The war in Syria : Kurds won’t fight Islamic State for the West. They’re fighting for themselves  

#UN /#Syria / #Washington #Raqqa:  ON DECEMBER 2nd the House of Commons voted by an emphatic majority to let British planes bomb Islamic State (IS) in Syria as well as Iraq. It was a symbolic step, aimed at showing solidarity with allies against barbarism. Although British Tornado fighters boast highly accurate Brimstone missiles and a sophisticated intelligence-gathering pod, no one imagines that air power alone can defeat IS.

The search for boots on the ground To defeat Islamic State, the West needs Sunni Arab allies. The price will be a clearer commitment to getting rid of the Assad regime

The problem remains what it has been in Syria since air strikes against IS first began in September last year: the absence of competent, politically acceptable forces on the ground to work with, other than the Kurdish YPG (People’s Protection Units), who seldom venture outside what they see as Kurdish territory. David Cameron was derided for claiming that there are “about 70,000 Syrian opposition fighters …who do not belong to extremist groups” and who might be potential allies of the coalition against IS. The Kurds are not included in that count.

In fact, most experts agree with the prime minister’s intelligence-derived assessment. Charles Lister of Brookings Doha Centre reckons that there are over 100 armed factions with a total of 75,000 fighters, many of whom operate under the Free Syrian Army umbrella, who could be considered “moderate” by Syrian standards. Many of these have already been “vetted” by the CIA and are receiving weapons and other assistance, albeit on a fairly small scale. They do not yet remotely resemble a cohesive force. But with time and the right political incentives they could perhaps be formed into one.

The YPG militia, which numbers around 55,000, has shown its mettle by pushing IS out of Kobane and moving west to take on IS at Jarabulus, the last border town with Turkey it holds. But despite the YPG’s success when helped by coalition air power, its main interest is in carving out a contiguous area of control along the border with Turkey. Despite talk of it joining up with Sunni tribes and driving south to the IS stronghold of Raqqa, it has little appetite for doing so. Even if it did, the political consequences of helping Kurds to seize an Arab town would hardly be positive.