US, Israel to supply anti-aircraft missiles to Kurdish militants in Syria

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…from Press TV, Tehran

[ Editor’s Note: This is a reckless move, and begs the question, “Why now?”. The intent seems to be to protect the Kurds from Turkish air attacks, but Erdogan has not really used the air force in the Syrian-Kurdish conflict, to date.

So this story begs more questions. Was this a John Bolton origination, or is the Pentagon pushing it, or was Israel going to do it by itself so the US had to get onboard – the tail wagging the dog?

Past history shows that, even if not used, these manpads end up in “other hands”. A soldier can get rich from selling one of these. And the downing of a military or civilian aircraft can be used to trigger more carnage and escalation.



We will watch Congress to see if they make any inquiries to find out who authorized this escalation. It seems a desperate move, when one was not needed.

Where are the grown ups when you need them? This is like parents going away on a summer vacation leaving the teenage kids in charge of the house. They come home to find it destroyed and can’t imagine how such a thing could have happened because “their kids were not like that”… Jim W. Dean ]

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– First published … May 01, 2019

The United States and Israel are reportedly set to supply anti-aircraft missiles to Kurdish militants in northern Syria amid tensions between Ankara and Washington over the latter’s support for the militants, which the Turkish government views as terrorists.

Citing local sources, Turkey’s Yeni Safak daily reported that the US is set to deliver shipments of Stinger Man Portable Air Defense System (MANPADS) to militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The PKK, it added, has designated the towns of Rmelan and Shaddadah in Syria’s Hasakah Province as well as the Jalabiyah and al-Omar regions as launching points for its American-supplied missiles.

Ankara is unhappy with Washington’s support for Kurdish militants of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which it views as an extension of the PKK, and has repeatedly called on the US administration to stop providing them with arms.

The PKK has been fighting for autonomy inside Turkey for decades and runs bases in neighboring Syria and Iraq as well.

The report further said the regime in Israel has also vowed to supply the Kurds with Spike anti-aircraft missiles in the Syrian provinces of Dayr al-Zawr and Raqqah following high-level meetings between the militants and Tel Aviv.

Israel has long been backing the militants operating against the Syrian government. The regime has, on several occasions, criticized Turkey for its operations against the Kurdish militants.

The US-Kurdish alliance is closely coordinating the missiles’ deployment to Syria as part of a “special joint strategy,” according to the report. It further said that a group of 30 PKK militants have already received training to handle the advanced anti-aircraft missiles.

Turkey has since 2016 launched two military operations inside Syria against the US-backed Kurdish militants and has threatened a third if they fail to leave the east of the Euphrates.

Like Turkey, the US has listed the PKK as a terrorist group, but views the YPG as an ally in its so-called fight against the Takfiri Daesh terror group. Turkey has repeatedly questioned Washington’s deployment of heavy weapons in Syria despite the defeat of Daesh.

Last December, US officials said the Pentagon was considering recommending that Kurdish militants be allowed to keep American-supplied weapons after the withdrawal of troops from Syria.

In February, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed Turkey’s NATO allies for supplying huge loads of weapons to Kurdish militants in northern Syria, while ignoring Ankara’s arms purchase requests.

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5 COMMENTS

  1. I suggest that this is nonsense.

    1.The source isn’t even PressTV, but YeniSafak, a wholly owned subsidiary of the extremist fringe of Erdogan’s AKP.

    2. Were the US (let alone Israel!) to supply MANPADS to the SDF, it would make far more sense to supply Russian ones – plausible deniability and all that.

    3. It would surely be easier still to declare SDF territory a no-fly zone, and more effective.

    4. PKK (part of SDF) fought the IDF in Lebanon. The Turkish “Kurdish” HDP called for BSD style trade embargoes on Israel and invited Leila Khaled to speak at their Congress. She complied and delivered a speech comparing Israel to Turkey! We can pretty much take it that Bibi views Syrian and Turkish Kurds as enemies.

    5. Israel views the Iraqi Kurds as represented by the Barzani clan as allies, but has not supplied them with any serious weaponry. The Barzanis and PKK/SDF do not get on.

    6. Some reports mention the Israeli “Spike” weapon. This is an ATGM, not a MANPAD, although it might be of some utility against low flying helicopters. It has no real advantages over TOW or MILAN in the Syrian context.

    7. AFAIK, the only commercial flights within range of MANPADS are those from Beirut to Qamishli. It’s hardly useful to SDF to shoot them down.

    In short, a poorly sourced, wildly sensationalist article, lacking any merit.

  2. Perhaps the next level of Terrorism. Civilian jets dropping from the skies by MANPADS. Problem, Reaction, Solution, our wonderful New World Order, (Old World Order) is coming. The Lemmings will beg for it.

Comments are closed.