French troops deploy to Manbij, join Trump’s stop-Turkey line in Syria
DEBKAfile Exclusive: French special ops troops have moved into two US Syrian bases, Manbij and Remelin, as the US boosts its lines against Turkey.
While US President Donald Trump was saying Tuesday, April 3, that he would “decide very quickly” to remove US troops from Syria, our exclusive military sources report that US Marines were heading toward the northern Syrian town of Manbij as reinforcements against Turkish inroads. They took up positions along the Sajur River, one of the three tributaries that feed the Euphrates River in Syria from sources in Turkey. This action blocked the Turkish army’s land access to Manbij, its next target after capturing Afrin. The Marine unit is equipped with a large fleet of armored vehicles, heavy artillery and engineering equipment. US military engineers are also building a new facility at the tiny Dadat village 8km east of the Sajur river as a rear base for the new US defense line.
DEBKAfile’s military sources also reveal that on Sunday and Monday, April 1-2, French forces moved into northern Syria, marking France’s first substantial military feed into the Syrian civil war. French troops formed up alongside US marines in Manbij and their jets and battle helicopters landed at the US air base in Remelin to provide air support for the US and French contingents posted in Manbij.
The French units drove into Manbij at the moment on Monday that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan visited his troops with congratulations on their capture of Afrin from the US-backed Kurdish YPG militia. Clad in the army fatigues of a Turkish general, Erdogan signaled in the speech that the Afrin venture was the start of a major Turkish military campaign against the Kurds in northern Syria and Iraq. It would start next at Manbij and go on to seize Sinjar in northern Iraq.
This time, according to our sources, President Donald Trump moved swiftly to beat the Turkish leader to the draw and snatch away his two main targets in Syria and Iraq. He put to good use the good understanding he has quickly developed with French President Emmanuel Macron for cooperating in a number of international arenas, in contrast to his uneasy relations with most other West European leaders.
As for Erdogan’s Iraq destination, Iraqi Prime Minister Haydar al-Abadi, after being leaned on heavily by the Trump administration, sent the Iraqi Army’s 5th Division to Sinjar province and lined his troops up on the Iraqi-Syrian border to obstruct the Turkish army’s advance from Syria into Iraq. Erdogan was unable to make good on his threat to seize the Iraqi province unless the Kurdish PKK withdrew from its bases there.
President Macron had meanwhile acted to consolidate Trump’s plans for the Kurdish districts of Syria. On March 29, he received a delegation of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia and the Syrian Democratic Army, which led the battle for driving ISIS out of Raqqa. After praising their military feats, he pledged French support for “the stabilization of their security zone in northeastern Syria within the framework of an inclusive and balanced governance to prevent any resurgence of ISIS.”
Erdogan vented his rage on Macron by accusing him of “fraud” and later of conducting “a French military invasion of Syria.” For daring to offer to mediate between Turkey and the Kurds, he accused the French president of interfering with Turkey’s military operations. Instead of answering the Turkish president’s charges, Macron sent French troops to Manbij to support the US military’s counter-offensive against the Turkish army’s plans.
The Trump administration therefore acted through two allies to frustrate Erdogan’s military plans for Syria and Iraq.
Trump’s unconventional approach to politics, is leaving many uneasy with the unpredictability. Yet there seems to be more global actions, or more precisely reactions, than I have seen compared to any of his predecessors for a very long time.
Trump has delegated all military authority to “his” generals. He has no idea what the hell is going on in Syria or anywhere else. The man is an idiot.
Trump couldn’t even find the Middle East on a map…
OBAMA was breed from muslem education and later black militant preachers he was an imposter with agenda to destroy the US
Keep believing your lies. You are such demented souls consumed with your hatred of Trump. He keeps having one victory after another, while you left-wing idiots howl at the moon.
Yet…… He just fugged Turkey´s military arrogance lol 🙂
he knows exactly how a true commander in chief works OBAMA was a screwed dictator muslem implant who had his agenda to downgrade the United States into a 2nd rate economic and military
power
He told them to kick azz , that’s all he needs to know.
You keep on thinking that.
Delegating military authority to the generals in theater are what Generals are for. The actions Trump is taking are way better than what Hillary or Obi Wan Obama would have done from the basement of the White House. Generals are there on the ground and have the men and equipment to access the situation and what to do. It’s called adapting to battle field conditions.
Exactly…generals fight battles….. the presidents role is diplomacy… and yet trump manages both in his stride! Not American .. but he seems pretty on the ball to me and doing a great job … or demlibtard´s wouldn´t be complaining so much lol 🙂
Jesus, I thought you asked us not remove the speck from our brother’s eye, while there is still a beam in our own eye. Have you changed your mind?
You mean did President Trump put an end to the micromanagement madness that infected President Obama’s administration? Yes he did. You should read the stories about the White House calling airbases in Afghanistan requesting confirmation that helicopter 106 parked on row 3, position 2 is actually only fueled to 2/3 capacity and then forcing a manual check. There are thousands of such stories. It was first rate lunacy.
President Trump gave the day to day operations back to the professionals, that is all.
Hillary lost. Get over it!
If he is an idiot capable of amassing billions in wealth, what does that make an internet troll like you?
Trump is not book smart, but he is extremely street smart.
He is a down to earth American..and smart enough lol 🙂 Exactly what america needed after an antisemetic muslim president like Obama!
“The man is an idiot”.
As long as you keep underestimating President Trump you will continue to lose. And as long as you keep losing it is clear who the idiot is who cannot accept the reality of the fruits of President Trump’s many achievements.
Is that you Ivanka?
and Obama ignored 100% of his military advisers and determined only his own vast military experience was worth listening to
I agree. Just like Hitler did.
Do you know many “idiots” with such rate of achievement ?
You are the idiot and you just proved it with your infantile comment.
Yeah, I bet you still think odumbo if if if if if if if oke doke was/is a military genius, after setting the whole Maghreb on Syria on fire. You are the idiot, frankly you should be catapulted in the middle of Libya.
Trump is genius. The greatest US President since Ronald Reagan. Unemployment at record lows, US oil production at record highs (debilitating to Russia and Middle East). And bonehead the hallmark of a great leader is the ability and insight to delegate tasks to capable subordinates in their area of expertise (i.e. delegate to “his” generals strategy for military deployment in the middle east.). Trump is indeed “making America great again.” God bless him.
Trump pledged to remove USA troops from Syria, but perhaps he meant to say that what’s east of Euphrates is not Syria any more and therefor there are no USA troops in Syria…
Yep, the word ‘withdrawal’ (or its numerous synonims) has become the most popular one with the leading actors in Syria. And each time you hear another one dropping the well-worn bombshell, rest assured it’s all about beefing up and deploying.
The Daily Beast has just popped in some reassuring (or upsetting – depends on whom you ask) analysis on the Trump’s off-the-cuff remark:
HERE’S WHAT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IS REALLY PLOTTING IN SYRIA
Hassan Hassan, Michael Weiss 04.03.18 9:45 PM ET
“…Fears that the United States had intended to cede the territory it liberated from the “caliphate” back to the regime that enabled the reification of that grim project in the first place have proved unfounded. If Washington pursues the carefully wrought policy hammered out over the last year, as opposed to Trump’s off the cuff version, it will embark upon a far more ambitious project to create a de facto American protectorate in eastern Syria encompassing a sizable part of the Turkey-Syria border and the entirety of the Syria-Iraq border. And to do this, U.S. troops will remain in Syria indefinitely…”
What strikes me is that we have 3 NATO members involved in a confrontation. USA and France defending what was clearly a military target of Turkey. Turkey used ISIS as a sort of proxy (not a classic proxy, however) and one could argue that the FSA has at least some characteristics of a proxy for the USA.
This is happening several years after Turkey held USA troops as something resembling prisoners or hostages at Incirlik. Also not terribly long after Turkey shot down a Russian aircraft. And Turkey is procuring the S-400 from Russia?
There are a whole lot of strategic moves which are being made which may end up having more to do with strategic alliances than strictly with what is happening in Syria and Iraq. I don’t know all the games being played and I’m not hearing/seeing anyone in the news who is putting it all together.
This is what is happening: Turkey realized it is being stalled by the west and is jumpibg the fence to greener pastures. Slowly, Israel is loosing “friends”. At the end of the day, Israel and Saudi Arabia will end (stand?) up toghether with the protections of the USArmy-for-hire. As long as we keep throwing money into Smerican politics, as Saudis, we have the yanks fight our wars
Israeli-Saudi military alliance will quickly and easily dispense of the foreign threats (Turkey & Iran). The combination of Israeli military prowess, and Saudi money, territory, and regional clout cannot be matched.
True on the 3 Nato Members. Turkey will not be for long though. Good to see France step up to the plate. Must be a huge domestic need. Correct on the Strategic moves. Over all Trumps moves military wise speak well. He is at the switch here a lot. I know the Regular military would not want a embassy in the Holy city.
Im waiting to see what tactics iran’s Sulimani is going to use to slowly bleed the US & French out of Syria’s east like they bled out of Beirut…
Trump isnt Reagan. If Iran attacks U.S. troops directly like in Beirut, it will be a cold day in hell for the Ayatollah.
When Turkey entered NATO it was a poor, week, secular state threatened by the USSR, who was rapidly expanding into the Middle East. Remind you that in 1956 a Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation was effected between USSR and Syria, in 1958 Communists in alliance with Baathists carried on military coup in Iraq, and killed all royal family, attempt was made to repeat exercise in Lebanon, and the uS marines arrived to this country at the first time. Since then many things had changed, and Turkey is an assertive and aggressive power driven by ideas of the Islamism a Ottoman Imperialism.
Good to see some barriers put in the way of dangerous muslim megalomaniac erdogan. Didn’t he look ridiculous in fatigues? Trumpy is looking better by the day. Even working in with Macron; who would’ve thought that happening?
Stop the Pig-man Islamist, Erdogan, or he will prevent the Kurds from having their deserved homeland. The West needs to establish a Kurdish country spanning northern Syria, Iraq and Iran. Kurdistan, Isarel the US and other countries need to create an opposition against Islamism and the Iranian Islamic State with their Russia backers.
Turkey is now in the camp of the worst dictatorial, hypocritical Islamist countries and needs to be evicted from NATO.
Kurdistan is not a country. Is it?
it will be all people deserve a small piece of earth for haven as the israeli people had 2000 yrs ago before being dispersed by rome and recreated by legal united nations votes in may 1948.
LARRY LISS RETIRED US ARMY SGT
you
are
a
fckng
moron
You are the moron, Mr. KGB.
RatSputum is an aNGRy SLaViSH supporting PoooTiN supporting LoooooZeR.
It is my name for a future Kurdish state – a real state unlike the fake state the Terrorstinians call “Palestine.”
a de facto country if not de jure .. the Kurds control a series of areas along the Turkish border in Syria and Iraq .. there was a declaration of independence and they have de facto control over their territory, including administering all functions of government .. the Iraqis now seem interested in talking about it in the future, maybe a changed relationship … they are largest national group in the world without a country .. divided for endless centuries among warring neighbours and empires .. now split between Syria, Turkey, Armenia, Iran, Iraq and a diaspora.
I think the important thing is: kurds now hating donald trump. events that lead to this santimantal feelings was planned by a master mind. Turning friends into enemies, what a policy
Putin Khuylo!
ERDOGAN NOW YOU ARE LOST YOU CAN GO AS YOU WANT WITH YOU NEW FRIENDS RUSSIA AND IRAN BUT WEST WILL DEFEAT YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS . YOU WILL BE LOST.POOR DICTATOR
BYE BYE ERDOGAN. UNCLE SAM WILL BEAT YOU AND NEWS FRIENDS RUSSIA AND IRAN
Yeah! And then the indians come and they can have a fight. And they have horses! And then they jump so high that they remain there, in the La-la Land.
Turkey will soon be voted out of NATO in five years the russian bear will eat her as they intended
at the start of the the cold war nato had use for her then now she is irelevent
Very old picture of French Legionaire Soldier. Would expect current picture(s) on DEBKA…
Wish these Debka reporters would learn to distinguish between U.S. Army Special Opts and U.S. Marines. These units are not the same and are not inclusive. The Marines have an excellent artillery battalion embedded with the Kurds, but it is the the United States Army Special Forces and U.S. Army Rangers that have been running the show against ISIS along with our Kurdish allies in Iraq and Eastern Syria since day one.
I think big changes are coming concerning Turkey; it already appears that the US is moving air power to other location in the region and drawing down on military personal in Turkey under NATO. I think Turkey is going to get kicked out of NATO soon.
They don´t need Turkey anymore. While ever America supports the kurds now, and iaq…. they already have a large number of bases there. They will just get bigger to house more weaponry and to help protect Kurds after proposed Autonomy!
You will not be able to fuck with the Turkish Forces. İ am sure that you know the military manpower, the technological options and 80 Million citizens risings hate to your country, to the USA and to France. Any special forces can win a defensive battle with a weak manpower. Turkey is not İrak and Russia is not İran.
Turkish forces could barely handle the rag tag kurdish militias, and would have been repelled if not for air power monopoly. Are you kidding me Ice?
Israelis hold a special place in their hearts for the day Full of hot Airdogan tries screwing with them. It’s gonna be a Turkey shoot.
I perceive that the joke may end up on Turkey. They were panicked into invading Afrin, and now have linked in governance Afrin to Hatay(turkey) to the west. When Afrin is retaken, it could easily end up a two-for-one deal, SDF gets not only afrin back, but a chunk of “turkey” and passage to the med sea. With sea access, greater kurdistan could form overnight.
The fucking idiot blocks turkey rather then blockibg iran and hizbula.
No idea what horse shit strategy theyre running iut there but the buggest threat at the moment isnt turkey…its the fucking russians,persians and their shiite proxies from iraq,yemen,afghanistan and lebanon.
After all this time, trump,the french,the english basically the coallition are failing to see what the clear objective is.
Again…i say it…eleminate the persians and their shiite proxies and if russian forces interfere burn them to…there is no other way
why is that Erdogan looks so very stupid and everything he’s doing is so much deep idiotic?
He shaved his moustache just for the photo of toy soldier dressed in military fatigues. With the moist ache he looks a little like Hitler, don’t ya think?
Is that the end of the dream of new Ottoman empire?
There are some turkish and ‘so called’ russian men on this post who need their tongues cut out for their foul language – they obviously have NO self control – Debka should remove them.
vat da f#@ are you effin’ talkin’ ’bout?
Donald Trump’s got nothing to do with this. This is about the CIA agreement with former Sadam Ba’athist military leadership to stop bombing U.S. soldiers in Iraq in 2006/2007, AND also, as part of the agreement, for Saddam’s ex-military Sunni’s to provide secret leadership to ISIS, thus carving out a new country in western Iraq, and also across the Syrian border, including Raqqa and nearby oil fields. This will provide a new “Iraq” governed by Sunni’s who will be the bulward against Iran and help save Israel and Saudis.
Only WW3 will stop it from happening. I’m betting on WW3.
Remember last December Putin orders withdrawal of Russian troops in visit to Syrian base? Trump didn’t fall for it, Syrian Kurd’s still hold the oil fields, and the Saudis money is being directed to the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria’s Syrian Democratic Forces.
I love Erdogan/Gollem, He is the latest member of the Justice League……as you can see from the pic hes about to start playing paintball, in the process of organising the teams
Pigdogan is the number one terrorist right up there with Fagatollah Nuke were made for people like them.
So we are waging war against the Ottoman Caliphate (Turkey), The Persian Empire (Iran) and The Russian Empire (Putin)? Guys Trump should kick Turkey out of NATO. We all know Erdogan wants to restore the caliphate. We are waging war against our own NATO ally (Turkey). You guys know how crazy that sounds. Just kick Turkey out of NATO then we can go full out war on them.
Donald Trump needs to grow some balls. I voted for Trump because I thought he had balls and not a Vagina. Time for Donald Trump to be a real man. Kick Turkey out of NATO and destroy the Ottoman caliphate once and for all. Then we should annex Byzantine as a part of United States of America. Time to reclaim our Christian birthright in the middle east.
Kick Muslims out of Byzantine. USA must reclaim Byzantine. Long live Christianity.
That punk turkish fuhrer really needs to have an accident.
Turkey being a NATO member may have intel they can leak to Persia and the Russkies.
Netanyahu has a Titanic problem The problem for Netanyahu is Trump has completely energetically turned on him, turned on him and his plans for the North. Netanyahu completely stiffed Trump on any ME deal, and that was Trump’s last lifeline. Trump demands loyalty – Netanyahu gave him Shinola. Now Netanyahu gets to savor the nuances of Trump flambé The Thrilla in Manila has begun
It’s almost like somebody got to Trump and finally explain to him what Netanyahu was doing and the operation with MBS. I mean like MBs is going to be able to do anything with what’s going on on the Gaza Frontier coming 911 cases, the Al Jazeera tapes on the lobby, cases 5000 6000 + 7000 the Logan Act/Muellers charges etc etc etc
If Trump can somehow blame Netanyahu for his impeachment that might be the only way he thinks he can escape the certain infamy awaiting him. It won’t really work but it will perhaps somehow deflect from the enormity of what’s coming down the pike for him Like Captain Renault in Casablanca Trump could just say I’m shocked shocked to find that Netanyahu and Kushner were gambling with UN2334 and try to skate leaving Kushner and uncle Bebe holding the bag
My main question now is how many trillions of the 13 trillion dollars Trump said went down the hole in the Middle East went to Israel. Looks like Trump might just do the full monty as far as who got what and when if he doesn’t like what’s going on PDQ from Netanyahu Most of the egg went directly to Israel or indirectly in support of Israeli policy for military excursions, because you got to count the Egyptian Aid and the clean break operations over Iraq Libya Syria Yemen Etc when you figured that all in and then costs. The good news for Israel is all that PTSD can be taken care of with the Israeli Tech video programs designed to minimize PTSD in soldiers deployed to the territories or Gaza earth berms
The other thing about Mueller is the US has an extradition treaty with Israel unlike Russia. Even for the Mueller’s indicted Russian dualies with Israeli passports it could make it extremely problematic for any travel from Russia to Israel in the future. Lots of those Russian guys are going to have Israeli passports anyway so there may be extradition problems with Mueller’s Russians in the end anyway. Mueller might end up getting a lot of cooperation and it not just be a funny joke of Untouchable Russians. My view of Mueller is like a Marine at Guadalcanal in a perfect spot with plenty of supplies
Now French will be destroyed bu Russia,
wait and see,
As long as the USA remains under zionist occupation , the US Army won’t withdraw from Syria . We have the feeling that the Trump adminstration is building a war front inside Syria .And the stupid French president folows them like a dog : the trufle sniffing in their american butt . And this time they won’t pretend to act as terrorist groups . The zionist beast never give up when she bites a piece of meat in it’s jaws , at somone else’s cost ..