U.S. Defense

[The U.S. State Department had long been more sympathetic to Turkey, which it sees as a stabilizing force in the Middle East, while the military came to see the Kurds as 'their brothers in arms' against the Islamic State. Until now, military] perspectives — including a single-minded focus on defeating the Islamic State irrespective of the longer-term consequences — usually won the day.

At the time [of the U.S. decision to back the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG)] it was seen as more important to defeat the Islamic State. There was a hope that we would be able to accommodate Turkey’s concerns.