In his great and incomparable wisdom

Isabelle Hachey
The Press

The shelling started.

Turkish fighter planes dropped their bombs yesterday at Kurdish targets in northern Syria.

Then the ground offensive began.

At least eight civilians were killed. People are fleeing. Entire cities are emptying.

But let's reassure ourselves. The President of the United States of America watches over the grain. He wrote it on Monday, on Twitter:

"If Turkey does something that I consider, in my great and incomparable wisdom, to have gone beyond the limits, I will totally destroy and destroy Turkey's economy. "

Everything is fine, then.

Only small problem, Donald Trump did not believe to specify that which, in his great and incomparable wisdom, would exceed the limits.

A very small day of air strikes and artillery fire may still be within acceptable limits.

So what ? The opening of a new front in Syria, after eight years of civil war, perhaps?

Will it have to wait for a humanitarian disaster?

Will the deaths be counted by thousands for a Turkish offensive against the Kurds of Syria – allies of the West in the anti-jihadist struggle – exceeds the limits in the eyes of the president?

Will it rather wait for the return of the armed group Islamic State (IS)?

We do not know, since Trump's ways are impenetrable. But let's trust. The stability of an entire region rests on a man of incomparable wisdom. What could go wrong?

***

Two years ago, I worked with the Syrian Kurds for a report on the Rojava Revolution, an autonomous territory born of the ashes of civil war.

In this male dominated region, I have seen women take their destiny into their own hands. I saw them take up arms, too, against ISIS jihadists.

In schools, I saw students relearn their language, long banned by the Syrian regime.

I saw a people reclaim their culture. After the years of lead, he finally gave himself the right to celebrate his traditions in broad daylight.

I interviewed elected officials. It may seem trivial, but it had never been seen in Syria before.

Of course, this funny revolution was not perfect.

Direct democracy was probably imposed too much … directly on the Arab minority by the Kurds, who exercised a real control over the territory.

There was something fake about it all. And something terribly fragile.

And yet, there was also something exhilarating about this improbable political experience in the shadow of the dictatorship.

It only took a phone call to the White House to shatter the dream of emancipation of the Kurds from Syria.

***

Donald Trump's advisers had warned him not to abandon the Kurds, crucial allies in the fight against ISIS jihadists.

They had explained to him at length the consequences that might be caused by the withdrawal of American troops stationed along the Turkish border.

These arguments did not carry weight against those of the strongman of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who considers the Kurdish militias as "terrorists" to crush once and for all.

After a simple telephone conversation with President Erdoğan on Sunday, Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw American troops "endless ridiculous wars".

In the entourage of Trump, nobody expected that. His announcement caught the strategists of the Pentagon and the State Department by surprise.

Like so many times since the beginning of his chaotic presidency, Donald Trump has refused to stick to the script cautiously written by his advisers.

But this time, the consequences of its impulsivity are likely to be fatal for thousands of people.

On a whim, the president delivered the Kurds to pasture in Turkey.

***

Lindsey Graham apprehends a bloodbath.

"Pray for our Kurdish allies shamefully abandoned by the Trump administration," yesterday tweeted this Republican senator, yet very close to the president.

Other big Republican figures have joined the concert of critics. In this tragic story, Donald Trump has achieved the incredible feat of putting everyone at odds.

"Letting our allies die is a big mistake," said Nikki Haley, former US ambassador – appointed by Trump – to the United Nations.

On Twitter, Brett McGurk, former special envoy responsible for the international coalition against IS, did not hesitate to vilify him:

"Trump said today that we could" crush the IS again "if it regenerated. With whom ? Which allies would engage? Who would fight in such conditions? "

Excellent questions.

For four years, the Kurds have been at the front of the war against IS. Supported by the United States and the international coalition, they chased the jihadists to their last limits.

In this trench war, the Kurds lost thousands of fighters.

Americans ? A dozen soldiers.

In March, the Kurds dropped the last bastion of the obscurantist "Caliphate" that shook the West. They made a lot of prisoners.

They now hold 12,000 jihadists, including 4,000 foreigners who nobody wants.

Yesterday, one of the detention centers was hit by an air strike.

What will happen now that the Kurdish fighters will be busy defending their towns and villages against the onslaught of Turkish forces?

Will jihadists take advantage of chaos to make themselves beautiful? To take back lost territories?

To go home to the West … and to perpetrate terrorist attacks?

Donald Trump said yesterday that Turkey would be responsible for ensuring that jihadists remain in prison.

He said the United States did not endorse the Turkish offensive and said it was a "bad idea".

In his great and incomparable wisdom, he might have thought about it before.