As the United States seeks to steal as much control over Syrian sovereign territory as possible, they’re antagonizing one of their allies in Turkey. Currently, the US is creating a “Border Security Force” which would control the Syrian border with Iraq and Turkey, as well as along the Euphrates River Valley. The forces are planned to be in the 30,000 range. US and US-backed forces are already carrying out an illegal military occupation of these areas in violation of the will of the Syrian people.

The Turkish president Erdogan is concerned with US control over the Kurdish forces who have been longstanding enemies of the Turkish people. The creation of such a “security force” near Turkish territory is seen as a threat. Kurdish forces already carry out attacks against the Turkish government. Assistance and protection from the US will embolden them to act even more aggressively towards Turkey.

Erdogan has labelled this operation as “unacceptable”. Speaking to the Associated Press, he said that their duty was to, “to drown this terrorist force before it is born.” The point of concern is that the Turkish government knows that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – Kurdish YPG units – are linked to the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). These forces are cooperating to create an “independent” Kurdish territory. This plan rests upon stealing land from Syria, Turkey, and Iraq – all of which oppose the creation of such a territory.

The Turkish Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag, is in agreement with him. he accuses the US of actually helping foster terrorism in the region, as opposed to preventing it as they claim.

“Letting the PYD/YPG – the PKK’s branch in Syria – by the US to establish a so-called terrorist army for creating a terrorist corridor in the region on the pretext of combating Daesh [Islamic State], is not a fight against Daesh and terrorist organizations, rather a support to terrorism and terrorist organizations,” he said.

Turkey is certainly prepared to do so. Already their military controls the fourth de-escalation zone in Idlib province. If the threat is not eliminated, he has vowed to launch an attack against the Kurdish-held Syrian region of Afrin in northwestern Syria. he said that the operation could be imminent.

Alliances in the Middle East can be a political minefield, especially if you’re an imperialist power like the US. The difficulty here is in maintaining the alliances it holds while not letting others collapse. the US is trying to force its will on numerous countries, bending them to their will. This places those alliances in contradiction with other alliances. The US is seeking to force everyone to adhere to their foreign policy, yet that very foreign policy is antagonistic towards these alliances.

While the US can force others to cooperate with them, they cannot force them to cooperate with others. This balancing act of trying to control all these forces – without trying to resolve the contradictions – will lead to disaster. An imperialist power must have a victim, a territory under its control for exploitative purposes. Such a situation cannot be solved under capitalism, a system of contradictions.

It’s only through socialism and the elimination of class divisions (both national and international) that lasting peace can be achieved. The US is nothing less than an empire hell-bent upon controlling the world and exacerbating those contradictions.