Finally : Stew In That, Erdogan!

"Yesterday, the president authorized the Department of Defense to equip Kurdish elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces as necessary to ensure a clear victory over ISIS in Raqqa, Syria."
"The SDF, partnered with enabling support from U.S. and coalition forces, are the only force on the ground that can successfully seize Raqqa in the near future."

"We are keenly aware of the security concerns of our coalition partner Turkey. We want to reassure the people and government of Turkey that the U.S. is committed to preventing additional security risks and protecting our NATO ally."

Dana W. White, chief Pentagon spokeswoman

Kurdish militia fighters from the Y.P.G. next to American armored vehicles at the Syrian-Turkish border last month. Credit Youssef Rabie Youssef/European Pressphoto Agency

NATO ally Turkey will not be pleased at this turn of events. In fact, it can be guaranteed that Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's Islamist tyrant will be apoplectic with righteous rage that the United States administration under this new President Trump, as crude, volatile and eruptive as Erdogan himself, has chosen to defy his constant admonitions that to arm Kurds is to permit terrorists to have their way, since all Kurds, according to Erdogan's reckoning, are terrorists. That Erdogan's Turkey is terrorizing Kurdish civilians is another story altogether.

Under President Obama, only small arms were allotted to the Kurds who have more than amply demonstrated that theirs are the only reliable fighting forces whose effectiveness and determination can be expected to counter and defeat the forces of the Islamic State. Although U.S. and other NATO members like Germany and Canada sent military trainers to support the Kurds, the military hardware of a calibre to at least match that in the possession of ISIL was repeatedly denied them. Now, under a president whose impressions and reactions no one can second-guess, that stalemate has been broken.

Battle-hardened, dedicated fighters, the Kurds were lacking anti-tank missiles, heavy machine guns, mortars and armoured vehicles for the fighting field to be levelled between them and the Islamic State fighters. ISIL captured American-issued arms and military vehicles, advanced missiles and ammunition from the military bases they captured in Iraq and Syria when the regime's military forces fled in panic, abandoning their military bases, their stations and their equipment for fear of coming into direct conflict with the Islamist militias whose barbaric reputation preceded them.

"Political recognition [of the Kurdish demand for sovereignty] is just a matter of time now. It should come, but it needs time and needs changes to international laws."
"This is the natural development of the U.S. relationship with the Kurds since they first gave support for our operations against Isis in Kobani [in 2014]."
Nawaf Xelil, a former leader of the Syrian Kurdish PYD

Now, with the long-needed heavier weapons at their disposal, the only fighters capable of meeting the Islamic State fighters head on will have the fighting chance they have called for, to retake Raqqa and clear ISIL out of their Islamic State 'capital'. The Y.P.G. have too long been forced to have their experienced fighters exposed to uneven fighting conditions. Erdogan will have the opportunity to express his displeasure directly to President Trump when they meet in the White House, next week. That should be an interesting exchange.

But Mr. Erdogan has more to say to Mr. Trump about what he should and should not do. Erdogan declares that it would be unwise to the point of enraging him personally once again, and insultingly offensive to the Arab/Muslim world should President Trump decide to honour his election promise to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, thus recognizing finally, Israel's real capital as a reflection of its status as a Jewish state, and its undeniable heritage.

It is so charitable of Mr. Erdogan to take the  trouble to give tutelage in administering the affairs of a nation and non-interference in the affairs of another, to a world leader in his novice learning stages of finding his momentum, so it will be of monumental interest to witness the results of Mr. Trump's grateful response.

The New Arab Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday said debates over the possibility of moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem are "extremely wrong" and should be dropped