One More Discarded Ally

"President Trump's tactic of "flooding of the zone" has focused much of the public sphere on issues and events generated by the president's interests and whims, driving the suffering of millions of people into oblivion. Deserved attention is paid to Trump's threats to annex Greenland, his intervention into Venezuela, the imposition of arbitrary and punitive tariffs on European allies, and the assault of ICE on Minneapolis."

"Trump's comfort with strongmen and dictators and his hostility toward democrats, liberals, and socialists have distorted international affairs in fundamentally disruptive ways. A prime example-largely marginalized in the public sphere-is the fate of an ally of the Americans whom Trump is ready to betray once again: the Kurds of Syria. As a scholar of nationalism and ethnic conflict who has written extensively on the history of Turks and Kurds,"

Presidential tactics that overwhelm public attention have diverted focus from grave humanitarian and legal crises at home and abroad. Attention to sensational or self-interested actions has obscured the suffering in Gaza and Ukraine, erosion of the rule of law, and economic hardship. Presidential affinity for strongmen and antipathy toward certain ideological groups have destabilized international relations and threaten reliable alliances. The Syrian Kurds, a stateless people who materially aided the US campaign against ISIS, now face potential betrayal and renewed suffering unless the United States acts to honorably protect them.

Read at The Nation