>>> WELCOME BACK. WE’VE GOT BREAKING NEWS,
WATCHING THE SYRIAN BORDER WHERE
TURKEY’S MILITARY SET TO BEGIN
AN IMPEDING OFFENSIVE.
IT IS NOW UNDER WAY.
TURKISH TROOPS AND HARDWARE ARE
GATHERING ON TURKEY’S SOUTHERN
BORDER.
BORDER. AND THIS MORNING, A SENIOR
TURKISH OFFICIAL SAYS AN ASSAULT
IS IMMINENT AGAINST U.S. ALLIES,
THE KURDS OF SYRIA.
LET’S GO TO THE PENTAGON WHERE
CORRESPONDENT COURTNEY KUBE IS
STANDING BY AND MATT BRADLEY IN
IRAQ MILES FROM THE BORDER WITH
TURKEY AND SYRIA.
COURTNEY, THIS IS HAPPENING NOW.
WHAT ARE YOU HEARING?
>> SO, ALL WE’RE HEARING ARE
VERY EARLY, SO FAR UNCONFIRMED
REPORTS, BUT ONE OF THEM IS FROM
THE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE SYRIAN
DEMOCRATIC FORCES.
DEMOCRATIC FORCES. THIS IS THE OPPOSITION FORCE,
WHO THE U.S. MILITARY HAS BEEN
FIGHTING WITH FOR SEVERAL YEARS
THERE IN SYRIA.
HE’S SAYING THAT TURKISH
WARPLANES HAVE BEGUN AIR
STRIKES.
STRIKES. I’VE SPOKEN WITH ONE PERSON IN
THE U.S. MILITARY IN BAGHDAD
WHO’S CONFIRMING THAT THEY
EXPECT THAT THE AIR STRIKES --
THEY BELIEVE THE AIR STRIKES ARE
JUST NOW BEGINNING.
SO, THE QUESTION IS, YOU KNOW,
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN AND WHERE
DOES THIS GO FROM HERE, IF IN
FACT, IT’S CONFIRMED THESE ARE
TURKISH MILITARY STRIKES INTO
NORTHERN SYRIA?
NORTHERN SYRIA? WHAT WE KNOW IS THAT THE TURKS
WANT TO CLEAR OUT AN AREA ALONG
THE BORDER WITH TURKEY AND SYRIA
AND CREATE WHAT THEY’RE CALLING
A SAFE ZONE.
THEY WANT, BASICALLY, A BUFFER
ZONE, BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE THAT
THE KURDS, MANY OF WHOM WHO HAVE
SETTLED IN THAT AREA NEAR THE
BORDER, PRESENT A THREAT TO
TURKISH NATIONAL SECURITY.
THEY SEE THEM AS TERRORISTS.
OF COURSE, FROM THE U.S.
PERSPECTIVE, PARTICULARLY THE
U.S. MILITARY, THESE KURDS ARE
THE ONES WHO THE MILITARY HAS
BEEN FIGHTING ALONGSIDE AGAINST
ISIS IN SYRIA FOR SEVERAL YEARS
NOW, AND THEY HAVE BEEN REALLY
THE STRONGEST FIGHTING FORCE ON
THE GROUNDS, THE ONES WHO ARE
TAKING THE CASUALTIES.
THEY’RE STILL PROVIDING SECURITY
FOR MANY OF THE U.S. MILITARY
WHO ARE THERE IN SYRIA TODAY.
SO, YOU KNOW, IT’S PUTTING THE
U.S. MILITARY IN A VERY
DIFFICULT POSITION RIGHT NOW,
WHERE THEY’RE FACED WITH A NATO
ALLY WHO’S COMING IN TO GO AFTER
SOMEONE WHO HAVE BEEN THEIR
BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN ARMS IN
SYRIA FOR SEVERAL YEARS NOW,
STEPH.
STEPH. >> MATT, WHAT ARE YOU HEARING
WHERE YOU ARE?
>> Reporter: WELL, STEPHANIE,
YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT
WE’RE HEARING IS THAT THERE ARE
TURKS WHO ARE AMASSING AT THE
BORDER, HEAVY WEAPONRY, HEAVY
AIRPLANES THAT ARE GOING TO BE
LAUNCHING AIR STRIKES, AND AS
COURTNEY JUST SAID, THOSE AIR
STRIKES MAY ALREADY BE BEGINNING
AS WE SPEAK.
BUT ONE OF THE INTERESTING
THINGS THAT’S GOING ON HERE,
STEPHANIE, IS THAT THE TURKS ARE
GOING TO BE TAKING
TURKISH-BACKED SYRIAN FORCES
FROM ELSEWHERE IN SYRIA,
BRINGING THEM ACROSS THE BORDER
INTO SYRIA BY BUS AND
TRANSPORTING THEM THROUGH
TURKEY, AND THEN KIND OF
INSERTING THEM INTO NORTHERN
SYRIA ELSEWHERE.
SYRIA ELSEWHERE. THIS WILL GIVE KIND OF A LOCAL
FACE TO THIS, YOU KNOW, MOVE
INTO SYRIA, SO THEY WON’T BE A
FOREIGN-OCCUPYING FORCE SO MUCH
AS TRYING TO TAKE SYRIAN ARABS
FROM ELSEWHERE IN SYRIA AND
USING THEM TO TRY TO SAY THAT,
YOU KNOW, WE’RE GOING TO BE
PUTTING SYRIANS BACK WHERE THEY
BELONG.
BELONG. AND THIS WILL BE MAYBE POPULAR
AMONG SYRIAN ARABS WHO DON’T
ALWAYS HAVE THE BEST OF
RELATIONS WITH SYRIAN KURDS, AND
IT’S GOING TO ALLOW A PRETEXT
FOR THE TURKS TO COME IN HERE
AND DO EXACTLY WHAT COURTNEY WAS
SAYING, CREATING THIS PEACE
CORRIDOR AND REPOPULATING IT.
IT LOOKS ALMOST LIKE MOVING --
OR LIKE AN ETHNIC CLEANSING,
MOVING KURDS OUT OF THAT AREA
AND PUTTING SYRIAN ARABS IN
THERE INSTEAD, AND THEY’VE DONE
THIS BEFORE IN YEARS PAST, TO
DEVASTATING EFFECT, AND A LOT OF
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS CALLED IT A HUMANITARIAN
CATASTROPHE.
CATASTROPHE. NOW, THE KURDS HAVE SAID THAT
THEY ARE GOING TO FIGHT.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS THEY’VE
BEEN DOING TODAY IS THAT THEY
TOLD NBC THAT THEY ARE
ANNOUNCING THIS TURKISH
INCURSION AS THE PRIORITY, NO
LONGER FIGHTING ISIS.
SO, THAT’S DANGEROUS.
THAT MEANS THAT THAT COULD LEAVE
A SPACE FOR ISIS TO REGROUP AND
START THEIR OWN INSURGENCY ONCE
AGAIN TO REPOPULATE THAT
CALIPHATE THAT ENDED ONLY JUST A
COUPLE MONTHS AGO, AND THAT’S
GOING TO BE A BIG PROBLEM, NOT
ONLY FOR SYRIANS, BUT FOR PEOPLE
HERE IN IRAQ, FOR EUROPEANS, FOR
EVERYONE THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE
REGION.
REGION. STEPHANIE?
STEPHANIE? >> COURTNEY, ANYTHING TO ADD?
>> YEAH, SO, I’M HEARING NOW, IT
LOOKS LIKE THERE’S THE TURKISH
MILITARY HAS MOVED ARTILLERY
ALONG THE BORDER, AND IT LOOKS
LIKE THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF
WHAT THE U.S. MILITARY MIGHT
XHAUL SHAPING OPERATIONS.
SO, BASICALLY, THAT MEANS THAT
THEY’LL TRY TO SEND IN AIR
STRIKES, ARTILLERY STRIKES
ACROSS THE BORDER, AND THAT SORT
OF CLEARS OUT THE AREA PRIOR TO
ANY KIND OF A GROUND INCURSION.
SO BEFORE THEY START BRINGING
VEHICLES, TROOPS, TANKS,
WHATEVER IT IS, ACROSS THE
BORDER, THEY WOULD BEGIN WITH
SOME STRIKES TO TRY TO CLEAR OUT
AN AREA, MAKE IT SAFER FOR THEM.
SO, THE NEXT THING THAT WE
SHOULD EXPECT TO SEE ARE
ARTILLERY STRIKES ACROSS THE
BORDER, PERHAPS SOME OTHER KIND
OF SMALL ARMS, MORTARS OR WHAT
NOT, GOING ACROSS THE BORDER
FROM TURKEY INTO SYRIA, AND WE
CAN SEE THAT COMING.
AND I WANT TO REINFORCE
SOMETHING MATT JUST SAID ABOUT
THE SDF SAYING THEY’RE GOING TO
FIGHT.
FIGHT. I SPOKE WITH GENERAL MUSLUM, WHO
IS THE HEAD OF THE SYRIAN
DEMOCRATIC FORCES, AND HE SAID
HE IS VERY DISAPPOINTED ON THE
U.S. MILITARY DECISION TO PULL
BACK FROM THE BORDER, BUT THE
WORLD SHOULD KNOW THAT THE SDF
IS GOING TO FIGHT, THAT THEY ARE
NOT GOING TO CEDE WHAT THEY SEE