US Centcom's shielding of PKK goes back to 2003 Iraq invasion

US Centcom's shielding of PKK goes back to 2003 Iraq invasion

The US and the YPG, the PKK terror group’s Syrian wing, have an open relationship, but long before the YPG’s emergence, the Centcom refused to go against the terror group during the invasion of Iraq.
For the US Central Command (Centcom) and the White House, there has been an elephant-in-the-room situation regarding the presence of PKK terrorist organisation in northern Iraq, especially at the height of the Iraq invasion in 2003.
While the US considers PKK as a terrorist organisation, Centcom, a military wing responsible for running America's Middle East operations, has carved its own path when it comes to dealing with PKK, even though it means contradicting with Washington's official policy on the terror group.
Last week, Centcom issued condolences for several killed members of the YPG, the Syrian wing of the PKK, which Washington projects as its ally in its war against Daesh. The US claims that the YPG and the PKK are separate entities despite the strong evidence which proves that they are under the same leadership.  
Contrary to Washington's global pledge to root out terrorism, Centcom’s non-confrontational approach toward the PKK goes beyond the YPG, which came into existence in 2011 at the beginning of the Syrian civil war. During the US occupation of Iraq, Centcom did not perceive the PKK as a threat and even resisted a few times against the White House decisions “to eliminate” the group, according to Matthew Bryza, a former top Bush administration official. 
While it's common for US diplomats and Centcom to have disagreements over certain issues from time to time, the Central Command’s PKK policy during Washington's invasion of Iraq was more than an internal disagreement, says Bryza. 

During the Iraq War, Bryza was the lead person in the staff of the National Security Council under the Bush administration, and had a tense relation with Centcom on the PKK’s presence in northern Iraq. 

“What was a big problem was how the Central Command absolutely refused to implement President Bush’s decision that PKK is a terrorist organisation and is an enemy of the US and whose safe haven in northern Iraq, which was under US control, had to be eliminated,” Bryza tells TRT World. 
US Centcom's shielding of PKK goes back to 2003 Iraq invasion
US Centcom's shielding of PKK goes back to 2003 Iraq invasion


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  1. While the US considers PKK as a terrorist organisation, Centcom, a military wing responsible for running America's Middle East operations, has carved its own path when it comes to dealing with PKK, even though it means contradicting with Washington's official policy on the terror group.

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