US-Backed 'Terrorist' Calls Damascus: Geopolitics' Messy Truth
The Daily Sabah, a Turkish government-aligned outfit, reports that Ferhat Abdi Şahin, leader of the YPG, a group called 'terrorist' by Turkey but allied with the US against ISIS, recently phoned Damascus. This 'unconfirmed report' highlights the dizzying doublespeak of international relations, where 'terrorist' is less about actions and more about who's paying the bills or whose interests are
being served. For years, the US has armed and supported the YPG in Syria, while simultaneously labeling other factions in the region as 'terrorists' and bombing their positions—often with the same weapons. One might observe that the label 'terrorist' seems remarkably fungible depending on whose side they're on, or who's currently supplying the funding, as documented in countless reports from
organizations like Human Rights Watch detailing US military aid to various non-state actors. It appears that 'state-backed' is only pejorative when it's not *your* state doing the backing. Is it surprising that groups, even those given a temporary reprieve from America’s 'terrorist' designation, still need to talk to the actual government of the country they reside in? Or perhaps the US-backed
'freedom fighter' today becomes the 'unauthorized interlocutor' tomorrow. Quelle surprise.