Partnered to Suleymanya and back

GEN. RYDER: Yeah, so let me tell you what I've got on this, Kasim. So on April 7, convoy, including U.S. personnel, was fired upon while in transit within the Iraqi Kurdistan region in the area near Sulaymaniyah. U.S. forces are in Iraq and Syria, as you know, in support of local partner forces, in support of the Defeat ISIS mission, the enduring defeat of ISIS. And so in this particular incident, we can confirm that there were no casualties; that the strike was not a near-miss. It struck more than 100 meters from the convoy, and CENTCOM is currently investigating the incident, so I'd refer you to CENTCOM. Q: Is there -- what was the mission of the U.S. servicemembers? And was it somehow allowed or authorized? GEN. RYDER: They are conducting in support of the Defeat ISIS mission. Q: Was it authorized by Iraqi government? Because Mazloum is... GEN. RYDER: Well, we're supporting the Iraqi Security Forces as part of the Defeat ISIS mission. As you know, we have forces in Iraq. They're not conducting combat operations. They're there advising and assisting the Iraqis. And then we have forces in Syria that are supporting the SDF. So again, there's an intra-theater mission in terms of the Defeat ISIS mission. Q: So like Mazloum Abdi is in Syria. You are cooperating with him… GEN. RYDER: Well, the OIR headquarters is in Iraq, right? But they conduct operations in support of Defeat ISIS mission in Syria and Iraq. So let me go ahead. Yes, sir? Q: If I may, I'd like to remain on the same subject. Actually, I've got one question about this. I posed the same question to the State Department on Monday, and I was referred to the Department of Defense, so that's why. The question is, when the U.S. servicemen, U.S. military members are riding with the head of the SDF, isn't there concern within the Department of Defense that those U.S. servicemen are also made a legitimate target, not least one of your greatest NATO allies, because of this decades-long relationship with the PKK that I think -- I'm sure is very much known to the U.S. intelligence community? GEN. RYDER: So, no. We’ve partnered with the SDF since, you know, 2015, 2014, as part of the Defeat ISIS Mission. We have a longstanding relationship with them. They are not the PKK. We are partnered with SDF to defeat ISIS. So, no, we've been conducting partnered operations for a very long time. So, let me go ahead and move on. Yes, sir?

Con le parole si può anche giocare.

SDF non è PKK. Però ci va molto vicino.

Con il tempo certe alleanze si pagano. E le pagano anche gli alleati istituzionali.