Daily Times

Trump has withdrawn a thousand US troops from the northern border of Syria. The cabinet, White House officials and allies all were shocked, as no one saw it coming. And the hardest blow was taken by the Kurds – erstwhile US allies. The Kurds helped the US battling the militant outfit Islamic State (IS) in Syria for quite a long time. In fighting IS the Kurds have dearly lost thousands of their fighters. According to some, around 11,000 Kurdish fighters have met their death.

Nevertheless, nothing barred President Trump from announcing his decision to pull out the troops, making the Kurds vulnerable to the Turkish offence. President Trump has toed the line of age-old US foreign policy of leaving the ally when interests are fulfilled. What would become of the ally as a result is no business of the US.

Same has happened with the Kurds as they are on their own facing the onslaught of the Turkish forces. For long Turkish President Recep Erdogan had accused the Kurdish troops (YPG) of Syria backing the Kurdish insurgents within his country. Thus, a green signal from the US was enough to wreak havoc on the Kurds. Since then, the Kurds are on the run from the ongoing Turkish assault. And the situation is horrendous as hundreds of thousands of Kurds are displaced, while many of them facing war crimes. Also, hundreds of the IS prisoners are on the loose. This sad state of the Kurds does not change the US policy of deserting its allies when in need. The Kurds are neither the first in line nor will be the last.
The United States has a history of turning its back on its allies when interests are served and allies no longer needed; therefore, end of the alliance of convenience chapter.

Consider the argument:
The Lenape: First Victims of the treachery
The 1776 Declaration of Independence allowed the US to ally with external powers. In 1778, the US entered into an alliance with the Lenape (indigenous people) against the British. The chief of the Lenape people ‘White Eyes’ strongly supported peace with the 13 colonies. Thus, “The Treaty of Fort Pitt” was signed. Among several promises made in the treaty, one was the recognition of Lenape as a “sovereign nation”. White Eyes fought the British bravely alongside with the Americans. Strangely, news broke out that he died against the British in the Ohio campaign. However, it was found out later that he was killed by the Americans. Hence began the US foreign policy norm “allies of convenience”.

Hmong: The forgotten allies
For the United States, one of the greatest foreign policy debacles was involvement in the Vietnam War. In its war against the communists, the US had a strong ally in the form of Hmong – an ethnic minority in Laos and Vietnam. The group was trained, funded and armed against all the odds by the US. It was done with one purpose to fight US adversaries in Laos and North Vietnam. Despite the scarce numbers, Hmong confronted the communists. In 1975, the US withdrew from the Vietnam War; and the group all of sudden was left on the mercy of the North Vietnamese and Laos’ army. Resultantly, hundreds of thousands of Hmong flew to Thailand in a fear of persecution. Although a large number of people fled to the US from Thailand but hundreds of thousands remained back facing severe hardships. Again, the United States abandoned its ‘ally of convenience’ without much caution.

1991 debacle: The Kurd, & US Deception
In 1990, when Iraq invaded Kuwait, the US acted with allies against the invasion and forced Saddam to pull back. In 1991, Iraqi forces retreated from Kuwait. At that time the then-President George H.W. Bush called for the Iraqi people to overthrow Saddam’s Ba’athist regime. Toeing its President’s line, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) began to conspire against the regime. The Kurds being a nominal powerful force in Iraq rebelled against Saddam in the Northern parts of the country. Their rebellion gained a large amount of Iraqi land. The Kurds marched on believing the US was standing behind their back in case Saddam attacked. Then something inconceivable happened; something the Kurds have not thought of. Saddam launched a brutal assault on the rebellions, crushing them mercilessly with the immense bombing. As usual, the US turned a blind eye against its “ally of convenience”.

Looming betrayal: The case of the US, Afghanistan and Taliban
In 1979, the Cold War reached Afghanistan with the Soviet Union’s invasion. The CIA of the US conspired with Pakistan’s ISI to oust the Soviets. Hence, the mujahedeen were formed. The mujahedeen were trained, funded, and armed to the teeth by the two agencies to counter the communist threat of then USSR. Known in the circles of the west as liberators or freedom fighters, the mujahedeen fought the soviets hard forcing them to retreat. It was considered to be an unforgettable alliance of the period 1979 to 1989, until 2001, when the US invaded Afghanistan toppling the regime of those they once regarded in high esteem, i.e. Taliban. Once again, they also proved to be nothing but allies of convenience.

The story of the US betrayals in Afghanistan does not end with invasion; rather it is still in action. Afghanistan has become a hub of war since then between the Taliban and the US. And it has been over 18 years now. Today, the Trump administration is talking to the Taliban for a peace deal, as Trump is hell-bent on escaping the war-torn country.

Now, this might be seen as a betrayal to all those people in Afghanistan and its government who were busy fighting the Taliban these past two decades. What is the point of fighting for more than a decade, only to find out that you are being given away easily, just because your interests are divergent now? So, even the Afghan government was an ally of convenience.

History is replete with several accounts of the US turning on its allies. The Kurds are but the latest allies deserted in the continued episode of the US “Allies of Convenience” saga.

The writer is an MSc Defense and Strategic Studies graduate from Quaid-I-Azam University.