Creating Demilitarized Zone In Idlib Reduces US Military Options - Ex-Pentagon Adviser

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st September, 2018) The Russian and Turkish plan to create a demilitarized zone in the Syrian province of Idlib aims to restrain the United States and allies from launching new military operations there, retired UD Department of Defense intelligence analyst Karen Kwiatkowski told Sputnik.

"It looks like a blocking movement, designed to narrow the options available to US government hawks by very publicly advertising the demilitarization of a small area outside Idlib," Kwiatkowski, a retired US Air Force lieutenant colonel said.

On Monday, Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Recep Tayyip Ergogan of Turkey met at the Black Sea resort of Sochi and agreed to create a demilitarized safe zone for civilians at Idlib by October 15.

Although Turkey had been a member of the US-led NATO Alliance for 63 years, Erdogan was prepared to risk putting his troops in positions where they could potentially come into conflict with US forces in an effort to maintain peace and protect threatened civilians, Kwiatkowski pointed out.

"By placing Turkish and Russian troops on the ground as enforcers, we have a NATO member physically moving into a potential line of fire. Russia and Turkey will also be in a better position to witness and report upcoming activities and events that may occur in the area," Kwiatkowski said.

The decision by Putin and Erdogan to call the protected enclave a demilitarized zone, or DMZ, was also calculated to frustrate efforts to misrepresent the Idlib initiative as an aggressive move, Kwiatkowski noted.

"Establishing a 'DMZ' is an echo of the DMZ that the United States established and maintains to this day in Korea, and this makes it semantically more difficult for the neoconservatives in the US government to develop a critical counter-narrative," Kwiatkowski said.

Although small in scale, the joint Russian-Turkish initiative on Idlib was a major development that aligned the two powers together in a constructive action to restrain the United States from taking irresponsible actions in the area, Kwiatkowski advised.

"Having Turkey and Russia publicly assume an 'adult' role to the arguably 'angry child' role that the United States has been playing with regards to Syria and Assad, is indeed a breakthrough," she said.

The Idlib initiative would also revive efforts to end the conflict in Syria, that has generated millions of refugees and a cost more than 650,000 lives over the past six and a half years, Kwiatkowski stated.

"Anything that gets more eyewitnesses, and more order and security, on the ground, is good for the peace process," she said.

In addition, the Idlib plan could work to the political benefit of US President Donald Trump, Kwiatkowski suggested.

"If the level of security increases such that the US, in particular, determines that US involvement there is no longer necessary, this would partially fulfill a Trump campaign promise to cease the endless waste of US resources on overseas conflicts that mean little to most Americans," she said.

However, neoconservatives in the US government and media were still trying to use the conflict in Syria to demonize Iran and bring the United States into conflict with Tehran, Kwiatkowski cautioned.

"It is telling that the new US Special Representative to Syria James Jeffrey has commented on this initiative indirectly, noting that Iran is still the main problem in Syria. For the neoconservatives, it's always about Iran," she said.

Such anti-Iran extremists would react to the Idlib initiative by trying to stir up new aggressive moves against Iran, Kwiatkowski warned.

"If the DMZ outside of Idlib is effectively implemented, with limited hiccups, the anti-Iranian rhetoric will be stepped up," she said.

The Idlib initiative could also generate complications for US and Israeli efforts to funnel support for the rebels fighting the Damascus government, Kwiatkowski added.

"It will be interesting to see how or whether this effort by Russia, Turkey and Assad's government will impact any US or Israeli related support - logistics, intelligence, or public relations - to the remaining anti-Assad rebels in Idlib," Kwiatkowski said.

Territories that remained under the control of the Syrian opposition now needed to be demilitarized, Erdogan said in Sochi.