, and millions of Arabs just to appease Turkey.
Turkey is at this moment threatening to attack the Federation of Northern Syria. Turkey wants to destroy the same people who defeated ISIS. Who built a new society where there is real freedom of religion and equality of men and women. They established a bottom-up democracy where all ethnic groups are cooperating. I and countless other outside observers have witnessed it. The Syrian Democratic Forces have been fighting side by side with the U.S. against ISIS for the last three years.
Christian Converts Are Free Here
Historic Christian churches are really free in the Federation. But it’s better than that. Right here, in the heart of the Middle East, new churches are welcome. People who are converts from Islam can build a new church — rather than face the death penalty as they would in Iran or Saudi Arabia. In fact, such Syrian converts find welcome from the local mayor. (This happened two months ago in Kobane.)
After years of partnership with the Syrian Democratic Forces, the U.S. has apparently signaled Turkey that it will no longer protect its SDF allies. This even though U.S. forces sit right there on the ground, in U.S. bases, along the border.
The Federation of Northern Syria is almost the only good news to emerge from the Middle East in a decade. And President Trump, who helped to build it, may now let the Turks destroy it. These local U.S. allies are fending off panic, and have issued a total mobilization to face Turkish attack.
Is Trump Abandoning the Allies who Beat ISIS?
Here’s the terrible news: After years of partnership with the Syrian Democratic Forces, the U.S. has apparently signaled Turkey that it will no longer protect its SDF allies. This even though U.S. forces sit right there on the ground, in U.S. bases, along the border. All President Trump needs to do to stop the oncoming slaughter is call President Erdogan and order him to stand down. But my sources tell me that U.S. troops might instead look on as churches are bombed and Christians, Yezidis, and other minorities are butchered.
If Trump leaves the Federation of Northern Syria to end up like South Vietnam, don’t expect anyone else in the Middle East to help the U.S. again.
This is what happened last January in northwestern Syria, when Turkey invaded Afrin. Turks and their mercenaries linked to al Qaeda slaughtered and drove away the Yazidis. They installed jihadists and al Qaeda forces in power. They put bounties on the heads of Kurdish converts to Christianity. At this very moment, in Afrin, Turkish backed-gangs are raping young Kurdish women with impunity. Will this terror spread to the whole Kurdish region, the only part of Syria where democracy and religious freedom exist?
Helping Iran and ISIS, Threatening Israel
Israel will also suffer if the Turks are unleashed. The Turkish regime is warming up to Iran, which still seeks nuclear weapons to exterminate Israel. A deal between Turkey and Iran would give chunks of Kurdish Syria to Iranian control, handing terrorists bases closer to Israeli targets. Much more of Syria could fall to Iranian allies later, with the only U.S. ally (the Kurdish Federation) liquidated by Turkey.
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The other winner would be ISIS. It is not defeated yet. Its thugs still hold out in the southern part of East Syria. If the SDF pulls back, it is certain ISIS will make a comeback. President Trump will have squandered his biggest foreign policy achievement to date. And why? To appease the bully of Ankara.
Will We Let Jesus’ Language Die?
American credibility and influence in the region will lie in shambles. Who would trust the Americans as allies ever again? If Trump leaves the Federation of Northern Syria to end up like South Vietnam, don’t expect anyone else in the Middle East to help the U.S. again. American soldiers will have to finish off ISIS, and pay the price in blood and tears.
Will American Christians sit idly by as U.S. soldiers watch their allies against ISIS get hunted down and killed? Watch the Turks torch churches and put bounties on Christians? By the way, Syrian Christians are among the last people on earth who still use the language of Jesus. Will Jesus’ own tongue be silenced on the earth, to mark Christmas 2018? It won’t, if we speak up. Let the President know how you feel.
UPDATE: Since this article appeared, and Christian leaders contacted President Trump about their concerns, Trump has called Turkish President Erdogan and expressed grave U.S. concerns about the upcoming Turkish attack. See The Wall Street Journal (paywall) for more.
