The YPG/YPJ Have to Hold Afrin City

Rudaw reported yesterday, "Turkish forces advance, closing in on Afrin city," that the battle for Afrin has reached the point of a siege of the city. The Kurdish-led SDF responded by announcing a move of 1,700 fighters from the eastern Syrian province of Deir al-Zour. The SDF in Deir al-Zour are there primarily to guard the oil fields war booty coveted by the U.S.

Anne Barnard reports today from her office in Beirut that Turkey has requested that the U.S. block this troop transfer ("Turkey Asks U.S. to Stop Kurds From Shifting Fighters to Western Syria"). I would say that the chances of this happening are close to zero.

The Kurds of the YPG/YPJ have to hold Afrin because if they don't then they will have proven to be incapable of acting independently of the protection provided by U.S. air power and logistics. If Turkey and the CIA-trained Free Syrian Army triumph, then the Kurds will be seen as merely another mercenary proxy force that the U.S. exploits willy-nilly to achieve its objectives.

At this point the Turks appear to have all the advantage. They can lay siege to Afrin city indefinitely. Don't expect the same outrage over Afrin in the Western media as there is for East Ghouta.