UPDATE to my “MAJOR SHIFT” Article from This Morning: Biden Seems to Suggest a Deal Was Reached with Erdogan

by Scott Creighton

I still don’t know what to make of this.

We know for a fact the US runs the so-called Free Syrian Army as a defacto irregular warfare proxy army designated to destabilize Syria in preparation for regime change. And we also know Turkey’s incursion into Syrian territory in support of the FSA (supposedly targeting the same “ISIS™” proxy army we allowed to leave Manbij and head north to the city Turkey is now effectively invading) is opposed by the Syrian government from reports from SANA News Agency. We know President Erdogan met with our puppet dictator from “Iraqi Kurdistan”, Barzani and then he was allowed to meet with several other leading political figures in Turkey before going today to meet with the Turkish parliament and leading political Kurdish MPs as well. And we know that Joe Biden is in Turkey today doing the same. All that we know.

But what I didn’t mention in this morning’s article is worth consideration:

“Speaking in Ankara, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that the attack on Jarabulus — the last stretch of northern border territory held by the jihadists — had begun at 4 a.m. on Wednesday, targeting “terror groups which constantly threaten our country.”…

Erdoğan added that the operation would also target Kurdish fighters in Syria…

“Turkey is determined for Syria to retain its territorial integrity and will take matters into its own hands if required to protect that territorial unity,” Erdoğan warned on Wednesday.

The name of the operation suggested as much: dubbed “Euphrates Shield,” the campaign clearly aims to enforce Turkey’s “red line” against the Kurds, as well as driving ISIL away from its border. When the SDF moved a few miles north towards Jarabulus on Monday, Turkey fired artillery shots at them while Turkish-backed Syrian rebels gathered at the border…

Syrian Kurdish leaders responded with anger. Salih Muslim, the leader of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), wrote on Twitter that Turkey was now in the “Syrian quagmire” and would be defeated like the Islamic State. Redur Xelil, a spokesperson for the YPG militia, denounced Turkey’s intervention as an act of “blatant aggression.”..

In Ankara on Wednesday, Biden launched a charm offensive, praising the bravery of the Turkish people during the coup attempt, lauding their efforts against the Islamic State and declaring that the country had “no better friend” than the United States. He also warned the Syrian Kurds that they would lose U.S. support if they did not retreat to the Euphrates’ eastern bank.” Politico

So it would appear that a grand bargain may have been struck between Turkey and the US to keep the developing Kurdish state in Syria confined to east of the river. And though Erdogan says he respects the territorial integrity of the nation of Syria, how does that fit in with his Euphrates red-line? I wonder if the US will quietly hand over Gulen as part of this deal to placate Erdogan, who, since the failed coup, has solidified his power in Turkey and announced himself as a man not to be trifled with to the US.