Syrian Kurdish official calls out US ‘betrayal’ in Washington Post op-ed

Ahmed warned that SDF troops guarding ISIS prisoners will have to be redirected to hold off the Turkish military, which signaled it would launch an attack in northeastern Syria as the Trump administration withdrew troops from the area.{mosads}

“The American decision not only puts the lives of countless thousands at risk. It also increases the likelihood of a resurgence of the global terror threat we worked so hard together with the US and its allies to defeat,” Ahmed wrote. 

“Thousands of Islamic State fighters are in our custody. Guarding them takes huge amounts of resources. Now that we are forced to fend off a Turkish invasion, we will have no choice but to redirect our forces who are guarding the Islamic State prisoners,” she added. “Their escape would pose a grave danger to Europe and beyond. This is not a threat, merely a reality — we cannot both defend against Turkey and maintain security over the Islamic State prisoners. Our people and our homes must come first. It is our obligation.”

Ahmed called on the U.S. and the international community to help facilitate peace. 

“Despite the betrayal we have endured, we still believe in American values and our true friends in U.S. uniform — those who stood shoulder to shoulder with our fighters and who changed widespread impressions here about the United States,” she wrote.