As Turkey doubles down on its Islamist agenda, the Kurds remain one of the region’s few forces pushing in the opposite direction.
In 2014, as Syria descended into chaos, the United States made a pragmatic decision. Section 1209 of the National Defense Authorization Act authorized the Pentagon to arm and train vetted Syrian opposition groups.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) emerged as Washington’s most reliable partner. With U.S. support, the Kurds dismantled the Islamic State’s territorial caliphate, safeguarded minorities, and created a pocket of stability in an otherwise fractured Syria.
Today, Syria looks very different. President Bashar al-Assad has fled to exile in Russia. Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group the United States previously designated as a terrorist organization, has seized control of Damascus and now governs 70 percent of Syria.
