The United States has broken with Obama administration policy and will provide weapons and ammunition to Syrian Kurdish fighters who will be part of the force that will soon begin an assault on the ISIS capital of Raqqa, Syria, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
President Trump approved the new policy Monday in order to “ensure a clear victory over ISIS in Raqqa,” chief Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in statement.
The move is sure to anger NATO ally Turkey, which considers elements of the Kurdish forces to be terrorists, linked to a banned group.
The timing of the announcement was held until Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had departed a counter-ISIS summit in Denmark, where he had talks with senior Turkish official Basat Ozturk.
Speaking to reporters afterward, Mattis called the talks useful, and said the two NATO allies are still working through differences over U.S. support of the Syrian Kurds.
“We’re going to sort it out,” Mattis said. “We’ll figure out how we’re going to do it.”
But the Pentagon statement made clear the U.S. was moving forward with its plan to retake the city without Turkish participation, if no agreement is reached.
“The SDF [Syrian Democratic Forces] 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,” White said.
“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.”
At Tuesday’s White House briefing, spokesman Sean Spicer said he did not know if Trump has called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to tell him of the move.
