US Diplomacy: Terrorist to Ally, Just Add Oil (or Geopolitics)
The Daily Sabah reports a US envoy met with 'PKK/YPG ringleader' Ferhat Abdi Şahin, aka 'Mazloum Kobani,' in Syria. What our 'mainstream' media won't typically highlight is the breathtaking flexibility of these labels. The US has, for years, funneled arms and diplomatic support to the YPG, a group Turkey (a NATO ally, mind you) vehemently insists is indistinguishable from the designated terrorist
organization PKK. Funny how one man's 'terrorist' is another administration's 'boots on the ground' for regime change or resource protection. This isn't about 'democracy building'; it's about control and strategic positioning. The US has a long, storied history of cozying up to unsavory characters across the Middle East—from Saddam Hussein to various Afghan warlords—when convenient, only to
condemn them later. The 'ringleader' moniker is simply Turkey's inconvenient truth to confront a US-backed proxy. One might wonder what specific 'democratic values' are being championed when yesterday's 'threat' is today's photo op for US Special Envoy Tom Barrack.