"We have broken their faith, causing a stain on American conscience," said a US soldier fighting the Kurds in Syria.

Hundreds of Syrian government soldiers, including Russian mercenaries, launched a Kurdish militant attack (YPG) in a eastern Syrian outpost last year. The American commanders then decided to deploy YPG-assisted weapons, including B-52 bombers, to help prevent the attack.

This action shows that the US military is ready to protect the Kurds, their main ally in the region. However, with the White House announcing a withdrawal of troops from northern Syria, the decision was considered a "green light" for Turkey's military campaign against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) with the core being YPG, a number of US special forces with the Kurds expressed deep regret for leaving allies.

"I feel ashamed," an unnamed US soldier who served in northern Syria said. Kurdish militias were also stunned by Washington's move. "The worst thing in the military and with allies on the battlefield is betrayal," said Shervan Darwish, official of the Manbij Military Council of the SDF command.

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on October 11 that Washington "did not abandon the Kurds and not give the green light" to Turkey's military operation in Syria. Two days later, he announced that President Donald Trump had ordered about 1,000 troops to withdraw as quickly and safely as possible "from northern Syria in the near future."

US special forces, mostly members of the Third Task Force, last week began moving to outposts far from the Syrian border. As the Americans stepped back, the Kurds moved north to reinforce their forces before the Turkish attack. American soldiers can now stand watch from within the fortifications, because orders from their government means letting the Kurds fight on their own.

The US decision appears to be in conflict with its military strategy in Syria for the past four years, especially its relationship with the YPG, who have played a key role in repelling Islamic State (IS) militants. ) claiming to be from northeastern Syria. The Kurds fought in the cities of Manbij, Raqqa and deep within the Euphrates River Valley, hunting down the remnants of IS rebels.

US special forces and other units have built close relationships with the Kurds. They live on dusty grounds, share meals, guard against common dangers, fight side by side, support each other to evacuate the killed and injured Kurds from the battlefield.

"When they did the funeral, we were sad with them," said General Joseph Votel, former commander of the US Central Command.

The 2014 outbreak of the Kobani matchmaking relationship between the United States and the Kurds in northeast Syria. IS rebels armed with heavy artillery obtained from the US surrounded Kobani, the Kurdish town, and entered part of the territory. Despite the hesitation of the former US President Barack Obama's government to provide assistance, the US military raided ISIS, providing ammunition, light weapons and medical supplies to Kurdish militias.

This support has turned the tide, helping the Kurds defeat the IS. The American commanders also discovered a potential ally in the fight against the terrorist group.

The US has trained thousands of SDF soldiers in tactics, reconnaissance and first aid. Reconnaissance teams are trained to determine the location of the IS and then transmit information to the command center of the US-led coalition, from which to plan air strikes.

"In the past two years, the cooperation has become extremely profound. The level of trust and trust in each other is also very high, because this cooperation has brought tremendous results," Mutlu Civiroglu, a distributor on the Kurdish issue, explained. "SDF and the US coalition complement each other. US forces are not present on the ground, and SDF has no air support, so they need each other."

The border area between Syria and Turkey that Ankara wants to control. Graphics: HAL.

Even after IS lost most of the territory, the US maintained training in SDF's anti-terrorism units to conduct tactical raids on ISIS hideouts, while providing them with intelligence. Notice needed to plan. In areas far from the IS line, the SDF also often escorts American convoys through several towns in Syria, or protects the outside for places with Americans inside.

The coordination between SDF and the US military has expanded from the highest levels to each soldier in the fight against IS. SDF commanders work with US military officers in a joint command center located at an abandoned cement plant near the town of Kobani. Together they discuss strategies and future plans.

The bond between the Kurds and the US military remained strong after many incidents, including President Trump's decision to withdraw all US troops from northern Syria in December, but then the plan stalled. . However, the recent move of Washington is considered difficult to reverse.

"At this particular moment, we seem to have made it extremely difficult for the Kurds to maintain cooperation with recent decisions," said General Votel.

The SDF has agreed to step away from the northern border of Syria, destroy fortifications and return some heavy weapons, as part of a security measure taken by the United States to ease tensions with the Turkish military. States. With these moves, the Kurds want to show that they do not threaten Turkish territory, though that makes them more vulnerable when neighboring northern Syria launches an offensive.

U.S. troops, however, said the Kurds were still extremely strong, embodied in a recent joint campaign, as they sought a low-level IS commander in northern Syria. The task was quite strenuous and they seemed unable to find the object.

Nicholas Heras, an expert at the New American Security Center (CNAS), who visited SDF in July to consult on ISIS, observed the Kurds working with US troops on this mission and realized the uniformity was almost zero. distinguishable. "The SDF's elite counter-terrorism units are tough fighters in the fight against IS. Americans fully trust them," Heras said. They have finally completed the task of capturing the IS commander.

After a hard-fought victory at Kobani, the Kurds continued to fight against IS in their other towns. However, the US has proposed new allies to send troops to other areas, cooperate with local militia to regain territory from the hands of IS. So the Kurds came forward, capturing Raqqa and Deir al-Zour despite heavy casualties.

Peter Galbraith, former US senior adviser to the Kurds in Syria and Iraq, said the US-Kurdish coalition against ISIS began with Washington helping SDF. "But in the end they were the ones who helped us. They were the ones who restored the territory that IS occupies," he said.