Yeah - Tom Barrack, appointed as US Special Envoy in mid-2025, prioritised "reunification of the Syrian state" over supporting the Kurds, saying that "federalism does not work" and that autonomous regions (in both Syrian and Iraq) could become "incubators of terror" in the future (that, in particular, was something many Kurds found insulting).
I don't think the Kurds could have held out against the new Syrian government for much longer anyway, but the sudden, unexpected discontinuation of American support meant that they had no leverage when it came to negotiate the terms of their reintegration.
It's a pity - they were trying very hard to be the most pro-US force in the region. Barrack essentially is just taking the Turkish line, but that proved to have less than helpful consequences for the US in Iran.
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Yeah - Tom Barrack, appointed as US Special Envoy in mid-2025, prioritised "reunification of the Syrian state" over supporting the Kurds, saying that "federalism does not work" and that autonomous regions (in both Syrian and Iraq) could become "incubators of terror" in the future (that, in particular, was something many Kurds found insulting).
I don't think the Kurds could have held out against the new Syrian government for much longer anyway, but the sudden, unexpected discontinuation of American support meant that they had no leverage when it came to negotiate the terms of their reintegration.
It's a pity - they were trying very hard to be the most pro-US force in the region. Barrack essentially is just taking the Turkish line, but that proved to have less than helpful consequences for the US in Iran.